by Gurani Anjali
Om satyam shivam sundaram. Everything is pure, everything is beautiful. Sarvam anandam. Everything is blissful. Sarvam duhkham. Everything is also suffering. Suffering and anandam are united. They make up the whole. What is bliss and what is suffering? Who is blissful and who is suffering? This is the great search! This is the great question. Who is suffering and who is in bliss? Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham. To know this is the great journey, so that we may rest. Be in peace, so that we may let others rest in peace. Who is blissful? Who is suffering? We have asked the question a million times: “Why am I suffering? Why am I feeling so much pain? Why do I have to work so hard? Why is it that I feel I have nothing. Why, oh why, oh why?” We’ve all asked that question. Haven’t you? So let’s change that to who is suffering and who is happy. Who? Sarvam duhkham, sarvam anandam. Everything is blissful. Everything is suffering. To know it is to really know it!
Do you want to know? Yes, you have no choice, but to know. This is your birthright. You must know. You just have no choice. Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham. Anandam is bliss; duhkham is suffering. Who is suffering? Who is blissful, happy content, rejoicing, celebrating, dancing, singing, going hiking, playing, talking, being excited? Who is it?
Who is suffering? Who is crying? Who wants to kill themselves? Who wants to destroy? Who wants to beat somebody up? Who wants to get totally inebriated? Who wants to forget it all? Who wants to become mindless, thoughtless? Who wants to have brain damage? Suffering, that is suffering. Who is fearful, afraid of loss? Who is afraid of someone stealing their car, money, of getting everything taken away? Who is afraid of being molested, raped, killed, destroyed, humiliated? Who is that?
Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham. This is our birthright, to know that. It takes a lifetime to know that. It doesn’t come easy. So many monuments have been built. So many philosophers have lived, so much has been written on the subject of life and death and existence, so much written about the cosmos, the galaxy, the universe, so much written about male and female relationships, about child development. So much written about doing the right thing, so much written about dos and don’ts and how’s and whys, so much written about if you do this, you’ll get that, loss and gain. Who is it that is suffering? Who is it that is blissful? Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham – Who is that?
Let’s hurry up on this journey. Let’s get together fast and learn where it really is at. Who is suffering? Who is rejoicing? Who is loving? Who is fighting? Who is hugging? Who is kissing? Who is holding hands? Who is embracing? Who is letting go? Who is saying, ‘This is mine,” and ‘That is yours.” Who? Don’t be afraid of knowing. You must know. You have to know and when you do then you can accomplish great things.
The dance of life is a great dance. Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham. We have to learn to know the who in the pleasure and the pain, in the laughter and the tears, in the sleeping and the waking, in the walking and the talking, in the going and the coming, in the sitting and the standing, in the giving and the taking. Sarvam anandam, sarvam duhkham. Who is rejoicing? Who is suffering? Who? Who? So the next time you say, “I am aggravated, I am disgusted, really mad,” ask yourself the question, “Who am I?” “Who?”
Throughout the history of civilization, we have been taught to be the embodiment of something. But in the Yogic way of life, we learn to be. Not to be something, but we learn to be. To be still and to know. To breathe the breath of life. If you are something, then you cannot be everything, you have to confine yourself to something. But it is our birthright to be. Don’t confine yourself. Be filled with respect for the other, with respect for the moment at hand, with respect for the mind. Be filled with respect for the great liberator that gives you the discrimination to act in the moment with honor and respect. Uphold the dignity of life. Allow the rhythm of life to continue. Just be. This is what we learn in Yoga—to be. And in being, you become an unblemished gem that will glitter and sparkle no matter where. You don’t have to try too hard.
In being, there is a perfect equilibrium. To be, not aimlessly, not frivolously, not indifferently, but with a great splendor and honor, always with respect in mind. Respect the moment at hand and you will discriminate and act wisely. Not only intelligently, but wisely. Wisdom goes beyond intelligence. It’s one step beyond. Perfect relaxation is in the body. The nervous system is calm. There is no tightness in the solar plexus. Yoga teaches us how to be, be still and know. You have to allow the moment at hand which is devoid of all meaning, to present itself to you. Once it has presented itself to you, you will be shown what to do. So who is suffering and who is blissful? Sarvam anandam and sarvam duhkham. Om shanti.