Friendliness

 

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Friendliness

The modern virtual world is full of friend requests on social media – and these requests come from people who one has never met before. What kind of friendship can be established in this manner is beyond my understanding – but I too have got thousands of virtual ‘friends’ on social media. But these are just social contacts who like what appears on one’s social media page or what they would like to share on our social media page – but these are not the kind of friends who will respond to a call for help in times of distress.

Relationships are important in life and unalloyed pure friendships are rare gems to be preserved and valued. These are pure relationships based on zero expectation – these are the kind of people who will walk through fire to help one get out of a sticky situation.

Friendship is a relationship. We can be in a relationship with a few people. Friendliness is a quality not a relationship. It has nothing to do with anybody else; it is basically our inner quality. We can be friendly even when we are alone. One cannot be in friendship when one is alone - the other is needed - but friendliness is a kind of fragrance. A flower opens in the jungle; nobody passes by - still it is fragrant. It does not matter whether anybody comes to know of it or not, it is its quality. Nobody may ever come to know about it, but that does not matter. The flower is rejoicing.

Spirituality is a natural process. It connects hearts which in turn should strengthen the bond of humanity. If we want to realise that, we must learn to interact with people. There is no bondage in spirituality. But it shows the divine dimension to relationships. We have to turn to divinity. How do we do it? This is where the Guru plays a role. A Guru is one who leads us on the path of righteousness. In the journey of life each day is a walk which has neither a beginning nor an end. Relationships and friendships are those that join their steps with the innumerable steps we take.

When we speak of relationship, stress is upon individual relationship which is related to spiritual thinking and not to material existence. It helps the disciple who yearns for the Guru’s grace. We fail many a time in our path of practice. We fail to develop a proximate relationship with the Guru. That does not mean that the inseparable relationship between the Guru and disciple has ended. One need not lose heart. Here the disciple is the achiever and the Guru is the motivator. 

The Guru has knowledge and the disciple has the desire for knowledge. This desire must be deep. Only then does the patience to understand develop. That patience will strengthen the bond with the Guru. Such a strong bond makes the path to spirituality smooth.