Harmony Is Accepting Things As They Are (And Not In Changing Them To Suit Our Needs)

Divisions cause conflicts, Unity brings peace

I faintly remember visiting a hill station called Mussoorie (Which sounds similar to the US state of Missouri) as a child in the now-known Uttarakhand province of India. It was summer holidays and my father had been approved travel leave for fifteen days.

I always looked forward to such trips because the mountains were quiet and cool as opposed to the scorching hot summers of the plains. I recall walking, horse riding, and going for long hikes. The tranquility and serenity of the mountains used to calm my mind. The local cuisine was amazing coupled with the hospitality of the natives.

My father would book a government accommodation for our stay and we would light a bonfire every night after a tiring but exciting mountain hike. My father would make his drink, my mother would prepare some mocktails for me and my brother, and then we would eat dinner while enjoying the monsoon rains.

We could see clouds descending into the balcony where we enjoyed hot Pahadi tea (a special tea served in the mountains with ginger and herbs).

Last week, I decided to revisit the nostalgia by visiting Mussoorie again. Me and my dear friend Jackie decided to take a road trip from New Delhi to Mussoorie. She had never been to an Indian hill station so this was an exciting opportunity for both of us.

We left early morning packed and prepared for our trip. While our road journey was peaceful and full of exciting moments, the moment we were close to the mountains, we encountered a huge traffic jam. The cars were packed on the highway and were moving bumper to bumper. It was agony driving in this condition.

Although, the distance to our destination (a small resort that we booked on Airbnb) was barely a few meters. It was pure torture driving even that small distance as the cars were on an incline. People were getting frustrated and blowing horns all the time. It was the peak tourist season, so the rush was expected, but this was a bit too much for me.

We breathed a sigh of relief once we reached our hotel and checked in into our rooms. The view was breathtaking and the hotel staff was warm and courteous. In the evening, we decided to go visit Mall Road – the main attraction point of Mussoorie. It was crowded and chaotic. I don’t recall seeing that place like this in my childhood.

Honestly, I felt a little disappointed after I had painted a beautiful picture of that place to Jackie. However, she did not complain at all and was enjoying the chaos completely. She was most comfortable trying the local spicy cuisine. I, on the other hand, was conflicted because I was living in comparison to what I had seen as a child.

Things change and so did this mountain. It’s now a well-known tourist spot with more hustle-bustle and people flocking from different parts of the country to escape the punishing summer in the plains.

At some point, I made my peace with things the way they were. There was no resistance and everything was seen from a fresh perspective, which did not include information (comparison) from my past.

I found myself more relaxed and accepting of the traffic and people. The crowd, noise, and incessant honking were not bothersome anymore. I must give credit to Jackie, coming from a Western country, she adapted beautifully to this place.

In fact, she could see my irritation and was calming me every now and then. Her energy was radiant and full of love for everything that came her way.

When the mind is quiet, the perfect order of nature is seen in the chaos. Everything is seen as one seamless whole. Divisions cause conflicts, Unity brings peace. There was this powerful presence felt by both of us. We listened to the chirping of birds every morning while sipping hot tea flavored with ginger and other spices. New ideas were flooding in our minds.

We appreciated the hotel staff which took such good care of us. We traveled on foot to a nearby town called Landour, which is known for its scenic beauty and is the home of a well-known poet and writer Ruskin Bond.

While on our way, we came across a group of monkey babies who were jumping and playing in the company of their parents. I and Jackie watched their spontaneity and playful creativity for a couple of minutes. It was a beautiful sight.

Watching these creatures enjoying themselves, a thought crossed my mind that said how these animals live in the moment, but the human animal mind lurks either in the dead past or an imaginary future. That’s why we lose our playfulness. We lose our spontaneous nature. We remain too concerned with What-If, whereas, these animals are rooted in What-Is.

For us, decision-making is a complex process as it includes a large number of variables, but the animals are spontaneous as they don’t live with concepts. The more concepts we believe, the more the mind becomes confused, and hence, the more complicated becomes decision making, which sometimes leads to complete paralysis.

The decision to hike the mountain to reach Landour was spontaneous for me and Jackie. We wanted to eliminate as many variables as we could. While people were stuck in traffic jams, we found our way through small trails and gaps.

Also, we got the opportunity to focus more on the beauty and serenity of the mountain landscape. We tried local cookies and spoke to the natives. We observed how people live in these regions. Their vibe and simplicity were remarkable.

There was a choice available every moment as to what we wanted to focus on and what we wanted to avoid: traffic congestion or the radiant landscape right in front of us, the honking of cars behind us, or the local people who were willing to help at each and every step, and so much more.

The mind’s energy focused in the right direction brings immense joy and peace. The same mind when focused on complaints, limitations, and shortcomings of places and people brings pain and misery. Of course, we don’t always have the control to direct the mind in the right way, and even acceptance of that brings a lot of peace.

Yes, it’s true that this is not the same place I visited in my childhood, and things have changed significantly, but the essence of the mountains has not changed, and will never change. The essence is beyond appearances. It is pure harmony. There is love of unity in essence as there is no separation.

Acceptance of things the way they are allows us to go beyond appearances and tap into that place of unconditional love that is readily available in nature.