A request and a disclaimer: Before you begin to read this blog, request you to read the earlier published blogs on ‘Emotional Maturity’. They are NOT a prerequisite to reading this blog, though reading them would help in a better understanding of this blog. The language and explanations used by pUjya swAmiji is so profound, that I wish I do justice by aligning my understanding to his explanation, as I parallelly try to relate it to day to day living.. Any error in the way I have blogged upon, on the topic of ‘Emotional Maturity’, is due to an error in my understanding alone.

BhAvanA: PrasAd, I want to talk to you. If you are not free, make yourself free.

PrasAd: Looks like her excellency is deep in thought with something. What is it?

BhAvanA: I am reading this book called ‘Talks on Emotional Maturity’ by pUjya SwAmiji. This has made me think and think and think and I wanted to discuss on this. Shall we, please?

PrasAd: Jokes apart BhAvanA, this is something I also have been wanting to discuss with you. I have been reading this book too and as always discussions that we have, will help bring more clarity.

BhAvanA: Do you know the meaning of your name? I came to know the meaning of mine today, which is ‘Attitude’ – attitude towards something, the way one looks at something. We always do tasks with a BhAvanA towards it. There is a sense of worship that I see, when the word BhAvanA is used. Worship not in terms of praying but in terms of a reverence. Strange, PrasAd – I have been saying my name again and again since this morning and everytime I say it, I seem to process the meaning in my mind, as though trying to internalize. There is something about this word ‘Attitude’ that is eluding me, PrasAd.

PrasAd: Sanskrit is such a beautiful language, isn’t it? There is so much of meaning in the words, that a contextual counterpart in English, is just a poor substitute. For that matter, we would find ourselves thinking on similar lines for words in the language that we consider our mother tongue; words that do not have its appropriate counterpart in English 🙂

BhAvanA:  Absolutely, but do you know the meaning of your name?

PrasAd: Well in my perspective, it actually is a slightly shortened form of the word prasAda, which is the offering that WE GET when we visit temples.  I have always thought of prasAda as the offering that WE GET when we visit a temple. I recently got to know that it also has the meaning of ‘glad or cheerful acceptance of a situation that comes our way in life’. I can actually live my name, can’t I?  Like what you said about the meaning of your name ringing in your mind, mine is too :-). Do you know that there is also a connect between your name and mine? Each one of us need to have  the attitude to cheerfully and gladly accept the situations that comes our way in life. The BhAvanA in PrasAda :-). Interesting, isn’t it? I also have a few questions, BhAvanA.

– If we can practice and have the attitude to cheerfully and gladly accept any situation that we face in life, don’t we then build ‘Emotional Maturity’ also?

– What else is there other than this, that will help us build ‘Emotional Maturity’?

– Is there a ‘How’ of building ‘Emotional Maturity’ or is the detailing of the ‘What’, is what will help us build ‘Emotional Maturity’?

BhAvanA: I like the way you connected the meaning of our names and related it to ‘Emotional Maturity’. There is a lot more to it than just this, PrasAd. My mind is totally gripped on to what you said, about having the attitude to cheerfully and gladly accept any situation that we face in life. I cannot but relate this to the many incidents that I have faced  in my life. I am also wondering which one of these incidents I gladly and cheerfully accepted; or rather accepted them gracefully. Did I accept them with the attitude in which they need to be accepted? If I did not, why did I not? I am not doing a post-mortem, but attempting to analyse and thereby understand myself and this learning (or should I say teaching). My mind is so full of this, that I don’t think I can continue in this discussion now, PrasAd.

PrasAd: I understand, BhAvanA. Discussing this with you has set me on a thinking mode too. Let’s continue this when we talk or meet next. I am sure this is going to be one learning filled journey, which will mark a significant growth in me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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