A life of ashoi

"He is a smallness trying to be great,/ An animal with some instincts of a god,/ His life a story too common to be told,/ His deeds a number summing up to nought,/ His consciousness a flame lit to be quenched,/ His hope a star above a cradle and grave./ And yet a greater destiny may be his,/ For the Eternal Spirit is his truth./ He can recreate himself and all around/ And fashion new the world in which he lives./He, ignorant, is the Knower beyond Time,/He is the Self above Nature, above Fate.”

These beautiful lines from Savitri, an epic poem by Sri Aurobindo, sketches man as he is now and what his potential actually is. It is true we wander aimlessly through life chasing fickle, short-term goals which, even after we’ve achieved them, result in an empty feeling of disillusionment of "what next?” And then we cook up another goal, another desire for maybe a bigger house, a bigger car, a new relationship... spending our whole lives keeping up with the Joneses, only to find that the ‘progress’ we have made has been merely acquisitive and materialistic and that there has been no personal growth at all.

We have carried our baggage of negative thoughts, feelings of anger, fear and jealousy all through life and will carry them to our funeral. There has been no rising above pettiness, no inner awakening, no moments of divine delight.

And yet, a greater destiny could be ours, if we loosened the trappings of religiosity and sought spirituality instead. All the great masters, prophets and yogis have come and taught the lay proletariat the way to the divine, but we are too encrusted in our egos and selves even to begin to attempt the practice.

Zarathushtra, our beloved prophet, spoke of ashoi, which means purifying our whole being, mental, physical, emotional, and awakening the tiny spark of divinity which resides in all humans till we achieve frashokeriti, union with the divine. Ashoi sounds simplistic in essence but is difficult to execute. However, we have been shown the way. The answer is in the Zend Avesta: "Let this be thy aim: to have always the right thought, right speech, right action.”

The starting point is always the thought, the most difficult, enigmatic and elusive entity. Before we know it, it has entered our minds, created illusions, anxieties, fears and angers. It sits in judgment over others and forms self-righteous opinions which create conflict with other people’s self-righteous opinions. And before one knows it, these uncontrolled thoughts have led to uncontrolled speech and even uncontrolled action. We have let down our beloved Prophet Zarathushtra and gone against our religion.

Common everyday language speaks for itself. Speech, laced with abusive words, becomes common parlance with some people, to entertain others and to appear jolly. Would one use such language with one’s boss or client, or in an atash behram? Sound is energy. Just as prayers recited aloud, with aspiration, create an aura of good, healing, uplifting vibrations, the reverse is also true. Degrading language creates an atmosphere of foul energies, constantly surrounding the speaker. And when one is wrapped up in a low grade aura, it is an open invitation to other foul entities as well. That’s when illnesses and accidents strike; there are quarrels and the peace and harmony of a household collapses.

Good speech has a mantric effect upon the listener and the one who speaks. Soft, gentle speech is soothing and has a healing effect all around. Notice the speech of some good angelic, prayerful people you know and you will see how others are naturally drawn to them.

Our small community is poised for a greater destiny if only we become conscious of, and follow Zara­thushtra’s spiritual teachings and get less enmeshed in religious trappings. Instead of being a fallen leaf in the wind not knowing where it will land, let us be the solid tree which, though tossed about by the wind, stands upright and firm.

The first stage is to be aware of our thoughts, by sitting quietly and watching them go by, without mentally following them. With practice, one will be able to focus on just one thought like one’s breathing, or the fire of the atash behram or light. Slowly, one finds a settled peace within oneself from which one responds to situations rather than reacting to them as before. As one progresses and lets go of the ‘I’ and surrenders more and more to the divine, one will feel a subtle guidance in the form of an intuitive urge to do or say something even though it defies logic and common norms. And it turns out to be the right response.

The benefits of a life of ashoi are immeasurable. We are so fortunate to be born in this religion. Let us live our religion to the fullest, become worthy of the divine and let God take care of the rest.

VEERA DASTOOR