Follow Your Bliss

In the movie The Namesake, an Indian woman (who is living in America) is speaking with her American friend, feeling lost and weary of spirit after many trials and tribulations. And so her friend encourages her to try something she read about in a book. "Just close your eyes... and remember and feel when you were the most happy. Not excited, just... happy. Content, full. It's called 'following your bliss',"

And so the Indian woman closes her eyes... and although the movie does not flash back to the particular scene from the beginning of the movie, I know which one is running through this woman's mind: she is seated in a sunlit courtyard in a yellow sari amidst listening musicians. She is singing, her eyes closed, her hand following her voice, which flits and swoops like a bird. And when she finishes, all the musicians present simply hold their silence.

And when the Indian woman opens her eyes, she says quietly, "I think I want to return home... to India."

When I close my eyes and envision the moment I am the most happy, the most content, I am singing in a quiet templeroom in the deep evening for Radhe Syam. Maybe that is why that moment in the movie touched me so - we were both singing, following our bliss.

And when I also feel this bliss, this stillness of my soul, is when I am with the Vaishnavas, especially my guru and my godfamily. When I am given the chance to serve them, I find myself murmuring, "Now this... this is the perfection of life."

So with all of your blessings, I believe it is time for me to return home, if just for a little while... and follow my bliss to India.