5 Meditations for Dushera
This week we celebrate the Ramayana, the epic from India that centers around the kidnapping and rescue of Princess Sita. Although we may not have a prince or a princess to rescue we often have to rescue our own selves - perhaps from some bad habits that are destroying our lives, or from the mode of passion that keeps us fearful and anxious, or the ultimate rescue of our true spirit self from the cycle of birth and death (samsara) and our return to the spiritual world.
Even a partial reading of the Ramayana can give us lots of inspiration (link below) and here are 5 meditations to start with:
Learn to Take Help - once we are sincere about making changes for the better in our life, help will always show up. Learn to receive it with grace. When Rama set out with Laxman on his journey to find Sita it was just the two of them. By the time they reached Lanka they had an army of monkeys and other creatures helping. All help along the way help was accepted with gratitude and all played an important part in the successful rescue.
Look for Heroes - a hero is someone who gives us hope. They don’t need to wear a cape or be famous, and in fact it’s the ones who live close to us, who are part of our lives, that are the heroes. So often in the Ramayana it was Laxman, Rama’s younger brother, who gave reassurance and hope to Rama when he felt lost. Find and appreciate the heroes in your life - and stay close to them.
Have Patience - it took time to find Sita. There were many detours along the way to help others not directly related to the rescue mission. But helping others blessed their journey, as it does ours.
Everyone Matters - sometimes we only see the big supporters in our life, but everyone matters, big and small. How many times a smile has made us feel better, a thank you, or an unexpected gift? Just by the small act of listening, we can make a person feel valued and strengthened in their resolve to keep going. When Rama's army were building the very big bridge to Lanka Hanuman was carrying huge boulders for it and he dismissed the service of the small squirrels carrying some pebbles. Rama overheard and immediately corrected Hanuman - every service is valuable and needed and received by Me.
Never Give Up - there may be many setbacks, many struggles, many doubts we encounter in our personal rescue mission to grow, evolve, and uncover our true self. It is doable and many have done it before us. Rama didn’t give up until he found Sita, Hanuman didn’t give up, Bharat didn’t give up. And neither should we. Our soul self, the conscious me deep within, covered by many layers of material energy, is waiting to be rescued. Let the journey continue!
Read the Ramayana here - https://www.vedabase.com/en/rkd
