In preparation for my trip, yesterday I moved the contents of my flat into a storage unit on an industrial estate in South London. It was quite humbling to see all my wordly goods crammed into a 40ft/12m sq box. I was less impressed when I realised the cost of storing it all could easily sustain me in India for a month or so.
These possessions felt a bit like a millstone. No matter how many trips I’ve made to charity shops, it’s like lava flow – it’s all-pervading. I was at a satsang at the London Sivananda Centre at the weekend and Swami Krishnadevananda was talking about the importance of simple living and it was Gandhi who described his ideal lifestyle as “simple living, high thinking.”
In the West, we often we turn to material possessions for happiness but we forget that happiness can be found within. We become attached to these items and what they say about us: “I’ve got a huge flatscreen TV therefore I’m successful” or “I read intellectual books therefore I’m educated” but it’s really just our ego and we’re masking our true self.
It’s like in meditation. The Tibetan Lama Sogyal Rinpoche talks about how clouds obscure the blue sky beyond. The clouds are our thoughts, getting in the way of the blue sky or our ‘true nature’. By calming our mind, the clouds are lifted and we reconnect with who we really are.
So there you go. Who’d have thought that a warehouse in Wimbledon could allow us to think about the teachings of such great minds. In the meantime, next Friday I’m off to Thailand for two months to do more teacher training. I’ll then be visiting Sri Lanka and India and I look forward to keeping you all updated!
Om shanti.