We are all rushing to do big things in life, often forgetting that the biggest have their bases in the very small. A huge building is constructed brick by brick; how painstakingly this is done determines the ultimate strength of the edifice.
“I want to make it to the top quickly” is increasingly heard today. But the greater portion of success lies in the process. The path tampers you, making you strong. The pain of laying bricks one atop another, the joy of watching something grow in front of you, the setbacks, the frustrations all contribute to your standing tall once you are at the top.
If you go up too quickly, chances are that you will come down equally
fast. This does not imply that one must reduce one’s efforts. Only the focus should be on the process. Each step must be worked at very hard and the litmus test is that a sense of satisfaction must be obtained all along.
A classical musician moves from lower notes to higher notes in a systemic fashion (bad hath). Ustad Aminuddin Dagar would say that he kept on hovering around each note till he got its darshan. When he got each one, it gave him a high which reached a peak when he touched the upper Sa. He would describe it beautifully by saying that the transition from the Ni, which he said was nirakaar brahma, to the upper Sa, the saakaar brahma was ‘adhbhut’ (indescribably beautiful). This left both the singer and the listener wonderstruck. The process is similar for other roads leading to the top.