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From The Window Seat Of Your Soul: What Would It Take To Not Know?

 

The Himalayas. Oft spoke about as a sort of spiritual mecca: as if this land, this place, this range of magnificent rock formation emanates a certain vibration.

Perhaps it does.

I am not here to dispel such theories if they exist. Only to suggest that one’s soul is omnipresent and the vastness of space is with us wherever we may go — including this journey to the Himalayas, a journey that took me over 2,000 kilometres, across six states and via seven modes of transport.

Took us, I should say, for my co-author and I both decided to leave the distracting circumstances of the world aside for five days and focus.

Our book, our novel, is always our point of focus but here in the state of Himachal Pradesh, we wanted to soak ourselves in its mystery, its magic and let the story of it unfold. And so it did.

It is hard to speak silence into words, the formless into form and the limitless into the limited confines of language. And yet here we are, in the very act of writing, communicating attempting to do just that.

How? Like everything else, it has been and is a journey. And like so many journeys do, this one began with the formation of friendships, with a leading of one’s heart against one’s logic and with discarding all knowing over the cliff edge such that the not-knowing could present itself.

What would it take to not-know? Imagine you woke up each morning not knowing how the day was to unfold? Imagine that you didn’t anticipate the morning traffic or the monotony of your job? Imagine that you had no idea how your partner, children or boss were going to be?

Imagine further, that you didn’t know who you really were? That the past experiences, mere fragments of memory, had nothing at all to do with the present moment? What then?

Certainty is an illusion, albeit a very convincing one. So relying on it to guide our paths is crazy at best and boring at worst. Open yourself up to the total uncertainty that life is. I cannot promise that the ride will be comfortable or fun or even easy, but it will be true.

As you ease into the limitless expanse of your being, you’ll notice that none of the signposts or weather patterns or people or things you experience along the way are permanent: everything is transient — some of it pleasant, some painful and some downright scary.

What remains constant, however, is you — the experiencer — watching the entire journey from the window seat of your soul, enjoying the vista while never ever knowing what lies beyond the next corner, yet reveling in the joy of the ride.

“He knows not where he’s going,

For the ocean will decide.

It’s not the destination,

it’s the glory of the ride.” ~ Edward Monkton, Zen Dog

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Asha Patel

Asha Patel

Asha Patel has traveled the world in search of her own heart, only to discover that it was right here all along, and that it demands chocolate for breakfast -- regularly. Asha’s corporate background in law and finance has always co-existed alongside her creative pursuits. As well as being engaged as a painter, photographer, food enthusiast and martial artist, she is passionate about people and the path of self-inquiry. As a writer, Asha is rarely to be found without a pen in her hand and has co-authored a novel called ‘Looking for the Obvious’, a unique publication of spiritual fiction that invites readers to embark on the inner journey to unveil the true creative force within.
Asha Patel
Asha Patel
Asha Patel