I had an epiphany in the shower from having shampoo sting my eyes tonight. As my eyes burned unbearably, I only shut it tighter until I realized the cool water finding its way through the tiny openings on the side was only serving to heal it and dilute the irritant out of my eyes. It took me a few seconds to realize I was actually better off letting the water in rather than shutting my eyes shut. Duh! Strange somehow, that in theory I've known this all along, but everytime something falls in my eye, my first instinct is to shut it tight. And make things worse for myself.

And how true that is of learning and growing in general. Tough situations make us, or me, at first want to crawl inside and retreat and wish the problem away. Being open to fresh insight and accepting wisdom, be that from any source, is the the real solution and true cure. And as I reap of that understanding, my willingness to open up and receive the knowledge being shared all around increases rapidly. Well, not really an epiphany, but a reiteration of a basic tenet I suppose, but I thought I'd share. With it, an adage in Tamil that sums this up nicely.

'பாட பாடத்தான் ராகம்; மூட மூடத்தான் ரோகம்.'

(pAda pAdatthAn rAgam; mUda mUdatthAn rOgam)

It roughly translates to, practice makes perfect and denial impedes healing; it is only by repeatedly singing and elaborating on a raag does one appreciate its nuances, and a melody born of it. Conversely, it is by concealing a problem and pretending it doesn't exist that an illness grows and worsens irreversibly.

Divine interventions

And miracle coincidences seem to abound; I am only stunned by how many I might have missed by simply not opening myself out to receive them. Some, however, require no such effort; they are truly and explicitly just that and are handed to you on a golden platter. Many months ago, sometime last year, I had heard a lecture by a monk and had been struck by the ordinary circumstances and some not so ordinary, but extremely disturbing and saddening situations in his life through which he had realized the underlying truth of love and unity. At the time I inspired by the sense of peace that pervaded his being and the aura he seemed to radiate; an aura that brought some of that peace to permeate my being...
Last week as I struggled to embrace peace, I searched online for his lectures to find one that might speak specifically to this inner process of transforming angst to peace and acceptance. I found many inspiring talks on unconditional love of all and devotion to truth, yet not exactly the thing I was looking for. This afternoon, I find, two friends who remembered how moved I was by the Swamiji's presence, saved a copy of his autobiography he recently completed, for me. I am moved beyond words by this act of kindness and the divinity behind it.