the shraddha-full mind

we are trying to figure out what shraddha is. it is a topic so close to my heart that a day doesnt pass without me thinking if i have enough of it.

i grew up hearing this word often enough from my parents. and at that time my understanding of the word was in its basic and common meaning. my mother tongue is malayalam and this word 'shraddha' means putting your attention to whatever you are doing. mom used to say, do it with shraddha and you will not make mistakes. after so many years, i find the word staring me in the face yet again and this time in its true sanskrit form and honestly i didnt think it would have so much profundity.

my swamiji quotes the Gita when he speaks of shraddha saying that it is a man with shraddha who attains jnana. for the uninitiated, jnana actually means knowledge, wisdom or even self realisation. the Gita equals an attentive mind to a knowledgable one. the Gita says, if man has his senses under control and exercises shraddha in all that he does, he would be able to attain jnana. swamiji goes a step further by saying that not only do you need to keep your senses under control, you also need to find joy in everything that you are doing be it a small job or the most serious one. he says if you do not find joy in everything that you do it means that you do not have shraddha. and if you dont have enough shraddha, you are not giving enough importance to jnana. makes sense?

we were discussing this matter in our satsang on sunday and sugi actually made a very pertinent statement. she said maybe shraddha is all about being NOW! being in the present moment! and yes, it is. how can you have shraddha if you are not in the present moment? krish gave us an example of how a student went up to his zen sifu asking to be elevated to the sifu status. the sifu just asked him one question and the student was baffled. the sifu asked him, when you came into my room on which side of the door did you leave your foot wear? the student had to think a moment and contemplate whether it was the right or the left. it straightaway goes to show that the student did not have enough shraddha. he was not in the present moment.

shraddha is so important in every aspect of our everyday life. it is more often the little details that make you stand out as having shraddha. a neat and tidy person can come across as boring and unexciting but the shraddha that the person has towards being all that speaks volumes about the person that he/she is. we are all shraddha-full in our own little ways. i call it selective shraddha. uncle avg in our centre thrives on getting us the best bananas for breakfast. ram is so shraddha-full of the flowers and the way we offer those petals to swamiji. joey has this no compromise shraddha when it comes to anything and everything with regards to swamiji. letz is irritatingly tidy, methodical and very neat with his appearance, his work and the way he speaks. thats his selective shraddha.

my shraddha for details irritates everyone. i might not put the light off when i leave a room or even lock the door when i leave but i will know if the furniture is not in a straight line or if my bathroom is not the way i want it to be. little things like giving and receiving a firm handshake would tell me volumes about the person on the other end. similarly my shraddha for looking a person in the eye when talking! they are little details but they are my selective shraddhas. words spoken is another area where shraddha is so important. more often than not, it is not so much what you say that is important; it is how you say it. i never used to give this area much of an attention as i was always a very direct and matter of fact person. i still am very direct and matter of fact but i am learning to put more shraddha into the way words are delivered because it makes such a big difference to the person hearing it.

shraddha, thank god, can be developed! so lets get going people. lets not be selective anymore. lets have more shraddha and lets develop it in every aspect of our life.

my swamiji says, shraddha is to be cultivated with a view to discover one's own disharmonies, distractions, slips and inattentions and to remove them outright. So, everyday, every moment from now on, i want you to do whatever is to be done, joyfully and lovingly. do whatever is necessary, and do it well!

we have the cue, wait no more!