Speaking Tree: Life of fulfilment

Sohan Baba

It is absurd that for many an Indian sadhu or mendicant has been portrayed in the West as a person begging alms to feed himself. On the other hand Indian rishis have enjoyed the status of rajrishis or royal ascetics, Brahmarshi (Tatpurusha, knower of Brahm jnana or esoteric knowledge) and Maharshi (a teacher of mysticism).

Royalty of a sage is just to exhibit the same state of abundance of Indian mendicants. How can one renunciate without achieving anything in life. Vaibhav se hi to vairagya mein jaya ja sakta hai. (Moving from abundance to detachment or renunciation is alone possible). I can concentrate on the supreme, the five elements of nature on my throne with as much ease as in a shamshan ghat(cremation ground) or an operation theatre. Prosperity comes with cleanliness; cleanliness in surroundings and purity in thoughts. With filth all around, how can one expect royalty to usher in one's life or community. The growing plastic menace in the holy city and Ganga river is symbolic of the poverty. To enjoy life fully, one must take up service to humanity. Performing surgeries on brain malignancies alone in Netherlands (work place of Soham baba) did not give me satisfaction, so I started working in the form of mission serving people in 128 countries.

Mahalakshmi is very much needed if you wish to live for others. To live for others has been my mission. Indian sages of yore were very wise. They introduced such good tradition in our system as the title prefixed with every man is "Shri" and with that of woman is "Shrimati". This denotes the affluence being attached, without denial. Hence one must lead a holistic life of fulfillment. And to lead a fulfilling life, one needs to be transparent in words and deeds. Give due importance to the vaibhav and vairagya. Money must not rule our minds at any moment of life rather it should be the other way round that we must keep money under our thumb.

Theory of neurologist Sigmund Freud is very much apt in this context. Freud proposed a vertical and hierarchical architecture of human consciousness: the conscious mind, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind - each lying beneath the other. Initially the growth pattern of mind is vertical but after reaching a certain state, its growth is horizontal. That means, initially it is aimed at gaining knowledge of new things and after a certain level, one starts distributing what one has earned in knowledge. Thereafter it's the balanced life.

(As told to Geeta Anandi)