Category: acceptance

There’s loads of people in India that believe in the concept of evil eye.

There’s many people in other countries too that believe in it.

Most other people, especially youngsters though ridicule such beliefs, terming them nothing more than superstitions.

Which is true?

It’s hard to say. And it is impossible to change how others perceive us. Even if we work our backsides off for achieving something, others will see only the success, and not the blood-sweat-tears that went into it. This breeds jealousy and hatred and in turn evil eyes.

So what to do? A wise self-realized soul once told me that chanting Hanuman Chalisa is more than enough to thwart and ward off all the evil eyes in the world. What more can one ask for?!

The recently concluded Golden Globes happened with a lot of fanfare. As always, I’m guessing. It’s always the same, very high profile event, and rightfully so. I don’t follow it, and hence the “guess”.

It happens every year, and everything is great.

But one specific Golden Globe event stood out for me. The 2016 one.

Jim Carrey won a Golden Globe that year. It was his second Golden. And you know what he said in his speech?

"When I dream, I don't dream any old dream. No sir, I dream of winning a 3rd Golden Globe. Because then it'll be enough."

While part of the audience was laughing, another part was ruminating the power of his words. Jim wasn’t just joking, but also passing on a critical message. When is enough, truly enough?

There’s a nice Turkish TV series called Sahsiyet, which apparently translates to Persona.

It’s about an ex-judiciary employee who starts to suffer from Alzheimer’s. And then decides to consider his lack of memory as lack of a conscience, allowing himself to kill those who he believes have wronged, but who have not received appropriate justice.

This is just the intro plot, which you’ll figure out in the first 15 minutes, so a lot more happens through the series.

One specific scene early on is super.

A post-mortem specialist is working on a body in the morgue. The guy is totally chilled out, enjoying his work, cutting up a dead body, whilst coolly sipping on his coffee. And then he remarks:

"It's so much easier to be here with the dead. Because the dead can't harm anybody, at least not anymore. But the living? The hard part is to get used to the living!"

How true, isn’t it?

Here’s what I came across while glancing through today’s newspaper:

• Flying chunks from a construction site hit two bystanders, a mother and son, and kills both instantly
• A truck full of soldiers falls into a deep ravine and they all die
• A father is killed by his sons because of an alleged affair, and they burn his body in his own furnace where he used to make snacks
• An actress commits suicide because a co-actor threatened her
• A 3 year old died when he fell 5 floors as he was trying to climb a staircase where a glass safety panel was missing
• 8 temple pilgrims die in car mishap

I did not even have to look past the first 2 pages for the paper for this. If you are reading this and have not faced something so gruesome, then you have the protection of your Guru and the Lord. All we can do is to smile and bask in that good fortune and dedicate our lives to Both of Them.

This term, Uketamo, is a new one that I came across recently.

It is the core philosophy followed by the Yamabushi, who are mountain dwellers in Japan.

Uketamo means, “I humbly accept with an open heart.”

Was expecting a promotion or bonus or wonderful party at home or kids’ exam topping results or spouse’s career advancement or whatever else – but, that didn’t happen? No problem at all, because, “Uketamo”, which means, I humbly accept with an open heart.

What is Uketamo doing here? It is teaching us to accept that which we cannot change. Doesn’t mean we should try or put in our best efforts. But despite all that, sometimes things don’t work the way we think they should. In such cases, it’s okay. Just take a deep breath and Uketamo!