"Mirror-mirror on the wall! Who is the most wonderful of them all?" Perhaps, for Snow-White, the mirror answered in her favor. For the rest of us, we know the answer would be so disconcerting to accept, that we avoid the question altogether! Even assuming the miraculous possibility that the mirror did spell out our name, the crown rests but precariously. Time, that relentless predator, catches up with the best of us. A quick glance at someone who was a Miss Universe five-decades ago, tells the whole story. It is unsettling how time batters us out of shape!
We feel a makeover will help- a makeover at every level, starting from the physical. At the parlor, with the white cloak tightening its clasp on the neck, there is little room to wriggle away. Strapped to the chair and in the absence of other distraction, the gaze must meet the mirror. As the years go by, the experience is anything but pleasant. The features are scrutinized one by one- the hair with more white streaks, the forehead with more real estate, and the eyes with creased corners. The hair-dresser compounds the situation- "Shall I color the hair after the hair-cut? Would you like a facial to remove the warts on the bridge of the nose?" You give him a free hand for it couldn't get any worse!
The self-assessment is not restricted to the physical. With time, the sense of incompleteness pervades other spheres. Emotionally, we feel inadequate and the intellectually, increasingly challenged. Accomplishment wise, there is jarring limitation- success has either been sparse or it has bypassed us altogether! Suddenly, the more we introspect, the more holes we find! We find ourselves totally unacceptable. Wistfully, we question earlier decisions, decisions made in another age and wonder if the present would have rolled out any better if those could be revised.
We turn to Self-Help books. They dole out well-meaning advice all right. "A man complained that he did not have shoes. He stopped complaining, when he saw a man without feet!" The emphasis here is on contentment- to be happy with ourselves, for others are far worse. Initially, the teaching makes us cheerful. We feel good about ourselves. But the maxim has a certain flaw- it is based on comparison. Soon, we are reduced to proof-readers, forever looking for chinks in other peoples' armor, cutting them to size so that we may appear taller! It brings out the cynical best in us. Earlier, the distance was only within myself. With this revised attitude, others keep a safe distance as well. No makeover seems to help; at best, it reinforces the limitation. It all looks totally hopeless, doesn't it?
It is here that ancient Indian Wisdom comes to the rescue. This timeless message questions the basic premise- Who is that entity who complains about the sense of incompleteness? Who needs this blessed makeover? It turns the attention inwards, to the complainer himself. It is a paradigm shift.
"What you are, you do not see. What you see is your shadow!" The body is a shadow, the mind is a shadow, accomplishments are shadows. The whole of life is spent in the futility of shadow-boxing and the real-you is lost sight of! The real-you is the observer, the observer which is always present, inheriting none of the traits of the observed. It observes with the aloofness of a lighthouse and lights up the waves- the childhood body and the ageing body, the child-like mind and the mature mind, the effervescent thoughts and the despairing ones. In itself, it is full and complete- limitations if any, are in the shadow- never in the original. It frees up the person and gives the necessary space to accept the body, the mind and the world with all its problems. Charged with this self-completeness, the problems of the world are dealt with squarely and cheerfully. If the problems are solved, it is fine; if the problems cannot be solved for whatever reason, it is equally fine. In no way, does it dent my fullness.
Now, each one can face the mirror with confidence and ask, "Mirror-mirror on the wall! Who is the most wonderful of them all?" The mirror need not answer. We claim our inherent glory and roar, "I am the most wonderful of them all!"
The makeover is now complete!
We feel a makeover will help- a makeover at every level, starting from the physical. At the parlor, with the white cloak tightening its clasp on the neck, there is little room to wriggle away. Strapped to the chair and in the absence of other distraction, the gaze must meet the mirror. As the years go by, the experience is anything but pleasant. The features are scrutinized one by one- the hair with more white streaks, the forehead with more real estate, and the eyes with creased corners. The hair-dresser compounds the situation- "Shall I color the hair after the hair-cut? Would you like a facial to remove the warts on the bridge of the nose?" You give him a free hand for it couldn't get any worse!
The self-assessment is not restricted to the physical. With time, the sense of incompleteness pervades other spheres. Emotionally, we feel inadequate and the intellectually, increasingly challenged. Accomplishment wise, there is jarring limitation- success has either been sparse or it has bypassed us altogether! Suddenly, the more we introspect, the more holes we find! We find ourselves totally unacceptable. Wistfully, we question earlier decisions, decisions made in another age and wonder if the present would have rolled out any better if those could be revised.
We turn to Self-Help books. They dole out well-meaning advice all right. "A man complained that he did not have shoes. He stopped complaining, when he saw a man without feet!" The emphasis here is on contentment- to be happy with ourselves, for others are far worse. Initially, the teaching makes us cheerful. We feel good about ourselves. But the maxim has a certain flaw- it is based on comparison. Soon, we are reduced to proof-readers, forever looking for chinks in other peoples' armor, cutting them to size so that we may appear taller! It brings out the cynical best in us. Earlier, the distance was only within myself. With this revised attitude, others keep a safe distance as well. No makeover seems to help; at best, it reinforces the limitation. It all looks totally hopeless, doesn't it?
It is here that ancient Indian Wisdom comes to the rescue. This timeless message questions the basic premise- Who is that entity who complains about the sense of incompleteness? Who needs this blessed makeover? It turns the attention inwards, to the complainer himself. It is a paradigm shift.
"What you are, you do not see. What you see is your shadow!" The body is a shadow, the mind is a shadow, accomplishments are shadows. The whole of life is spent in the futility of shadow-boxing and the real-you is lost sight of! The real-you is the observer, the observer which is always present, inheriting none of the traits of the observed. It observes with the aloofness of a lighthouse and lights up the waves- the childhood body and the ageing body, the child-like mind and the mature mind, the effervescent thoughts and the despairing ones. In itself, it is full and complete- limitations if any, are in the shadow- never in the original. It frees up the person and gives the necessary space to accept the body, the mind and the world with all its problems. Charged with this self-completeness, the problems of the world are dealt with squarely and cheerfully. If the problems are solved, it is fine; if the problems cannot be solved for whatever reason, it is equally fine. In no way, does it dent my fullness.
Now, each one can face the mirror with confidence and ask, "Mirror-mirror on the wall! Who is the most wonderful of them all?" The mirror need not answer. We claim our inherent glory and roar, "I am the most wonderful of them all!"
The makeover is now complete!
