to vish about orderliness

[Guest guest]

vish wrote;

Namaste all: Maa and Swami teach us a very simple and profound way tolive: Since Mother has given us all these gifts- a body, manybeautiful thnigs, etc, we should be thankful, and keep them in goodcondition. Maa and Swami love orderliness and cleanliness. They viewthe entire world as the body of Mother, and as such, it should be keptclean and tidy. Also, as sadhus, they teach that one should be efficient in everyaction. Don't waste or abuse one's things, then one will not have tospend extra time working to replace or repair them. And, if oneleaves a place in better condition than one finds it, then one helpsothers save time and energy...

Dear vish ~ this touched me in a very deep place. The connection between inner peace and outer orderliness has always been important to me. I really felt this to be an important message so I copied it so that I could print out a copy. Before I was ill, I was a 24/7 person ~ job, art, music, writing, spirituality, community involvement. When I think back on all of this, I am thankful that for much of my life I was able to do actions that I cared about and that I hoped helped others. And, keeping my "nest" orderly also was an aesthetic and spiritual activity.

 

As I have become increasingly more ill, I've had to leave more and more of my prior life behind. First my job went, but I was still able to do my art and music and some community involvement work. Then the community involvement went. Then my music went ~ I was no longer able to sing because the Fibromyalgia gave me muscular degeneration in my vocal chords. Now, finally, it seems my art has also gone. As these aspects of my identity fell away, I became less and less able to keep my "nest" tidy and orderly. Eventually, I had to learn to accept a certain amount of disorder (which meant usually tolerating whomever I was living with at the time and the difference in my view and theirs ... most people can tolerate a lot more disorder than

I can).

 

This lack of orderliness in my environment I feel reveals the lack of orderliness in my thoughts, feelings and spiritual practice. I am still too easily buffeted around by the opinions of others, especially my family. What you wrote gave me an idea ... that practicing orderliness in my outer environment could also help me find more orderliness within. Recently, I just couldn't stand it any more, so I cleaned the outer ledges of my bath tub. I was inclined to be irritated with myself for only being able to do that much. But in the end, I achieved something and was happy even to have done so little.

 

Something like cleaning off the counter of the sink in my bathroom (which is really big, kind of like the counters in hotel bathrooms) was so overwhelming that I couldn't imagine how to even start. I know I cannot do it all in one cleaning spree. Cleaning sprees are no longer part of my life. But I have thought, well, one day I could do this side, clean and dust my baskets and the surface of the counter, and then, another day I could do the other side. I still felt angry with myself for not being able to do something so simple all at once. But I believe I am going to take the example you've given, and the words of Maa and Swamiji, and just tackle one small thing each day, and that will be part of my sadhana.

 

Maybe I can only tidy up one shelf, or just clean the sink ... but if I do it with intention and acceptance, and offer it as sadhana, that will help me so much. Also, as hard as it is to accept, I do believe that the dropping away of so much of what I thought of as my identity is really an opportunity to become more in touch and aligned with who I really am. At least, I hope so.

 

Again, thank you, and thank Maa and Swamiji for their profound teachings ~ LindaGet fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.