See How Rakhie Got Rid of Painful Burden She Wasn't Aware Of! - The Story of Rakhie

Ever since early childhood, Rakhie felt such inferiority that she always hated losing to others. Whenever she played a game or competed with others, her tendency was to focus on winning. This made her life very lonely, as she always felt uncomfortable around other people. The feeling was mutual— others, too, felt uncomfortable being around her. Whenever anything unpredictable or undesirable happened, she became stressed. The only time she felt at peace was when everything was done the way she wanted, and when she achieved the intended result.  

Reflecting back, she says that she used to be “a very self-centered and selfish person who wanted the world to bend to her liking.” At one point she felt she had reached the end of the rope. She felt like there was always a big, heavy stone in her chest and the pain was so bad that she was unable to sleep well. She was barely living, carrying the everyday stress, and feeling burdened by the difficulties of her life.  

She then discovered meditation. She began to study meditation very sincerely, hoping to get even a small relief through it. During one wisdom session, a story about the salmon caught her attention. The salmon fish swim against the flow of the river and fight their way through the strong currents for miles, to get to a calm pool of water where they breed and then die soon after. They die because they exhaust all their life energy to fight the strong current. Many other fish species swim with the current, yet they do not die once they reach their destination; only salmon fish do.  

The story made her think of herself. She realized that she, too, had always followed her own way and fought against nature’s flow. She also realized that irrespective of how she wanted life to be, the world is driven by nature’s flow. She understood that her life had become hell because of her inability to accept the world as it is, and because of her persistent effort to live according to her own preconceptions. She finally acknowledged that, whenever things did not go her way, she blamed others for it. Whenever things did not work out as expected, she directed her anger towards her family or other people, and not even once looked at herself. Her deep resentment had caused her so much stress that her health was affected. She also knew that, if nothing changed, there would be a great possibility of losing her loved ones, too.  

As she continued to meditate, she kept revising the concept of “sun-ri” (“nature’s flow”). Nature’s flow means following the law of the world—accepting the world as it is, and not trying to “swim against the current.” Through meditation, she learned to get in tune with the flow of life. She found that the source of the problem was inside her, and not in the outer world. She now says that, even though she may not yet be perfect at accepting the world as it is, she practices the art of “letting go” and accepting the way the world moves. Her practice is now focused on finding humility and living according to nature’s flow.  

Thanks to meditation, Rakhie has stepped on the path of stillness — of understanding her own personality, drives, and belief systems; of accepting herself for who she is, shedding away perfectionism as a form of obsession; and accepting life for what it is, with all its unpredictability and surprises. Where stillness is achieved, the path of mastery begins — her acceptance of life is not to be confused for despondence or giving up. On the contrary, Rakhie is now empowered to, more than ever before, recognize the window of opportunity, act according to her skills, knowledge, and strengths, and all for the right reasons — not to prove her worth to others, but to achieve, for herself, a realization of her full personal potential.