Let Go!

As nature worshippers, we pray to the forces of nature and we learn from them. Being primarily fire-worshippers, our sanctum sanctorum holds fire or ‘Atash Padshah Saheb’ as we respectfully and lovingly beseech it. Fire teaches us purity, and thereby virtues like truth and goodness. And we venerate numerous water bodies – oceans, seas, wells – symbolizing ‘Ava Yazad’. The oceans have a humbling effect on us and the wells endorse nurturing.

When religion is perceived in the right context, it can be a fabulous catalyst for its followers who seek not just spiritual evolution but also learning, which leads to a content and happier life. Insomuch, we are blessed to be born into one of the best religions – Zoroastrianism, symbolized by fire… fire is light… and light is wisdom and learning. Mother Nature takes it upon herself to constantly help us learn and grow, mainly through her ‘seasonal’ communications.

As the monsoon season bids adieu, maybe we could question ourselves – what have we learnt from the rains? To relent. To let go. Maybe that is the message-of-the-day and the need-of-the-hour that will help solve numerous incongruities taking place in our world today, on all levels – as individuals who hold on to pain or anger or grudges; as a community/society that unwittingly holds on to destructive ideologies; and, as nations that hold on to policies that cost the lives and livelihood of its citizens; and even as a planet inhabited by individuals who hold on to the denial of various destructive phenomena like global warming and depletion of natural resources.

We gain the most when we let go – just as the skies gain back the bright sunlight when it unburdens those dark clouds from its blue chest, in the form of rains. A beautiful quote reads, “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” So let us commit to be driven by learning and light, not fear and darkness; let’s be the empowered Zoroastrians we were destined to be. Let go!

Have a good weekend!

Anahita