Wednesday, July 16, 2008

…The “b’ful illusion” that is “life”…

Sometime back I went to Dehradoon/Masoori on a vacation… stayed there at a friend’s place- Hasan… It was a b’ful trip… we went to a number of unexplored places… I heard a lot about Sahastradhara ‘n’ so I went there- but after reaching there I realized it’s not that great a place… We took the ropeway ‘n’ went to the top of the mountain in a trolley… It was a nicely developed spot- the view from the top is still fresh in my memory… After getting off the trolley, we were told to go through one tunnel… At first I couldn’t u’stand… the guy at the entrance of the tunnel then pressed one button ‘n’ the tunnel started to rotate around its central axis… there was a bridge at the centre of the tunnel which was static unlike the tunnel… ‘n’ we were told to use that bridge to go through the tunnel… On the inner surface of the tunnel there were some spiral neon lights in different colors… The moment I entered, I felt as if the bridge is also started rotating with the tunnel which was not the case… it was weird! I tried hard to concentrate but I just couldn’t… ‘n’ so I grabbed the handrail of the bridge so as to save myself from falling down the bridge… It was an illusion- just an illusion! My eyes saw it ‘n’ sent a signal to my mind which instantly told me to grab the rails to save myself… it was as if someone programmed my mind for some time ‘n’ I was being controlled by my mind… I knew it wasn’t happening ‘n’ that it was just an illusion ‘n’ still I couldn’t save myself from that fabulous “illusion”… Just to experiment, I closed my eyes ‘n’ after sometime it was back to normal… that illusion was gone… I couldn’t sense that illusion anymore… my mind couldn’t sense it… It was amazing… I smiled thinking about the illusion!
You are in a desert… thirsty… very thirsty… looking for some water to quench your thirst… you’re tired- almost dead ‘n’ then a miracle happens… You see some water at a distance… You smile ‘n’ gather all your strength ‘n’ start moving towards it… you walk ‘n’ then start running… you run ‘n’ run ‘n’ run… but you just can’t reach it… you just fail to cover the distance… the distance b’win you ‘n’ your “aim”… ‘n’ then the water disappears ‘n’ you realize it’s a “mirage”- no real water- just an illusion…
You’re disappointed… thirsty… you feel cheated, dejected… there you are left alone… again… in the desert… probably to go after some other “mirage”- some other “illusion”… with a hope of course…
Why did He create these illusions? To show us His strength? To tell us that He runs things here? And that we are mere spectators ‘n’ actors following His instructions ‘n’ that too without having any idea what’s there in the script of life- that He’s the Director- the Creator of the show…
Is life really w’ful or is it just an illusion… a series of illusions??? What then is reality??? Is there anything real??? Do we really exist??? Does anything exist???
It sure is an “illusion”… this life- this world ‘n’ everything in it… It’s just a creation of my mind… a mind created by the Ultimate Creator- The Creator of all… It’s very much like a game that I have to play ‘n’ in the end there’s one gift that awaits me… The quality of the outcome that is the gift depends on how well I play this game… How well I u’stand the rules of the game-o-life… How much I score… how many levels I clear within the “allotted time”… the path I take to reach there…
I hear the tick tock of the ticking crocodile swallowing these magical moments one by one… coming towards me… to swallow me as well… in the end… for a new beginning… hopefully…
It sure is an illusion- a “mirage”!!!
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players… 
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts… ”

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The Holy Grail

Did you ever hear the story of the Fisher King?

Begins with the king as a boy having to sleep alone...in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king. While he's spending the night alone... he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the Holy Grail... symbol of God's divine grace. A voice said to him, "You shall be keeper of the Grail... so that it may heal the hearts of men." But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life... filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement... he felt for a brief moment, not like a boy... but invincible. Like God.
So he reached in the fire to take the Grail... and the Grail vanished... leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now, as this boy grew older... his wound grew deeper. Until one day...life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any men, not even himself. He couldn't love... or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day, a fool wandered into the castle... and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple-minded. He didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone... and in pain.
And he asked the king, "What ails you, friend?"
And the king replied: " I'm thirsty and I need some water to cool my throat."
So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water... and handed it to the king. And as the king began to drink... he realized his wound was healed. He looked and there was the Holy Grail... that which he sought all of his life. He turned to the fool and said: " How could you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?"
The fool replied: “I don't know.
I only knew that you were thirsty."