Vedanta Rocks -9 > Open your eyes to life's sameness in differences

Part 9 of 46

'Ritam Vadishyami’…I will speak the truth contained in all rhythms.

Invocation of Taithiriya Upanishad Each sweep of the broom brings with it a hundred tiny differences. The sound of the sweeping is a rhythm, yet it never sounds the same.

LIFE REPEATS itself endlessly yet nothing is ever the same. Every night turns into day, yet no sunrise is the same. A day has 86,400 seconds, yet no two moments are the same. Our lives are full of endless routine, yet no act, however many times you have done it before, is ever the same.

There is a mindset that seeks out the differences in sameness and there is a set mind that seeks sameness in different things. The first is unique, it is the creative mind. The second is the jaded everyday mind going about its chores, complaining that life is boring.

Which mindset is yours? Do you seek differences in sameness? If you do so, you walk the path of existential truth. You are not only creative, you live the ‘truth contained in all rhythms’.

What is that truth? It is an awareness of the richness, the uniqueness of life and every moment contained in it. You can’t put it into so many words, but you can celebrate it by living it up. A sweeper in a courtyard can feel its joy just as much as a president of a country. Let us celebrate with the sweeper for a moment. Each sweep of the broom brings with it a hundred tiny differences.

The sound of the sweeping is a rhythm, yet it never sounds the same. The moving leaves form a pattern so unique they will never be repeated.

There is an essential uniqueness in each sweep of the broom that can be enjoyed, celebrated.

Sounds like too much hype on a Sunday morning? Then give the broom to a seven-year-old child. Watch the child enjoy each sweep as if it is something fantastic — something out of this world. The child can enjoy the sweeping because it can appreciate the uniqueness of each sweep. It lives out the existential truth contained in rhythms while we struggle to grasp it. The child was you once upon a time. A time when you noticed the
differences in sameness. When you could live, simply, joyously, with no need of any philosophies.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

You can start afresh today. Try it out and see how life changes. Notice the rhythms, the endlessly repeating patterns in your home or workplace, then notice the differences in the sameness.

Start by feeling and doing any one rhythm differently. Whether it’s a hello to your colleague, or the way you start your motorbike or the way you comb your hair or the way you think about a person. Once you get into this groove of seeing and doing the difference, you will start enjoying the uniqueness of each repetitive act and life will open itself again. You will jump out of the jaded mindset and live in a creative joy.

Vedanta rocks. It’s a fountain of natural born wisdom and the next best thing to being a happy child.

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( Source: Mani Shankar/ Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad 1st March 2009 )