Observer 228

Ghandi, one of my greatest heroes, wrote an autobiography, the strap line to which was, ‘My experiments with reality’. His story, I found riveting enough – his struggles with the world and with himself, his non-violent liberation of India from the mighty Raj, the two young girls he would have sleep with him just to test his capacity to resist the desire – (at least that was his version), his habit of fasting and keeping silence on Mondays, so that all communication had to be through written notes – and his discipline of constantly repeating ‘Ram’, the divine, beneath his breath, to the extent that on being shot dead, his last word was ‘Ram’ – but it was that strap line that really did it for me. Imagine seeing your whole life as merely a series of experiments with reality. There are various helpful ways to view the phenomenon of your life. For example, you can see it as one long university course, wherein every situation, whether at work, rest or play, is a different learning module. You can see it as a pilgrimage, a journey towards enlightenment, involving trials and tribulations, challenges and rewards, wherein everyone you meet is a divine messenger in disguise. You can see it as a chance to serve, to contribute something of lasting value to your fellows and descendants, where your reward is to lose yourself in the giving. Or, like Ghandi, you can humbly see it as a mystery, in which, not presuming to understand what’s going on, you conduct all your endeavours as experiments with reality, the outcome of which you’d never dare predict. This requires both a willingness to suspend judgement and an ability to remain compassionately detached as you conduct your affairs, never seeking to draw conclusions, simply being willing to watch and remain engaged. But if you can manage it, if only from time to time, the benefits are potentially huge. No longer do the slings and arrows of life impinge profoundly upon your being, for your being is now no more than the laboratory for your experiments – and what you feel, whether wounded pride or soaring elation, is only a result worth noting. You finally stop taking the way the world treats you personally. No longer is the achievement of your materially rooted goals paramount. Your goal now is simply to enjoy observing events and yourself, as various external forces come into play, causing chemical reactions, producing various emotions and thoughts, and watching what happens without prejudice. Of course, this is difficult – it’s nothing sort of a game for masters (and mistresses), for there are times your fear of the unknown will loom large and scratch away at the edges of your mind until you feel pushed to formulate a viable plan of action. It requires great courage to remain detached from outcomes, especially when facing those inevitable chasms that occur along the way and being required to jump if you wish to continue your journey. And for this you need some level of intrinsic faith that the way the universe works in respect of you, is essentially benevolent, even if you can’t quite see proof of it at the time. But we’re no strangers to these noble qualities of courage and faith – these are basic to our nature. It’s simply a matter of saying, ‘I choose to access my innate courage and faith in this situation now; and you will. After all it’s you who’s controlling this experiment. Talking of experiments, I’m in the midst of conducting one of my own. In my search for more and more instant ways of sharing the healing energy, I’ve decided for the time being to devote more time to my website, where without the restrictions of word count, I can spew forth to my heart’s content on a daily basis, show diagrams of acupuncture points and self-help techniques and can be contacted live in the chat room. And to do that, I’ve elected to cut to the chase and deliver just the pure wisdom here with a relatively shorter weekly column from now on, a plan with which the Observer is graciously supporting me. Of course, it’s my continued intention to edify, inform, comfort and entertain you to the best of my abilities as always – and I hope it hits the spot. TimesGhandi, one of my greatest heroes, wrote an autobiography, the strap line to which was, ‘My experiments with reality’. His story, I found riveting enough – his struggles with the world and with himself, his non-violent liberation of India from the mighty Raj, the two young girls he would have sleep with him just to test his capacity to resist the desire – (at least that was his version), his habit of fasting and keeping silence on Mondays, so that all communication had to be through written notes – and his discipline of constantly repeating ‘Ram’, the divine, beneath his breath, to the extent that on being shot dead, his last word was ‘Ram’ – but it was that strap line that really did it for me. Imagine seeing your whole life as merely a series of experiments with reality. There are various helpful ways to view the phenomenon of your life. For example, you can see it as one long university course, wherein every situation, whether at work, rest or play, is a different learning module. You can see it as a pilgrimage, a journey towards enlightenment, involving trials and tribulations, challenges and rewards, wherein everyone you meet is a divine messenger in disguise. You can see it as a chance to serve, to contribute something of lasting value to your fellows and descendants, where your reward is to lose yourself in the giving. Or, like Ghandi, you can humbly see it as a mystery, in which, not presuming to understand what’s going on, you conduct all your endeavours as experiments with reality, the outcome of which you’d never dare predict. This requires both a willingness to suspend judgement and an ability to remain compassionately detached as you conduct your affairs, never seeking to draw conclusions, simply being willing to watch and remain engaged. But if you can manage it, if only from time to time, the benefits are potentially huge. No longer do the slings and arrows of life impinge profoundly upon your being, for your being is now no more than the laboratory for your experiments – and what you feel, whether wounded pride or soaring elation, is only a result worth noting. You finally stop taking the way the world treats you personally. No longer is the achievement of your materially rooted goals paramount. Your goal now is simply to enjoy observing events and yourself, as various external forces come into play, causing chemical reactions, producing various emotions and thoughts, and watching what happens without prejudice. Of course, this is difficult – it’s nothing sort of a game for masters (and mistresses), for there are times your fear of the unknown will loom large and scratch away at the edges of your mind until you feel pushed to formulate a viable plan of action. It requires great courage to remain detached from outcomes, especially when facing those inevitable chasms that occur along the way and being required to jump if you wish to continue your journey. And for this you need some level of intrinsic faith that the way the universe works in respect of you, is essentially benevolent, even if you can’t quite see proof of it at the time. But we’re no strangers to these noble qualities of courage and faith – these are basic to our nature. It’s simply a matter of saying, ‘I choose to access my innate courage and faith in this situation now; and you will. After all it’s you who’s controlling this experiment. Talking of experiments, I’m in the midst of conducting one of my own. In my search for more and more instant ways of sharing the healing energy, I’ve decided for the time being to devote more time to my website, where without the restrictions of word count, I can spew forth to my heart’s content on a daily basis, show diagrams of acupuncture points and self-help techniques and can be contacted live in the chat room. And to do that, I’ve elected to cut to the chase and deliver just the pure wisdom here with a relatively shorter weekly column from now on, a plan with which the Observer is graciously supporting me. Of course, it’s my continued intention to edify, inform, comfort and entertain you to the best of my abilities as always – and I hope it hits the spot.

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