Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Dealing With the Mix

Mayapura, West Bengal

I sipped on a combination of guava and grapes, totally organic, at the corner fruit stand. I treated two of my youthful troupe members and myself to the concocted creation.

There might have been a trace of ego to this mix when I suggested to the fruit merchant, “Why not call it- ‘Walking Monk Special’.” But really I only put it out there as a suggestion because I’m passionate about promoting a walking culture. There’s not a day that goes by that I don't mention to someone somewhere about the benefits of working the machinery in the form of walking.

By the way, this ‘home brew’, if you will, is absolutely divine in taste. Try the mix. It’s 50/50 .
It was interesting when, in our break-out sessions, that a group of us, primarily sannyasi monks, were asked to explore the topic of “the problem with the mix.” This is in reference to the imposed multi-tasking that our spiritual leaders sometimes experience. There are at least two hats worn. The two hats center around the expectation of assuming the roles as a sadhu, the person who is pure and visionary, and secondly as a hands-on manager type. The problem is that many people can’t be both. Mind you, some people are clearly a mix of the two.

Our group was asked to address the dilemma and to try to come up with recommendations to avoid the ‘burn-out’ tendency of over-extending yourself. It was a consensus feeling that individuals should be encouraged to perform more according to their guna (nature) and karma (behavior). As found in 18.43 and 18.44 of the Gita, one should be gravitating to the natural proclivity and be thus happily engaged in service to the Absolute and to humanity.

8 Km