It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions made when I called up the phone number that I saw tucked in one corner of the classified ads in a local newspaper. One thing led to another and this started the process of learning to play the Tabla at the young age of 44+ on one rainy afternoon way back in 2004, on 7/8/2004 to be precise.
I realised in a matter of a few weeks that I could not play TiRKiT – a combination of four notes played rapidly – fast enough. It was frustrating to slow down the tempo whenever this combination turned up in the compositions that I was learning but I continued my lessons nonetheless.
A few weeks/months down the line, I woke up one morning with intense pain in my right wrist – to the extent that I could not even hold a pen properly. Nothing had happened to cause this strange pain. Thankfully, or so I thought, the Tabla lessons were temporarily suspended as we were going on a long road trip for the family vacation. I managed to drive the car to New Delhi and beyond with my right wrist crepe bandaged for most of the two weeks that we were away.
After returning home I thought of calling up the teacher to tell him to postpone the Tabla lessons but somehow it slipped my mind and he was there at my door on the pre-arranged date and time. I decided to take off the bandage just to check on my wrist and it did not seem to be hurting as much as I thought it would. I did manage to sit through the session and was able to play the instrument with my limited ability without too much of discomfort. The TiRKiT also sounded a bit better.
Over the next few days, I noticed that the wrist did not hurt so much whenever I played the Tabla. I was also able to go through the days without too much of pain which seemed to worsen at night. I continued to wrap the wrist up in crepe bandage at night as it apparently helped. The pain also increased on Sundays (and other holidays) for no apparent and logically explainable reasons.
Now this particular combination of beats, i.e. the TiRKiT needs rapid sideway movements of the right wrist when played at a quicker tempo. The basics had been learnt at a slower tempo by moving the hand along with the forearm from the elbow with minimal wrist movement.
It then dawned on me that the painful wrist situation might be somehow linked to my intense desire to play TiRKiT at a quicker tempo. I realised that Universe/God/All That Is had been ‘conspiring’ to fulfil my desire all along the period of time that I was in pain. New pathways were being created so that energy could flow and the cells/tissues/bones of my right wrist were able to go through the changes that were biologically required so as to give me the flexibility that I was yearning for. The pain had started ‘magically’ at a time when I was not going to put too much of strain on the right wrist as we were going on a vacation; a time when I could give rest to the ‘affected’ part for an extended period of time. The synchronicity of events just stumped me.
The lesson that really sunk in with this experience was that our conditioned minds – that have been programmed to resist all kinds of pain – can in fact interfere with our desire to live life at its fullest potential. To make matters worse, this conditioning actually contributes to increasing the pain as the universal law ‘Whatever you Resist, Persists’ now comes into play.
I realised that it was time for me to finally release this conditioning and accept Pain as an integral part of the process of growth and evolution.
Life has become more enjoyable, as a matter of fact, because of this positive acceptance of pain.
The right wrist has also become much more flexible and of course, I am now able to play TiRKiT at a much faster tempo. It does hurt a bit every now and then but these moments of pain keep on coming cyclically, stay for a few days and then disappear. I have noticed that these cycles are invariably followed by an expanding ability to play TiRKiT, as well as other complex combinations of notes, in a more fluid and faster tempo.
****
As the movement of the right hand became better, my left could no longer keep pace with the tempo that I was now able to generate with the fingers, and wrist, of the right hand on my Tabla.
The obvious desire to now be able to use my left hand better was then followed with pain originating apparently from nowhere in various regions of my left arm. There was this period of time when certain spots on my left bicep muscle, and then the triceps, started hurting real bad. But these pains did not last long as now they were being welcomed and obviously not resisted. Next in line was a spot on my left elbow, followed by pain in the muscles of my left forearm and then the digits of the forefinger and the middle finger of the left hand. All these pains lasted for a few days before disappearing magically. But I also knew that they were there for a reason and would go on their own.
Medical help was obviously neither sought nor required. I am not sure that I would have reacted this way, had it not been for the wisdom gained through the earlier experience(s).
The unexpected bonus is that the muscles – biceps and triceps – of my arms have started developing on their own. This is remarkable because this is something that I was not able to achieve even after hours of working out and weight training when I was a teenager. I think it must have been the pain that forced me to give up at that time.
Learning how to play the Tabla has in a way fulfilled a child hood desire; in fact two desires. One was of playing the instrument itself and second one of a stronger muscular body.
I could have missed the bus so easily – had I not reacted to the inner guidance provided by a SINGLE THOUGHT when I made that phone call back in 2004. Some will say that it was providence at play or that it was my destiny at work. But then there was a distinct possibility for the chain of events to not have unfolded the way they did.
****
It was another spur of the moment decision when I joined a club near my house for swimming lessons recently on 24 Sep, 2010. This activity has also eluded me so far in life as the opportunities presented have been pretty limited.
