Life on earth has come a long way since it started in the form of micro-organisms or microbes. We have evolved from just a cell to four legged animals to what we are today. We have witnessed a tremendous physical evolution. And while our bodies continue to evolve and adapt to the current environment, I often wonder what the next stage of evolution will be like.
Last year, while in Auroville (Pondicherry), I came across a very interesting concept put forth by Sri Aurobindo. He says that while our physical evolution has slowed down, the next step is the evolution of our mind & consciousness. He holds that the human mind is much too imperfect a type of consciousness to be the final resting point of nature. This thought intrigued me and I started my metaphoric journey to explore my mind and consciousness.
Those who know me will agree that I am a restless soul. I constantly need to be engaged in some form of activity and often crave human company. My biggest fear (apart from Acrophobia) is to be alone. So, I decided my 1stgoal was to be comfortable with myself and then even enjoy solitude. As I started out I was terrified. But slowly as I made progress, I started realising that I am quite an interesting person and a good company to keep. I went from being mildly embarrassed to be sitting alone in a café to having a blast on my solo trip to Visakhapatnam. This may not sound like a huge step towards exploring my consciousness, but I do think overcoming insecurities and gaining this level of confidence will definitely make the path easier.
Now that I have overcome a fear that was holding me back, I need to start working on the next step and that is finding a Guru & a Discipline who can guide me into understanding the secret world of my mind. I have tried a few activities in the past few months, but I am yet to find my faith. Not insinuating that I haven’t enjoyed each of these activities, which I have. I have experienced something very unique with each of them. In Auroville, I attended 3 types of meditation workshops – Meditation aided with collective chanting of Om, Meditation with body movements & Meditation with Sound Therapy. I even got an opportunity to meditate inside the Matri Mandir. Recently I have been attending meditation sessions conducted by Pranic Healing Foundation of South Mumbai. My grandfather was an ardent follower of Yoga by Master CVV and hence I have been exposed to his philosophy a bit too. I will need to read up and explore more to find a discipline which will appeal to me. My objective is to not only find my inner peace by meditating but also to gain knowledge that our conscious mind is not able to get.
So, if any of you do think there is a stream, an organisation or an individual who can guide me, I will be more than happy to pursue and explore. I hope I am able to find what I set out for and contribute my bit to the next stage of human evolution.
