Continue with caution. Guaranteed to frustrate you no end!
Some years back while still in school, we were made to recite Swami Sivananda’s Universal Prayer every Saturday morning. The lines
O’ Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love,
Salutations and Prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient,
Thou art Sat-Chid-Ananda, Thou art the in-dweller of all beings!Grant us an understanding heart,
Equal vision, balanced mind,
Faith, devotion and wisdom…
still rings in my mind every now and then. This prayer helped me through my student days to stay focused on the immediate goal – tests, exams.
But, how times change!?
In my pursuit of a living, I usually forget that joy, prosperity, “happyness” is a function of my own inner-peace (yeah, Kung-Fu Panda!). Which, I had in plenty – way back then! Now, not a day passes without me getting frustrated about something. Be it a domestic attention or an assignment at work, be while at home or on the road, be it when awake or when asleep, some or the other event gets my goat.
I find I’m not alone in getting frustrated so often and about everything. In fact every second person I speak to nowadays, has an axe to grind. About their work, family, friends, cricket, politics, economy and even about failings in the latest movies!
Amongst my various efforts to find succour, dwelling upon the above prayer has been a frequent and sincere attempt to find my lost inner-peace. But events beyond my control or even participation continuously drive me crazy. So much, that I am frustrated about being always frustrated! 😀
A few other attempts at curing my fetish of getting frustrated are trying to blank my mind, piping the latest film music at a very high volume directly into my ears – so that all the frustration in the air do not get into me, etc.
Now, if the spelling mistake in the title of this monologue didn’t get you frustrated, hope the rant has woken your frustrations to a small extent!
PS: This is an experimental piece. If it has frustrated you or woken up your hidden frustrations, please accept my apologies.
When we were kids, we had to recite regular prayers in the outfield and inside the classroom, we had to recite Rabindranath Tagore’s “Where the mind is without fear”. Since it was inside the classroom, it used to resonate a lot and at the end, it used to create pin-drop silence atmosphere.
In college, prayers got even more better. Even today, whenever I meditate I use those college prayers.
One good thing about frustration is that it can be converted to another form. I believe, like energy, frustration can be converted to a feeling. Artists do that. They paint, they compose, don’t they ?
Recently a friend of mine convinced me into his thought, “Life’alli Meaning ashte alla maga, feeling irbeku”. So, when Team India loses to England 5-0, I feel pain but no frustration.