During my college days, I read a book borrowed from the college library, can't recall the name of the book though. It was written by a war veteran and a prisoner of war (POW). Reading it then made me realize that we have taken freedom for granted. Today, watching Simon Reeve visit a maximum-security prison in his show on "BBC Earth - North America with Simon Reeve", I was reminded again to be grateful for being a free person. In the program, Simon visits inmates convicted when they were juveniles, some as young as 16, serving life sentences. Now they are full-fledged adults in their prime. Speaking about the program initiated by the prison authorities, the tutor mentions that "a mobile platform was created that gave them (the inmates) everything that they have missed out by putting them on virtual reality to simulate life situation on the outside." How very nice. "The program," says Simon, "prepares these convicts to a life on the outside that will make it possible for them someday to step out of the gate."
A convict talks about the benefit of the program, telling Simon that "I haven't seen the inside of a restaurant for so long. ... supermarket ... there are so many choices .. kind of overwhelming outside the prison walls. I have the chance to see myself in a virtual setting." We ought to be grateful at this juncture that we are at liberty to travel free and far although the Covid pandemic has come to hinder our free movement for the time being.
What is the price or value of freedom? We shall never know until... we lose it. The prisoner of war shall know its value. One counting his days to the gallows will know. We have taken freedom for granted. Treasure your freedom. The pandemic has to a large extent curtailed this freedom. The past year of restricted movement has placed a massive amount of stress on many. Being a pensioner, I too can feel the heat seeing family, friends, and others battle with their lives, fearing for their lives, having lost income and jobs, and having to stomach more losses in many more ways. Pollution in major cities, and the pandemic that has forced us to wear facial masks outdoors remind us to cherish the gift of air. Similarly, the life-sustaining waterways are equally polluted these days. Many have only a vague memory of the richness and goodness of clean healthy air and water that prevailed once upon a time. Clean air and water are a thing of the past.
Breath is life. The sweetness of breath traveling throughout the body is indeed amrita or honey. Feel the coolness as it traverses within, chilling the body. Bring your awareness to the breath and the path it takes and the places it comes within reach and in contact. Then you shall appreciate the breath and the air. Then we shall know the need to breathe in clean air.
Near-death moments should kindle us to reflect on life and better our ways, bringing on an appreciation of life. One laying on a sickbed will know the value of health. Illness comes to remind us to get back on track. As Stephen Grissom writes on his blog at https://www.siddhavasihealing.com,
Sickness knocks on the door of our life to tell us that the time has come to outgrow these perceptions and patterns. The time has come to evolve. It is only when we come to understand the message behind the chronic illness that we outgrow the sickness. Only then do we inherit the rewards of this growth beyond the limitations. We have the opportunity to realize for ourselves that we are not merely a body.
Tavayogi told me that a Siddha cannot be caged within the body and has to be free to move. They go beyond the limitations of the body. Both Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Bhagawan Nithyananda of Ganeshpuri consoled their followers moments before they went into Samadhi that they could do a better job in the subtle form compared to the limitations of the physical form. They promised to continue to guide them further though. We are told that a Siddha visited Batu Caves in the past, neither traveling by land, water or air. They materialize in any place of their choice at any moment. I had the privilege to accidentally drop in on a "visiting" sadhu at an ashram in Lunas, Kedah many years back. He blessed both my nephew and me. Later my nephew who had met him earlier in Penang tells me that he materializes his body in many places and returns to his place of origin in India. He saw him again in Maran, Pahang. There was something peculiar about his gaze. It was penetrating going beyond my body. I have yet to see another look that way at me.
Before we are ready to go beyond this body, we need to nurture it to serve its purpose in becoming a launching platform for the self and catapulting it to greater heights. Do not disregard the body. Convert it to a temple. Bring the divine within to take his abode in us. All things shall change henceforth. All we need is to pray and pray, asking him to come within or rather asking him to reveal himself within. The divine has been shelved away and set aside for far too long. He who dwells within us has been ignored for far too long. Bring him back into our lives and place him center stage. Have all the spotlights shine on him. Talk about him every single moment. Coincidently I just ended a long talk with Suren in the midst of writing this blog. We shared stories about Agathiyar and Tavayogi as usual. We agreed that it brought us joy in speaking about our gurus. We appreciated how they have come into our lives and found their way into our hearts and soul. If we had always been told that the greatest dharma was to feed the hungry, Agathiyar came along and revealed that there was an even greater dharma than that. Speaking the grace of thy guru is even greater and surpasses all other acts of dharma, he said.