“Nurture” is the focus of today’s Mandala. If you look at the dictionary for the meaning of the word Nurture, it says,” care for and protect (someone or something) while they are growing, help or encourage the development of, to cherish ”
In the present moment, nurturing the young ones in our families is of course very important. It would be wonderful if all the young ones learn how to face difficulties with a Smile on their lips and Hope in their hearts. But for that to happen, the parents and the elders in the family have to be in the right frame of mind, so the children can learn from their example. And that’s why I would like to talk about “Nurturing Oneself ” today.
And how can we go about nurturing our inner selves, our soul? All the precious things in life (like our souls) are delicate and fragile and can be easily contaminated by our thoughts, our actions and by the things or vibes that surround us. So it is extremely important to take extra care to Nurture our souls. Keeping our thoughts pure, praying for others, helping others whenever possible, showing kindness in your actions …..all these can help Nurture our inner beings.
But there’s one more important factor which affects our being, and that is the vibes surrounding us. Unfortunately, in the modern times, we seem to be flooded with negativity from all directions, especially from the media. These days we are not getting newspapers, but in recent years, I have had a peculiar experience after reading the newspaper. I would get up in a happy state after a good night’s sleep, but my mood would be spoilt after breakfast. I would either be anxious or stressed out or angry. When this situation kept repeating itself, I tried to analyse what was happening, and realised that reading the newspaper was making me unhappy or totally stressed out! Further analysis revealed to me most of news these days predicts an impending doom (even in normal times) or focusses on all the negatives that are happening around. Anything positive is either not reported or it is overshadowed by the overwhelming negative news. That is when I decided to stop reading the newspaper. I still receive it daily, but use it for solving Sudoku or other puzzles. Occasionally, I am tempted to read the newspaper on the breakfast table, but invariably, the result is the same. I do think that someone in media should think of publishing a “GOOD NEWS” newspaper, focusing on the encouraging things happening all over the world.
The other source of profound negativity can be Television, especially the News & the serials! Luckily for us, we don’t have a television in our home for more than 13 -14 years (and I don’t miss it !!). But whenever I happen to watch news or political discussions during my visit to someone’s house, I am convinced that these are THE MOST VIOLENT programmes on TV. The way the reporters are yelling at the top of their voices, the way the same horrible video clips are being thrust at you again and again, I feel as if I am drowning in a tsunami of negativity! But in many homes, even very young children are exposed to this negativity day in and day out. No wonder then if they grow up to be insensitive adults! Do we really need to take in all this unnecessary news which makes us angry, depressed, insecure and provokes the feelings of hatred? I sincerely feel that if we want to Nurture our souls, we need to make a conscious decision to stay away from this.
The same is true with many whatsapp and other social media posts and videos. Some of the posts are full of hatred, but are still forwarded many times. All such posts can play a big role in creating communal disharmony and in propagating negativity. I believe that as responsible citizens, it’s our duty to stop forwarding such posts. Not only that, we should stop viewing such posts to maintain the purity of our souls.
Avoiding all such negativity is the first step towards Nurturing ourselves and I am sure all of us can do it ! Once we start surrounding ourselves with positive vibes, it becomes easier to go on to the next steps.
I would like to share a part of an Osho discourse in which he has talked about the next steps.
*मंगल कामना* एक ध्यान विधि…
बुद्ध अपने भिक्षुओं से कहते थे कि तुम चौबीस घण्टे, राह पर कोई दिखे उसकी मंगल की कामना करना।
वृक्ष भी मिल जाए तो उसकी मंगल की कामना करके उसके पास से गुजरना।
पहाड़ भी दिख जाए तो मंगल की कामना करके उसके निकट से गुजरना।
राहगीर दिख जाए अनजान, तो उसके पास से मंगल की कामना करके राह से गुजरना।
एक भिक्षु ने पूछा, इससे क्या फायदा?
बुद्ध ने कहा, इसके दो फायदे हैं।
पहला तो यह कि तुम्हें गाली देने का अवसर न मिलेगा।
तुम्हें बुरा खयाल करने का अवसर न मिलेगा।
तुम्हारी शक्ति नियोजित हो जाएगी मंगल की दिशा में।
और दूसरा फायदा यह कि जब तुम किसी के लिये मंगल की कामना करते हो तो तुम उसके भीतर भी रिजोनेंस, प्रतिध्वनि पैदा करते हो।
वह भी तुम्हारे लिए मंगल की कामना से भर जाता है।
– ओशो
