MIRACLES IV

The mind is everything. 

What you think you become.

- Buddha

INTERACTION WITH A PERSON FROM REHAB

Although the noble silence had to be followed strictly and the dhammasevaks used to keep a strict watch on us, we were at times successful in talking with the other meditators. All of us were anyways kids, who had by accident landed in this place. Anyone who is willing to go to such a camp should go with a prepared mind, because following rules will yield better effects.

One day while in Ashram, I talked to one of the fellow meditators.

He asked me, “Why are you here?”

I told him my story. He looked quite surprised. So, I asked him, “Why are you here?”

He said, “I was first in a jail and then in a rehabilitation center. Now I have come here.”

I was confused. I asked him, “Why were you in jail?”

He replied, “I had struck a person with a beer bottle.”

I did not know what to say. For the first time in my life, I had encountered a so-called “criminal”.

He does not look like a criminal. He appears to be a normal person like the many others we encounter in life. In fact, he appears to belong to well-off family and seems to be educated.

I was still not sure what to say. But, the silence was making me feel uncomfortable. So, I asked him, “Why did you hit your friend?”

He replied, “He had said something which enraged me. And, I was drunk and could not control my anger.”

He is calmly accepting his mistake. This rarely happens. It is always the case that people tend to justify their misdeeds. However, he was accepting what he had done.

“Where is your friend now?”

“He is in a hospital.”

“What do you plan to do after this meditation camp?”

Without much thought, he said, “I don’t know. Whatever my dad tells me to do.”

I don’t know from where these words emanated. But, I found myself saying, “You should go visit your friend and tell him that you are sorry.”

He smiled and told me, “You sound like my father!”

Once again, I did not know what to say.

The lesson of the story is simple. Every human being has a potential sage and a potential demon inside him. It is our attitude that determines what we become. With the help of meditation that attitude can be developed, which is what this person was doing.

VIPASSANA IN PRISON


Kiran Bedi, the first woman IPS Officer, was in 1990s taking care of the Tihar Jail. It was her belief that the people in prison needed to be rehabilitated instead of being punished. She was on a look out for a way to do that, when a constable told her about Vipassana.

First, she learned the meditation herself, then she made many policemen learn it and later it was taught to the prisoners of the Tihar. Tihar was transformed into an Ashram.

For better explanation, watch the Documentary: Doing Time, Doing Vipassana. or read http://www.prison.dhamma.org/tihar.htm

MEDITATION INSIDE THE PAGODA

the pagoda

You can see a picture of a pagoda here. A pagoda had many small circular cubicle-kind of rooms. After 4/5 days, a meditator is sent inside a pagoda where he/she is supposed to sit and practice the meditation technique. However, we were kids aged 14 – 19. When we were asked to go inside the pagoda to meditate, some of the kids started running, shouting and laughing. The dhammasevaks tried in vain to control them. After some time they asked us to go back to the meditation hall and continue our practice there.

THE EVENINGS

The evening time was allotted to us for walks. We were told that the Buddha also walked in the evenings. However, simply walking was not something we wanted to do. So, we passed by each other and smiled. We also talked whenever possible. At times, I drew images on the sand. Drawing a simple hut with a river flowing near-by gave me intense happiness. I did all the things which I liked in my childhood and had somehow forgotten. In fact, I even made a bow and an arrow using the wood. Without the dhammasevaka noticing, we played some sword-fights as well.

The saying - ‘happiness lies in small things of life’ - was materializing in front of us.

THE AFTER EFFECTS

The after-effects of this practice were clearly visible to my family. 

Earlier, my anger was uncontrollable. If someone did something to me, I was ready to beat back or take revenge. That feeling was too intense. And, if I could not take revenge, I used to feel very bad about it. After the camp, my anger subsided down. I became more compassionate. My anger was reduced to such a level that my brother - who used to enjoy teasing me and making me angry - was puzzled.

The practice strengthened my sub-conscious to such an extent that even in my dreams, if I had some conflict with someone, I asked the person to remain calm while resolving the conflict.

Then, there were some interesting incidents. This particular incident offers a lot of reasons why I should have been angry or irritated.

One day, my brother went by my scooter to some place at the time when I was supposed to go to my music classes. Instead of feeling bad, I lifted up my bicycle and started going towards my music classes, somewhere 6 kms from my house. On the way (around 2kms ahead), my cycle got punctured. I could not find any cycle-shop to get it repaired. I retraced my steps and went back home dragging my cycle till home. When I came back home, I quietly went in to my room and started reading newspaper. I did not feel that anything bad had happened. It was my mom who said, ‘आज तो तुझ पर विपश्यना का असर दिखा गया |’. My usual response at the end of such a situation would have been very bad. I would have lost my temper. I would have blamed my brother, who took the scooter with him. But, here I was sitting calmly in the room reading newspaper. There have been many similar incidents.

THE MIRACLE

What was my biggest miracle?

‘My anger gone’ was the biggest miracle. It was something that I had thought was not possible. For 17 years, my mom had tried in vain to make me understand that I needed to control my anger – at times by a small talk and at times by being stern. I did not and could not change. And in 7 days, there was a sudden change. What could I call it if not A MIRACLE.

PRACTICAL BENEFITS

It gives you a balanced-mind. A balanced mind has an enormous potential. It is said and widely believed today - 'In a healthy mind resides a healthy body'. Till some time back, we only believed that the converse of this was true. But, scientific evidence has now reaffirmed what had been told long ago by the propagators of the wisdom. 

Can Vipassana cure physical or mental diseases?

Many diseases are caused by our inner agitation. If the agitation is removed, the disease may be alleviated or disappear. But learning Vipassana with the aim of curing a disease is a mistake that never works. People who try to do this waste their time because they are focusing on the wrong goal. They may even harm themselves. They will neither understand the meditation properly nor succeed in getting rid of the disease. [Source: http://www.dhamma.org/en/qanda.shtml]

Even if one does not have any disease, a mind which is balanced and has INNER PEACE is capable of facing any situation; like Po the Panda who after attaining Inner Peace is able to catch and deflect the cannon-balls with his bare hands. (in the movie Kung Fu Panda 2)

The mistake which I did was that I did not continue the practice. And, if one does not continue the practice, the mind tends to return back to old habits. 

For me, the path lies in starting the practice again.

For my reader, the path lies in believing in this ancient wisdom. 

(The final episode will connect all the dots and present my objective of narrating this experience. I will also post some of the photographs of this Ashram. I will related my experience to Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol and another bestseller book The Secret. I will also relate it to Rudyard Kipling's poem If. The ancient wisdom that was dawned on me made me believe in many seemingly maverick theories. The wisdom is a true one. That we don't understand it fully is our limitation, not the limitation of the wisdom itself. Our ancient scientists were far more advanced than they seem to be today. Stay tuned for the last episode will further challenge your perception about the world.)