The instructor taught me the basic leg kicking and asked me to master it in a few weeks before going on to the next step. This became a bit boring after about a week but by then I noticed that I had spontaneously started doing other exercises in the pool. These include running in place, cycling, sit-ups, stretching etc. in water about 5 feet deep. Doing the same exercises for about 45 minutes on solid ground is not my cup of tea. I guess that the water in the pool supports my body weight and makes it easier for me (to exercise).
All this energy working (and desires) predictably enough resulted in having aches and pains all over my back and legs. But now there was a positive acceptance of all these and they more or less vanished after a few days. I do have a few niggles here and there but they do not interfere in my life. They tend to become intense for a while and then go away to pop up at some other place. There is one particular area just above my right hip and towards the back which hurts slightly more than others, especially during long drives. I have cut down temporarily on my long drives but this actually is not bothering me. I am just allowing it to be as there is a deep knowingness and understanding now that the swimming activity is linked to certain energy pathways opening within my body so that I can (finally) have a leaner, stronger muscular body.
This chain of events was also set in place by a SINGLE THOUGHT. I mean, I definitely did did not take up the swimming lessons with any agenda of improving my health. The desire was just to learn how to swim, that’s all.
As of now, this particular swimming pool has closed down for the winters. Hopefully, I will soon start going to the warm water pool at my regular club which is a bit of a drive away. I will surely take it up in my later posts as and when there is something to report.
****
That brings me back to the 72000 channels thing. I definitely did not have a few channels working earlier which have now started working. The desires to be able to do things that are linked to the joy of being a human started this process of growth within me. My horizons have expanded a bit and this has added a new dimension to living.
Evolution is the only constant thing that is happening all the time which can also be interpreted as Change is the only constant thing happening all the time in the Universe. Not to allow change to happen is 'death'.
By the way, pain is not the only indicator of new channels opening up. An itch that comes up suddenly is another one. A few months ago, I had this urge that would come up suddenly to scratch my back just between my shoulder blades – an area slightly out of reach. It was an irritant to begin with but then I stopped resisting and devised ways to be able to scratch my back. This continued for a couple of weeks. These urges have more or less vanished now but I have realised that my breathing has improved. In the sense that I now feel a bit more movement in the ribs at the back and front every time I inhale and exhale consciously. I feel that this is directly linked to these sudden urges to scratch my back. Improved breathing does add a bit to the life span too. Its wait and watch as this is something that only time will tell.
****
The opposite aspect - what happens when we do not allow the channels to develop? In other words, what if we continue resisting pain?
I think that this then creates a blockage of energy which then allows diseases to manifest in the physical body. I will take it up in the next post.
And so it is.
I realised in a matter of a few weeks that I could not play TiRKiT – a combination of four notes played rapidly – fast enough. It was frustrating to slow down the tempo whenever this combination turned up in the compositions that I was learning but I continued my lessons nonetheless.
A few weeks/months down the line, I woke up one morning with intense pain in my right wrist – to the extent that I could not even hold a pen properly. Nothing had happened to cause this strange pain. Thankfully, or so I thought, the Tabla lessons were temporarily suspended as we were going on a long road trip for the family vacation. I managed to drive the car to New Delhi and beyond with my right wrist crepe bandaged for most of the two weeks that we were away.
After returning home I thought of calling up the teacher to tell him to postpone the Tabla lessons but somehow it slipped my mind and he was there at my door on the pre-arranged date and time. I decided to take off the bandage just to check on my wrist and it did not seem to be hurting as much as I thought it would. I did manage to sit through the session and was able to play the instrument with my limited ability without too much of discomfort. The TiRKiT also sounded a bit better.
Over the next few days, I noticed that the wrist did not hurt so much whenever I played the Tabla. I was also able to go through the days without too much of pain which seemed to worsen at night. I continued to wrap the wrist up in crepe bandage at night as it apparently helped. The pain also increased on Sundays (and other holidays) for no apparent and logically explainable reasons.
Now this particular combination of beats, i.e. the TiRKiT needs rapid sideway movements of the right wrist when played at a quicker tempo. The basics had been learnt at a slower tempo by moving the hand along with the forearm from the elbow with minimal wrist movement.
It then dawned on me that the painful wrist situation might be somehow linked to my intense desire to play TiRKiT at a quicker tempo. I realised that Universe/God/All That Is had been ‘conspiring’ to fulfil my desire all along the period of time that I was in pain. New pathways were being created so that energy could flow and the cells/tissues/bones of my right wrist were able to go through the changes that were biologically required so as to give me the flexibility that I was yearning for. The pain had started ‘magically’ at a time when I was not going to put too much of strain on the right wrist as we were going on a vacation; a time when I could give rest to the ‘affected’ part for an extended period of time. The synchronicity of events just stumped me.
The lesson that really sunk in with this experience was that our conditioned minds – that have been programmed to resist all kinds of pain – can in fact interfere with our desire to live life at its fullest potential. To make matters worse, this conditioning actually contributes to increasing the pain as the universal law ‘Whatever you Resist, Persists’ now comes into play.
