Blessings in Disguise

by Reza Ganjavi

I felt my back burning – could feel a strange energy from the seat behind me on the bus. Immediately got up. Saw a guy was sitting there – creepy looking with polluted energy and unclear mind. The main stop was coming and he also got out and immediately lit a cigarette. The body doesn’t lie.

Yoga class was NOT fun. It wasn’t what I even call yoga. It’s competitive Westernized nonsense. Yes, good for the body – climbing a mountain is too – but not yoga as I understand the original intention and having done it regularly since I was 17.

Learned it in college – from an architect with a Ferrari teaching it one night a week – his teacher told him to go out and teach, and perhaps later felt jealous by the architect’s success. We were a little group – not a cult though it eventually became like one. One day it dissipated and we were left alone. For a person who went to the Wild West, alone, in his early teens, the disappearance of a group that provided social fun if nothing else, was not a big deal – as a great man once said, you have to be anchored in the Other (God) otherwise you go to pieces.

Long detour there… to come back to today… after yoga she rushed to catch the bus and I jumped on the same bus. She’ll know tomorrow if she’ll have a job or not and is worried. So we talked. It was clear there’s no case to worry – I listed 8 reasons. She lit up: I had all these worries and a man jumps down from the sky and tells me it’s going to be ok.

Told her about ‘blessing in disguise – about importance of staying in not-knowing and being ok with it in the backdrop of a society which is willing to pay a high price for certainty. And the right place of thought. Can only cover so much in a short bus ride.

Many people have come by – drinking of the wisdom that is in the air. I could smell it as a teenager – the waters of wisdom.

She gets 6 months of unemployment – has a European passport – strong degrees including a Master’s in a relevant high demand field – work experience – good looking – and a female in a field which is mainly dominated by males. Can she find a job if she gets laid off? Of course. A door may close but usually a better one opens… life is full of mysteries and miracles.

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Sima Khorshidian: Great writing. Yes, sometimes we can feel a strange energy from people. A yoga group. Can I ask why u felt it was becoming a "cult?" Why do u feel his teacher was jealous of ur teacher?! Yes, I also believe we like certainty. If we can ground ourselves in "uncertainty" and "unknowing" we will end some suffering in our lives.

Reza Ganjavi: Reza Ganjavi Well it turns out she got a better job than she could imagine :) Being grateful, she said that chance meeting was very important to her as it gave her a strength she was lacking in dealing with the uncertainties...