Sunday 8 February 2015

"Forget it !"


     It happens quite often, that we forget something, and then face huge embarrassment.   Spectacles, keys, umbrella, are very common objects being forgotten.  Some forgets cell phones, purses, and other valuables also. The height was, when one of my friend routinely visited another place in his new car, and while coming  back, came by bus. He was so used to travelling by bus than by car, that after reaching home he realized that he forgot his Car !. I know of another person who was excitedly travelling on Motor cycle from Pune to Mumbai, with a friend.  They stopped at one place to take nature’s call.  When he reached  Mumbai he realized that his pillion rider was ‘forgotton’ on the way, about 80 km behind !. You will laugh at it saying, “This is too much”. However, these are real incidences, and you will agree, that everyone comes across such incidences of forgetfulness. For example, forgetting where car is parked in big parking lots,  or  not able to locate the correct lane or address, or something or the other. The consequences are same.  The wrath of family members, the bitter comments and unsolicited   ‘advises’, and   the conclusion that how aging is taking its toll on you !
     
     Now, you need not worry about such things at all!  
    
    I came across a very interesting  article  about ‘absent mindedness’ in today’s  Times of India. The startling conclusion of the article was that, there is nothing wrong being absent minded. Far from being negative, it is a desirable state that everyone can or should, aspire to!

   Isn’t it interesting? I was also impressed by the article in ‘O-Zone’ in today’s  Times of India, and would like to share some thoughts from it.
   
   “Creative people are most notorious for their absent-mindedness. Several anecdotes revolve around Albert Einstein and Sir Issac Newton.  Einstein once called the University he worked at to ask for his own address! Newton would forgetfully keep visitors waiting for hours, and had to be reminded to eat!   
     Children are reprimanded for day dreaming and taught the virtues of staying focussed.  But, wait a minute. Who says that to be absent-minded is to lack in focus? The absence of mind just means the mind is meandering through fascinating labyrinths that are invisible to the open eye. Or, that it is focussed on something else that is not of this world – an elusive element that we seek to chase, understand, grasp and perhaps bring into this world as poetry, writing, a sketch, a unique thought, or a great discovery! It points to a mindlessness that allows us to soak up experiences and knowledge that too much mindfulness of the present reality cannot give us.”
     
     So now be assured and feel proud to possess those traits of great people !

    The word “naman” in Sanskrit, means ‘to pray or bow down before (God)’.  ‘‘Na-man’’ means ‘no mind’.  The purpose ‘‘naman’’ is to jettison the baggage of thoughts and become ‘mind less’.  That is the state of Samadhi.  When an artist (say, a dancer) is so engrossed that she, and her performance becomes one and the same. When the creator and creation becomes one, the state of meditation or a divine state is achieved. The  above articles  says, “When you become mindless, you unite with the Universal flow, allowing right brain to take over”.

   
   If this is all becoming too much, just forget it!  Enjoy those moments of forgetfulness, as well.  Instead of pressing panic button, laugh out saying ‘It happens’, and relax.