Zen: The Art of Nothing

I came across a very interesting short story named ‘The Undomestic Goddess’, yesterday. It is the story of a very successful, top lawyer, who runs away from her life when she realises that she made a huge mistake. She takes up a job as a housekeeper in a small village, thinking that she’d go back the moment things were set right. Instead, she learns an entire new way of life – where the stress is absent and the weekends are free.

She later realises that she had been framed. She goes back and reclaims her dignity, but finally returns to her $500 per week housekeeper job, as opposed to the $500 per hour she was earning before.

It is a realisation that comes to a very select, lucky few. A lot of people I know, spend their youth toiling away day and night, oblivious to the meaning of fun, love and joy. Today, enjoyment means smoking a cigarette, downing half a dozen pegs, and letting ones hair down and partying. I genuinely pity people who have to knock themselves out of their senses so that they can pretend to themselves that they are enjoying.

We all celebrate Independence day here in India, but we are all still slaves. We are still so financially insecure, that we just want more and more money. Irrespective of what it costs us. A lot of people I know, are going to wake up one day, realise that they have nothing but money left with them anymore.

Ask yourself this question. If you died tomorrow, or even this very instant, would you regret it? If your answer is not a definite NO, you have some rethinking to do.

The Bhagwad Geeta says that youth is the time one should spend earning. Not just money, but relationships, love, respect and experience – of LIVING life. If all your money was lost today, would you have any other riches left?

“If I was in his place, I wouldn’t have done that” How often do we use that statement, albeit in different forms? It sounds very reassuring to make a statement like that, but the fact is, if we were in someone else’s place, we’d be doing exactly what they do, no matter how stupid it looks to us.

Every individual is a product of the circumstances in their past, both this life and the previous. Little things that happen during our childhood mould our outlook in life. When we undergo different types of experiences, we subconsciously form different types of opinions. As we grow older, we slowly form our behaviour pattern based on these instances. A child who had to cry out everytime he needed something, will grow up with the opinion that one never gets anything unless one throws a tantrum – and this is how he will deal with every similar circumstance.

Somewhere down the line though – when there is a change of environment or people, we need to unlearn these lessons and form new behaviour patterns again. This is where almost all of us falter. We reapply our childhood lessons to adult situations, and leave the door to misery wide open.

If someone reacts in a particular way to a situation, he has his entire past to blame for it. And therefore, if you ever comment that you would have reacted differently if you were someone else, think again. You are a product of a totally different set of circumstances.

Some of us are lucky to realize, that we don’t really have to be a product of our circumstances – we can choose to unlearn lessons, choose to learn lessons from others. Ironically, this realization too, is a product of our circumstances!