Today is rainy, here at the Temple. I haven’t seen anyone, or spoken a single word out loud. In the past, that would aggravate me: I want people to see ME, to validate ME, to watch ME. Not a single thought about god: only me, me, me! Today, with a much better understanding of life and my mind, I can surrender to the peace that the rain brings. It forces me to be surrounded by quietness. And that external, seeps into the internal.

Silence used to be my enemy: it forced me to think deeper and truer. It’s easy, for me, to mask reality with superficial feelings and words. Watching this rain fall, slow and steady, now allows me to dive deeper into myself.

Much as the rain comes and goes so, too, do the thoughts and feelings I experience. Elation and joy, happiness and sorrow, acceptance and regret, these all ebb and flow like the changing weather. If I refuse to acknowledge the necessity of the rain, I also refuse to hope that the flowers will flourish in the spring. If I refuse the night, because it’s dreary and dark, I refuse to accept the comfort of the rising sun in the morning.

Self-reflection isn’t truly about reflection on this body; rather, the interconnected nature of all. “Sub Ek”, yeah? When I put aside dualities of good and bad, or happy and sad, I allow myself to process the core of these: that they are simply emotions, fleeting and coming, waxing and waning. If I don’t get caught up in them, they can all be used as tools to help me grow closer to god, to the truth, to the Big Love.

Next time the rain “ruins” our plans, let’s take a pause, and thank Maharajji for allowing us to slow down, and enjoy this rain- so we can smell the roses of Love in the future.

Jai Neem Karoli Baba Maharajji

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Ganga Das

Ganga Das is an American Sadhu and sanyasi: having taken formal vows of renunciation in 2022. He is currently based out of a Hindu Buddha Mandir near Baltimore, MD.