Skip to content Skip to footer

Are you a different person inside? – Part 3

The devil inside

If our inside is different from our outside, eventually the inside would take revenge.

One day, in our yoga center, we cooked delicious sweet rice for our young men and women. When we served the feast one young resident refused to eat it, even as others around him devoured more helpings. As the festivities lasted over an hour, I asked him a couple of times if he’d like to try a little. He silently smiled and declined, as if he had transcended the desire. I thought he was trying to impress the young women guests at the program-maybe he wanted to show he is a great sense controller. I was peeved at his refusal to honor what took me hours of cooking. I kept my feelings to myself. A few hours passed and everyone except a few residents of the ashram including this young man left the place.

After a tiring day, we slept soundly that night.

Around 1.30 am, I rose to use the washroom. I heard footsteps in the kitchen and wondered who would be there at this goddamn hour. Curious and cautious, I sneaked in and to my surprise, discovered the same young man pull out the jar of sweet rice from the refrigerator; he ate with the gusto of a famished man at a relief camp. I quietly slipped out, happy that my cooking had takers. The incident also sobered me- eventually, what’s inside does take revenge!

Congruency inside-outside

Some people successfully pull through the Jekyll-Hide roles in their entire lives. But the lack of fulfillment is palpable to them. The struggle to live what you are not is not only exhausting physically and mentally, but it also disconnects us from our true selves.

Diplomacy is needed on occasions, but if that’s what you do for a large part of your day, you’ll likely get lost. You need to pause and find yourself. And when you live a harmonious life where your values and actions match, you are freed from the cage of your constricted mind; you’ll happily soar the vast expanse of human possibilities.

To be continued…

Leave a comment

0.0/5