Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wow, the higher thinking!

Grand Canyon, Arizona



Along one of the South Rim trails at Grand Canyon there is a gorgeous panoramic view called Ooh Aah Point. The naming couldn't be more appropriate: it sounds like wow and the view is wow for real!
Some experiences cannot be easily described with words and we can just use sounds to express our participation. Still, what if I have to write an article about a difficult and vast topic, using a limited number of words and for which the deadline is like... yesterday?

There is a gurmukhi expression (which also is one of the most beautiful kundalini yoga mantras) that communicates that total sense of astonishment in front of the Infinite: it is Wahe Guru.
If you try to pronounce it, Wahe really sounds like wow! And that's it: a feeling of expansion and totality, an higher state from which we can see what is happening down there, where our human nature is having fun on Earth.
Guru is not only a famous brand, neither is just the Indian guru that we are used to see in pictures and documentaries on TV. Guru is the teacher and the word literally means "from darkness to light": in a nutshell, it is what enlightens us when we are totally wandering in darkness and don't know what's going on.
It is interesting to acknowledge that there is a guru inside each one of us and we all are teachers: we have the ability to see the big picture from above. Like from that Ooh Aah Point.

The topic can be difficult and the time given to us to write about it very short: instead of wandering in darkness and panic, we can take a step behind. Better, a side step. Even better, we can fly.

It is all about changing perspective: someone calls upon the lateral thinking, I would call that higher thinking instead. In place of bypassing the obstacle, we face it from above: we fly, hover and look at ourselves looking at the view. We may look like little points from there, compared to that vastness, but if we are able to see us is because we are flying. That should be enough.
To deliver as fast as possible, containing all the vastness of the topic in that limited number of words, we have to become innocent again: by forgetting our huge talents (and ego), we will simply say "wow" like a child would do (or maybe Wahe Guru, if we practice kundalini yoga)!
No efforts, just wow. The more the topic is difficult, the more words must be simple. Simple words take little space and time, both for the writers and for the readers. 

As human beings we are already microcosms who are part of a macrocosm, so we know from within the language to express that vastness in few words. We just have to work on our awareness to access those resources within ourselves, in order to have a sharp, fast and effective mind that serves our creativity.

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