Blessings

I am back from the DSN course. As expected, it was awesome and I have no regrets of taking the course… more so in Mangalore. Most of the course was in Kannada and though I don’t understand any of it, I could make out much of what was being spoken. It was a big class of 70 odd people. Old, young, mostly old J Some could not even understand English but I am happy to have got a chance to connect to them.

Anyway, I don’t want to write details of what DSN is all about but wanted to share one of the sessions that was held in DSN.
It goes like this – People stand in pairs looking straight into each other’s eyes. Then one bows down to the other. The bowing person bows right up to the feet of the other person; as you bow down you have to let go of  all the problems, tensions, thoughts in your mind. You do this act with full attention and trust. The other person should bow and bless you by putting their hands over your head with full heart. Then it was the other person’s turn to bow. Once the process is complete, you move to other person in the room and repeat the same process with new partner.

Seems like a simple process isn’t it? Yes, power lies in simple things J

So what would you expect out of this simple act?

It reminded me of the olden days when children bowed down to elders, elders gave them blessings. Some places in India we still practice this whereas in some places (like my own) it has become only some wedding day special scene or a major festival like Diwali.
Kids find odd to bow down – you may hear some old people go ‘aww, look at him; hasn’t lost his manners’ when a kid bows down. But do they even know why they do that? As far as I am concerned, I would bow down only cos it is meant to do so. I would think, are they God? I bow only before God.
Elders find odd to bless – Imagine you bow down before someone of your age group. Even before you bow, they would pull you up. I myself would find it awkward and embarrassed to see someone bow before you and like some super powered human bless others.

But that day, as I bowed down to others, I had a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude to nature and the God to have taken care of me all this while. I could sense my ego hide away somewhere in some corner of my mind as I looked forward to take blessings from both young and old. I got a sense of belongingness to the unknown people in the room. There was so much faith in every breath – everything will be taken care of I knew.
And when it was my turn to bless – my heart was joyful and giving. My hands moved forward with love and mind was at peace. I prayed that all their prayers get answered and all questions answered. As I closed my eyes, I felt a sense of responsibility towards people around me.

Now I don’t question the tradition of bowing down and taking blessings in Hindu culture. There is some weird sense of satisfaction for both people.

Btw, when I told Purwa (my sis) and Navin (my husband) about the blessing episode, both of them jumped with excitement. ‘So does it mean you can give blessings now? Give me; Give me’. Now how do I tell them it is not something you learn to do in a class. It has always been with you; with pure feeling of Faithfulness and of Giving anyone can give and take blessings.