Volunteering + Practice = Continuity in Practice

When people initially join the Isha Yoga program for 7 days, the climate is simply euphoric. I have seen number of people crying, with the tears in their eyes, thankful for whatever Isha has offered to them. When I watch them, I feel simply excited. They can feel the loving atmosphere all around. Soon I feel that there will be a large turnout of people in the monthly sathsang.

But what happens next is that, hardly 10% of the people come back to monthly sathsang. What happened. Where did those people go, who were ready to offer themselves with totality during the initial program ?

What I feel is that those people have lost contact with the loving atmosphere, which they experienced during the program. Mostly they were led into an illusion that it was only the strenght of the practice which made them enjoy the atmosphere. I feel that they can be brought back with a little compassionate push from behind. Those people are not aware that how intimate life can be, if one is intensely involved with it. We call it volunteering here in Isha.

I feel that atleast once, when the new isha program is to held, the old volunteers should offer some kind of work to the previous batch participants. If necessary the old volunteers should make way for the new participants. Maybe, The old will need to be innovative, in finding new ways with involvement with life. The old volunteers need to be a guiding force to encourage the new participants to take on the life with enthusiasm.

But for the new participants, certainly, it should not be entrusted on them but gently asked that we need your help and If possible, please involve yourself in volunteering. If the participants experience the joy of volunteering, the joy of being together, the joy of being in the Isha family, then there is no power on earth that can stop them towards liberation and living a fulfilled life.

Life incidents with a mark of Isha

Very recently I was coming with my son from a library on a bike. All of a sudden I witnessed a loud sound of collision. What I saw that a elderly man of around the age of 85 was lying unconcious, gasping for breath while her daughter of age 60 was crying for help. Almost a group of 30 people gathered around the accident victim, to get him to the hospital. But everyone forgot about her daughter who was also in a state of despair. The first thing that came to my mind is that since she is alone, she needs to talk to her close ones by phone. Then a bypasser helped this couple to get on his car, to drop them in the hospital. All those 30 people felt that they have done their job. But what I felt that since the lady was crying inconsolabaly, she might be unable to handle the procedures of the hospital. So I rushed to follow the car. Since it was a goverment hospital, the work was not organised and I helped the lady with all the necessary procedures. Felt that I got in at the right time, right place. The greatest gift I have got from Isha is putting yourself in others place and then decide on where your awareness of the situation takes you. I left the scene when her husband reached the hospital. I could see the tears of gratitude in the eyes of the lady.

In the beginning, When the victim was to be transfered from car to a stretcher, the guards kept shouting at me to make effort to bring the victim out of car. But there was a invisible laughter inside me since the victim was weighing 120 kg while my weight was 35 kg. So i knew how much I could do.