20 Gratitude can take you beyond pain🔗

I will speak on this fracture that I had on my arm and the lesson to be learnt from this whole thing. The lesson I lived and the lesson all of you can learn, pick up. First thing, first question, everybody asked 'Why did Swamiji get on to the horse? What is the need?' See life is not supposed to be just waking up from the same bed, and walking through the same floor, and getting in to the same vehicle, going to the same office, coming back, and lying down in the same bed.

Life is learning. So I also thought why not pick up horse riding. And after all this horse riding, swimming, all these things are inside our bio-memory (memory in our physical body). Just if you awaken it, it will come up. 'Hmmm'. So I thought 'why not try?' That's the reason I tried. The horse riding was going well. Everyday it was going well, and everyday I was going around the ashram on the horse; morning and evening. I think on that particular day loud music was played in the ashram and all our ashramites (people who live in and ashram) have started cheering. So the horse got a little excited and I fell off the horse.

And the moment I fell, the first thing I thought is 'ohh these fellows (ashramites) should not suffer.' All the brahmacharis, ashramites who were around me they should not suffer. First thing I told is 'I am ok. Don't worry.' That is the first thing that I said. After I got up, I saw the fracture in my hand, and I told them 'maybe there is a fracture. Lets go to the hospital and do what needs to be done.'

We went to the hospital. At 7 o' clock I fell and only at 2:30 they performed the surgery. Till that time I had no pain killers and no anesthesia. It was a compound fracture, two fractures. The bones had gone piece-piece and doctors were shocked and surprised. They were again and again saying 'what do you mean by no pain Swamiji?' I said 'I don’t know.' Actually, the fracture did not have any impact or problem to my body. There was no suffering and there was no pain. The doctors were saying impossible. The doctors were saying it must be excruciating pain Swamiji, because the bone came out of the skin and made a hole in the skin. The bone was two fractures and three to four pieces of bone with bleeding. And you may ask 'why no pain?' See, there was no suffering. I did not look back to think why did I get on the horse. I could have just avoided getting on to the horse or this brahmacharis could have avoided the music. I did not think about all this or look back at what had happened and question why. The time shaft (past, present or future) should not be looked at with the why. You should not look at the time shaft with a post mortem mood. I did not do post mortem. This is the way life is; that’s all. Either see time with a deep complete acceptance or with gratitude. I looked with gratitude. 'Ehh fortunately there was no injury on the head. There was no injury on the back. Usually when people fall from the horse they have injury on the head. They break the collarbone. Nothing of that injury has happened. 'So I looked at time only with gratitude. Do not look at life with a post mortem mood. I could have thought 'oh these fellows could have avoided the music. These fellows could have avoided the shouting, cheering up. I could have avoided getting on to the horse. What is the need for me to learn horse riding in this age? Who asked me to learn horse riding?' In thousands of ways you can ask 'why' towards life. But 'why' towards

life always brings suffering. Why and if and wife! All three bring suffering. The 'why' does not give any answers. It just brings more and more suffering. So I always say look at life either with complete acceptance or with deep gratitude; that's all. Then there will not be any suffering.

Come on sit with this one idea for a few minutes 'let me approach life with a deep gratitude or full acceptance. No 'why' to life.'