Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Keep Trying

We try to avoid sports analogies since - well they are used all the time and seem cliche. Sometimes however they really do hit the button. We start a series of post looking at purush prayatna - the idea that we need to keep trying. Enter Derek Redmond and his dad at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Hailing from UK Redmond was favored to win the 400 meters. He did not win a medal but he won the hearts of everyone around the globe - he finished with his dad.



Many people remember this moment as part of olympic lore. This is the essence of purush prayatna - to keep trying even if you know you are not going to win. When we read all the niyams in the Shikshapatri and contemplate all the vasana we have to overcome as listed by the Vachnamrut - it seems daunting. Maharaj has said that he does not want us to have an imperfection even as small as a sesame seed in order to attain Akshardham. So why even try? The idea here is that Maharaj and Swami will help - we just have to keep trying.

So what of Derek Redmond? Well he was featured in a Visa Commercial and part of Nike Courage commercial. Two years after the Olympics he was told by a surgeon he would never run again or represent his country in sport. However after coming to terms with the loss of track and field as a career, he turned his attention to other sports he enjoyed. After several trials at basketball clubs, he secured a place on the Great Briton basketball team. He sent a signed photo of the team to the surgeon that had assured him he would never represent his country in athletics again. After playing basketball professionally, he turned his attention to rubgy and managed to reach division 1. He represented his country in three different disciplines of sport. He simply kept trying. He always had the help of his father.

In order to attain Akshardham, become brahmroop, attain Maharaj's raajipo - all we have to do is keep trying. There will be set backs, we may fall down - but just like Derek Redmond, we have our father and Guru to help us back up and move forward.

1 comment:

  1. This is just great, very practical, tangible and true. No matter how hard we train ourselves, there is always the chance we'll injure ourselves as we run through life. Swamishri will help us over the finish line, we need to be ready to accept that help and make sure we don't brush him off as just an usher...

    (Also, Morgan Freeman said the race was 400 m not 200m as written in the intro)

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