When do you think a man is at peace? Is it when he has just
returned from work or just after a boring meeting? When do you think he gets
some time to think about himself? One place, at least once a day, closer to
himself in just a few minutes of solitude. Yes, you have guessed it right. If
you haven’t do not worry.
It has been my favourite place, and for many other thinkers,
for many years. Here I get to read a few pages of a book every day; I get to
think about some of the most important issues. If nothing, then I, at least,
get to stare at nothingness of the marble flooring with absolutely no thought
in my head, such peace. No wonder, I, like many others, never “need” to
meditate, It happens automatically. Why would anyone ever want to give this
time up or trade for any other pleasure?
Many of us aspire to achieve a state of mind which is so
content and peaceful that no situation how grave or embarrassing can disturb
us. One cannot attain it without a lot of hard work and practise. If I ask you
to guess how many people are there in this world who possess this capability,
you would be very confused and may guess the number to be very small. But, then
I would ignore your innocence and remind you of railway tracks.
Close your eyes and remember the last time you were in train
looking out the window, early in morning, when the train had just entered in
the city. Long queues of people practising their meditation in “Malasana” pose
with small bottles of water for “shuddhi” at the end. If you look closer you
will notice their composer, calmness of their behaviour, complete disregard for
human gazes and complete focus on what is coming out. These are the men who
have mastered this most sought after art. Once they are done with their
meditation, they leave their waste produce and move forward in life with no
worries about the next day for there will always be a railway track. In all the
noise of trains passing by not to mention the danger to their lives not just by
high speed, who am I kidding, normal speed trains but all the insects and
reptiles nearby, these men get up every day to prove that peace of mind does
not require a five star setup. Although they could always skip buying a
television set and construct a toilet but they would not. Why waste such
talent! Why not learn and master an art of attaining peace in most chaotic
situations. I just hope that after all this hard work they would at least be
aware that they possess this skill of keeping calm in face of poverty,
deprivation and danger because it is a fantastic skill to have.
This article is written for “The Great Indian Litterbug (http://greatindian.timesofindia.com/)
Peaceful at Railway Track
