This book helps us take back control of our emotional well-being. When the pandemic hit the world in 2020, it altered our priorities in life. Between this pandemic and another that occurred a hundred years ago, we assumed we had taken control of our destiny. When economies pressed the pause button, the world came to a standstill. Many of us saw our wealth, jobs, or businesses disappear. Some lost a dear one to a virus. Several who wanted to retire discovered their savings had eroded. In the last hundred years, we humans focussed on consolidating our gains. Suddenly, we all had to reset our objectives and expectations. We all wanted to avoid the virus, even if it meant staying locked in. However, one expectation remained unchanged. We all wanted to live, no matter how challenged we felt.
Money can buy us comfort and convenience, yet it does not give us everything we want. In this search for the missing, we seek the help of life coaches, preachers, and gurus. We take their offer of a magic pill or formula. Their best-selling books, classes, and workshops are proof of their ability. We want to be happy and hope to get it with them, but we do not. Our journey with them is like flying on a commercial airline. Their plane lands at the nearest airport, as per their schedule. Once there, we must travel to our ultimate destination.
This critical last mile draws upon the message conveyed through the Pandavas’ journey toward heaven. Only Yudhisthir, accompanied by a stray dog, could reach heaven. In the Epic, Yudhisthir’s celestial father disguised himself as a dog, a faithful animal capable of leading the blind as their guide. Although the dog followed him on this journey, Yudhisthir alone had to travel this last mile. His father disguised his settled profile as one perched upon a water buffalo riding the universe and accompanied him as a dog. He did not guide him. Our search for mental peace and happiness is like this journey to heaven. We must travel this last mile ourselves and reach our destination, which we can call Moksha Every Day or ME.
This book focuses on this last leg of our journey, and for this, it draws upon Mahabharata’s reservoir of guidance. The Mahabharata conveys that in our tomorrow, we will face the consequence of what we do today. We must act with Dharma because Karma follows us in our lives. Moksha is not an end-of-life event. It is not a search we can embark upon after we have done all that we wanted without caring about the consequences. ME is about what we need to do every day. It is about you and me and what we do during our life. It is not as farfetched as death and when our soul leaves our body. Therefore, it is about here and now. Moksha is about our emotional freedom and our pursuit of inner peace that makes us happy. A desire for happiness is common to all of us. This happiness must come from deep inside us and must be heartfelt. This happiness is like a baby smiling in their sleep, a smile we attribute to fairies and heavenly bliss.