Richmond Hill, Ontario
"A MEEK MOUSE"
Naresh is from Kashmir and he's 59 today. Some of us members of the Krishna community descended upon his home (by invitation) to celebrate the occasion with chanting and a tasty grainless feast. An additional spontaneous feature to the event also manifested. I'll explain.
Most of the attendees to the lively program are seasoned followers which means they have been participating for thirty years average. Seeing that much experience was in our midst instead of a small talk delivered by myself to address the group I thought let's try a game at interaction. I proposed to the group to open-up with a topic and deliver one minute of a message on that topic and then go around the room asking each person to continue with the theme expounding on the message. One person blurted out, "I'm too nervous." So our topic was obvious, "Nervousness - Why and What to do about it?"
I nervously began and as we went around the chain very decent responses come from all. When we completed one revolution much wisdom pervaded the atmosphere and there was a sigh of relief from the more nervous, while others spoke confidently. The consenus amongst the group was that nervous, lack of confidence or stage-fright (whatever you will call it) stems from the bodily conception. When we appreciate our true essence "I am not the body but spirit", there is less apprehension. The world is full of a population of shyness. I was personally a victim of uncertainty and fear and expressing this through jitters in my hands when I first joined to become a monk. Eventually through the kindness and love of the Krishna community I gained confidence and now have little fear of getting behind a microphone, except when in front of peers. I believe I'll remain permanently paralyzed in front of my monastic peers. Why? I have a profound respect for them and I feel like a meek mouse before them.
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