Treating the Diseased Roots of the Tree of Love

 

So many times we commit the folly of treating the symptoms instead of the disease’s roots. Suppose there is a tree in poor health. Its leaves dispirited pale and not fresh green. Its canopy hardly able to put shadow on the ground. It just waits for some storm to claim a natural calamity. Then you see somebody nurturing its leaves, pouring water and manure on them and dreamily look forward to greenish luxuriance. Of course it’s a folly. The problem lies in roots, not on the leaves.

That’s how it’s with human lives. We look for solutions on the surface, at the levels where the problems manifest themselves. Little do we realize that the root cause of such problems lies somewhere else. Those who get lynched by the diseased emotions of jealousy, hate, anger, frustration, insecurity and animosity have a problem deep within the self. These negative emotions are just like surface wavelets, mere symptoms of a restless self within. So stop bothering about the effects. Take care of the turbulence inside and these simply vanish. They lose their meaning and become redundant because you no longer entertain the factors that triggered them.

It’s not that the point of serenity doesn’t lie in all of us. It does. Invariably. In fact that is the biggest commonality among homo-sapiens. The only problem is that we tend to forget it and identify ourselves with shallow, shaking waters on or just below the surface. The only effort required is to be aware of this deep, unmoved tranquility inside and accept it as the seat of the real self. Instantly life acquires a new meaning. You can even witness the upheavals, which tortured you earlier like they were you only, as a neutral observer. You look through the mist. You start seeing things as they are instead of what you want them to be.

If the interior is rooted in calmness, poise and control—the elemental tools of love—such diseased leaves won’t sprout on the surface to take a toll on the physio-psychological health. In the depths of the sea, there is a calm world basking in the glory of bluish darkness that stays unmoved. On the surface there are storms and upheavals. The surface tosses and turns as if struck by some mad force. Disturbance is destined to die. But before it dies, it takes casualties like a pyre burns on firewood. Only peace and calmness can be permanent. And surprisingly calmness does not draw on any fuel to sustain its eternity. It’s self sustaining. There are no collateral damages. So isn’t it prudent to dive deep into the womb of serenity to be reborn as a calm child who is in control of his destiny?

Submerge into the cool depths of your real, inner self. Explore your undisturbed waters, your loving nature, your essential self: compassion. In its bluish darkness, you will see a lamp of self-realization. You will clearly see the funny part of surface storms and even laugh at yourself for having been so crazy in the shallow, muddied waters. Don’t waste this precious life in the muddied storms. The pearls of your destiny lie at depths. So brothers and sisters, raise your head above the stormy waters, take in a big breath, dive deep and shake hands with unruffled waters where your real self awaits with the answers to all the root causes of the problems on the surface.

There is a little exercise manual as you decide to dive deep. Practice forgiveness. It’s the most effective potion for healing the self. Since you are an inseparable part of this world, you contribute to heal the world also as you conserve vital energy that otherwise was to be burnt in brooding over hurts and pains.

Once you see through the prism of forgiveness, you will find nature ingrained with the principle of forgetting and forgiveness. If not for them, things will simply burn themselves out after a trigger. Forgiveness has healing properties beyond words. Just imagine even a blade of grass won’t re-grow if the grass isn’t able to forget and forgive after the turf has been trampled. Forgiveness is thus the potent pill of self transformation. It dusts off the negatives you have gathered around your true, loving self.