Like dew drops on a leaf
What is the meaning of life? A silly question to ask? And I have no answers to proffer. The one thing I do know is that life is uncertain and unpredictable. Yet, we're supposed to reap a harvest of happiness from a short, challenge-ridden, chaotic stint on this Earth.
The saint even said that we are like dew drops on a leaf. So transient is our existence, so fleeting our sojourn, that we can be summoned to the heavens (and not hopefully the opposite end) at any moment.
The Ahmedabad dreamliner plane crash, which resulted in the cessation of many lives and doubtlessly many dreams, is a stark reminder of our utterly temporary status as living beings. Innocent, unsuspecting, even bubbling, human lives were lost in a flash.
The suddenness of a calamity such as this one, and many before it, compels the rest of us to think deeply about our own lives. Yet, we necessarily get busy very soon again and zoom off to resume our goalless journeys, until the next such tragedy occurs. Then, our quicksilver reflective pauses end up being forgotten along with the reasons for them, once the breakneck pace of life takes over once more.
An elderly uncle has a rather philosophical viewpoint on this matter. He's been proclaiming for years. that he's in the departure lounge of life, ready to take off whenever the boarding call comes. But what of youngsters? Why should they have to find themselves suddenly scooped up by an unseen hand? And what of those who love them dearly, and who would never want to lose them?
Permanence is not human. Humans are not permanent. But the decision related to the date and time of departure is left to an unseen umpire, the same one who brought us here in the first place. Yet, we go about living as if we're here to stay! And therein lies the crux. The need to be aware of the Almighty and his mighty ways is compellingly obvious. But we think that we have medicines and treadmills and AI bots and money, et al. We think we can live forever, somehow.
What we could perhaps attempt to do is to lead a carefree existence with peppiness, yet an existence that soaks in the awareness of God. Let us wonder deeply why we met a certain person out of the blue, at a Chinese restaurant, one who became a lifelong friend. And we had been planning to go to a mediterranean café all along! There are hundreds of so-called chance meetings that occur without our volition and without any effort. Someone else pulls the strings of our life, and all we can do is to control the controllables.
Worry and fear of possible situations, which lie beyond the sphere of our 'jurisdiction', is clearly a fruitless exercise, yet one that all of us indulge in. Some are much more prone to this tendency, and they'd better emerge from such moroseness swiftly.
Yet, to rise above a swarm of worries needs almost a superhuman effort. Paramahansa Yogananda advised us to spray our worries with the 'powerful chemical of our peace'. Yet, that peace remains elusive if we keep encountering news of tragic happenings near and far away.
The inner castle is our only solace, then. The ability to meditate regularly and find inner calmness is not everyone's cup of tea. Yet, the only balm for our negative mindsets lies in the practice of spiritual techniques. Else, mountainous victories will never shield us from the inevitable abysses which crop up now and then.
To lose someone close is an unbearable blow. Yet, every individual on this planet must go through that occurrence sooner or later. The final clap will come one day, for anyone and everyone.
Till that day, we hold the key to our own happiness and of those around us. If we ourselves are sad company for others, then how can we expect others to remain upbeat all the time?
Company is stronger than will power, said the same saint. And if we can't change our company, we must change ourselves. Even if we're dew drops on a leaf; let's be joyful ones, till we last.
vivek.atray@gmail.com
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