I realised that it was time for me to finally release this conditioning and accept Pain as an integral part of the process of growth and evolution.
Life has become more enjoyable, as a matter of fact, because of this positive acceptance of pain.
The right wrist has also become much more flexible and of course, I am now able to play TiRKiT at a much faster tempo. It does hurt a bit every now and then but these moments of pain keep on coming cyclically, stay for a few days and then disappear. I have noticed that these cycles are invariably followed by an expanding ability to play TiRKiT, as well as other complex combinations of notes, in a more fluid and faster tempo.
****
As the movement of the right hand became better, my left could no longer keep pace with the tempo that I was now able to generate with the fingers, and wrist, of the right hand on my Tabla.
The obvious desire to now be able to use my left hand better was then followed with pain originating apparently from nowhere in various regions of my left arm. There was this period of time when certain spots on my left bicep muscle, and then the triceps, started hurting real bad. But these pains did not last long as now they were being welcomed and obviously not resisted. Next in line was a spot on my left elbow, followed by pain in the muscles of my left forearm and then the digits of the forefinger and the middle finger of the left hand. All these pains lasted for a few days before disappearing magically. But I also knew that they were there for a reason and would go on their own.
Medical help was obviously neither sought nor required. I am not sure that I would have reacted this way, had it not been for the wisdom gained through the earlier experience(s).
The unexpected bonus is that the muscles – biceps and triceps – of my arms have started developing on their own. This is remarkable because this is something that I was not able to achieve even after hours of working out and weight training when I was a teenager. I think it must have been the pain that forced me to give up at that time.
Learning how to play the Tabla has in a way fulfilled a child hood desire; in fact two desires. One was of playing the instrument itself and second one of a stronger muscular body.
I could have missed the bus so easily – had I not reacted to the inner guidance provided by a SINGLE THOUGHT when I made that phone call back in 2004. Some will say that it was providence at play or that it was my destiny at work. But then there was a distinct possibility for the chain of events to not have unfolded the way they did.
****
It was another spur of the moment decision when I joined a club near my house for swimming lessons recently on 24 Sep, 2010. This activity has also eluded me so far in life as the opportunities presented have been pretty limited.
The instructor taught me the basic leg kicking and asked me to master it in a few weeks before going on to the next step. This became a bit boring after about a week but by then I noticed that I had spontaneously started doing other exercises in the pool. These include running in place, cycling, sit-ups, stretching etc. in water about 5 feet deep. Doing the same exercises for about 45 minutes on solid ground is not my cup of tea. I guess that the water in the pool supports my body weight and makes it easier for me (to exercise).
All this energy working (and desires) predictably enough resulted in having aches and pains all over my back and legs. But now there was a positive acceptance of all these and they more or less vanished after a few days. I do have a few niggles here and there but they do not interfere in my life. They tend to become intense for a while and then go away to pop up at some other place. There is one particular area just above my right hip and towards the back which hurts slightly more than others, especially during long drives. I have cut down temporarily on my long drives but this actually is not bothering me. I am just allowing it to be as there is a deep knowingness and understanding now that the swimming activity is linked to certain energy pathways opening within my body so that I can (finally) have a leaner, stronger muscular body.
This chain of events was also set in place by a SINGLE THOUGHT. I mean, I definitely did did not take up the swimming lessons with any agenda of improving my health. The desire was just to learn how to swim, that’s all.
As of now, this particular swimming pool has closed down for the winters. Hopefully, I will soon start going to the warm water pool at my regular club which is a bit of a drive away. I will surely take it up in my later posts as and when there is something to report.
****
That brings me back to the 72000 channels thing. I definitely did not have a few channels working earlier which have now started working. The desires to be able to do things that are linked to the joy of being a human started this process of growth within me. My horizons have expanded a bit and this has added a new dimension to living.
Evolution is the only constant thing that is happening all the time which can also be interpreted as Change is the only constant thing happening all the time in the Universe. Not to allow change to happen is 'death'.
By the way, pain is not the only indicator of new channels opening up. An itch that comes up suddenly is another one. A few months ago, I had this urge that would come up suddenly to scratch my back just between my shoulder blades – an area slightly out of reach. It was an irritant to begin with but then I stopped resisting and devised ways to be able to scratch my back. This continued for a couple of weeks. These urges have more or less vanished now but I have realised that my breathing has improved. In the sense that I now feel a bit more movement in the ribs at the back and front every time I inhale and exhale consciously. I feel that this is directly linked to these sudden urges to scratch my back. Improved breathing does add a bit to the life span too. Its wait and watch as this is something that only time will tell.
****
The opposite aspect - what happens when we do not allow the channels to develop? In other words, what if we continue resisting pain?
I think that this then creates a blockage of energy which then allows diseases to manifest in the physical body. I will take it up in the next post.
And so it is.
Thanks Sir for this post. It will really help all who have issues with 'pain' in life.....
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