The satsang series which I have been giving here in Tiruvannamalai has now been running for one week. A part of me wants to assess: How is it going? I guess this is a very unenlightened question but if it comes into the mind, what to do?
Firstly, I have been completely relaxed during the satsangs, that’s a good sign. And as I didn’t know what to expect, I have not been feeling any frustration, there have been no feelings of disappointment.
Existence has a quirky sense of humour though. On the one hand, it gave me a large terrace, with the best view possible of the mountain Arunachala, on which to hold the satsangs: Perfect! Then, a day or two in, the construction work started. The bangings and hammerings have been getting steadily louder, day by day, ever since. The loudest of it comes from some sort of cold welding, where pieces of metal are hit with a big hammer to fuse them together, to make grilled panels which in any other country would be bought off the shelf. India is certainly unique!
So, the satsangs have not been taking place in a peaceful environment: Imperfect?
For me, the challenge in such situations is to remain total, unfragmented. Of course, I could look for another venue, which would be fine if I felt to do so with all my being. But I don’t because I still like the view and anyway, I am a lazy fellow. So the alternatives are to change the time of the satsangs; No, I’m not totally into that option; Or to cancel the satsangs; No; Or to carry on, living with the noise. Yes. That feels right to me, so far at least. And having “decided” such, can I live it, with totality, without any feeling of antagonism arising in me when the noise is present? In other words, can the feeling of imperfection disappear, once the “decision” has arisen? So far, it would seem so, thank heavens.
But a part of me can’t help wondering: How hard and loud is the hammering going to get?
