Know yourself. And you know it all! :)
Yeah sure! Its a new life! New, new, new!! And different!!
This Delhi thing, as I would call it - was surely a fork in the road :)
I came here with just one small bag.
When I was packing all my stuff back in Bangalore and couriering it home, I had to end up living in a totally empty room for the last two days .
Those days were revealing. I had nothing to my name.
Suddenly I could feel that, the "I" and the "mine" were dropped. What was it that belonged to me!?
My furniture? Which I bought with utmost affection?
It was all sold.
My posters, paintings, books? Those that I've been buying over the years?
They found comfort with some friends and the rest preferred to be dumped in a carton box so that they are out of my way for sometime.
My clothes, cosmetics, accessories?
Some of them felt really old and so they moved on to become dusting clothes. Some of them found solace with Akshara Foundation.
The idea stayed.
What is it that is 'mine' ? What is it that I 'always' have with me? Leave apart everything else, this very body will leave me one day...
As we were driving down for a late night coffee in Delhi, I shared my thought with Kinshuk. And he started telling me a beautiful story...
There was once a king who had four queens.
Out of them, the king loved the youngest queen the most. He would really take care of her, pamper her and get her all that she would wish for..
Then there was the third queen, who was very beautiful. And it was this queen that the king would take out for dinner parties and public gatherings, where he could show off his pretty wife.
The second queen, according to the king was the wisest among all, and hence, in the times of distress and trouble, he would seek only her advice. He would even take her opinion in all the important matters.
Lastly it was the eldest queen - whom he would totally ignore all the time and would never even care for her. It was as if, she didnt exist for him.
...the story had a pause at this moment. We were parking the car now. We headed for a beautiful quiet walk through a boulevard strip before we could reach the cafe..
As we walked, he continued with the story...
Now one day, the king fell ill and the doctors declared that he wouldnt survive now.
The king sent out orders for the four queens to come and meet him on his death bed.
He then asked the youngest queen, if she would come with him, now when he is dying..
The queen said - "no, i cant come with you. " She walked off.
He turned to the third queen, and asked the same question.
The third queen said - " why would i come with you, i'd rather marry someone else". She walked off too.
The king repeated the question to the second queen, who said -
"i can accompany you till the grave, but not beyond that".
The dejected king looked at the eldest queen, and asked her the same thing, to which she smiled and said - "ofcourse i will come with you. "
... By this time, we had approached the door of the cafe and had taken a U-turn to take another round of walk..
I was eagerly waiting for Kinshuk to complete the story.. but he seemed to be lost in his own thought.
After a while, he looked at me, and asked my interpretation of the story..
"Is it over?" - I chirped.
"Yeah" - came the short and crisp reply.
"Well, I didnt really get the analogy in the story, if any."
To this he replied - "The youngest queen is your body. You take care of it so much, love it.. pamper it. But when you die - it leaves you.
The third queen is all your material possessions. You have them for show-off. But they too, will not come with you, when you die.
The second queen is your family and friends. You think they are the most important in your life.. but they too dont go with you when you leave this body..
The eldest queen is your Self. Your Soul. It stays with you and it goes with you. And this is the one whom you ignore the most - all your life!
Bring the attention back to yourself - to deep inside of you. Meditate. Know yourself. Know that this body is not yours, this car, this house, this family, friends -- nothing is yours.
.... We never opened the door of the cafe. We headed back home after taking an hour's walk..
:-)
This Delhi thing, as I would call it - was surely a fork in the road :)
I came here with just one small bag.
When I was packing all my stuff back in Bangalore and couriering it home, I had to end up living in a totally empty room for the last two days .
Those days were revealing. I had nothing to my name.
Suddenly I could feel that, the "I" and the "mine" were dropped. What was it that belonged to me!?
My furniture? Which I bought with utmost affection?
It was all sold.
My posters, paintings, books? Those that I've been buying over the years?
They found comfort with some friends and the rest preferred to be dumped in a carton box so that they are out of my way for sometime.
My clothes, cosmetics, accessories?
Some of them felt really old and so they moved on to become dusting clothes. Some of them found solace with Akshara Foundation.
The idea stayed.
What is it that is 'mine' ? What is it that I 'always' have with me? Leave apart everything else, this very body will leave me one day...
As we were driving down for a late night coffee in Delhi, I shared my thought with Kinshuk. And he started telling me a beautiful story...
There was once a king who had four queens.
Out of them, the king loved the youngest queen the most. He would really take care of her, pamper her and get her all that she would wish for..
Then there was the third queen, who was very beautiful. And it was this queen that the king would take out for dinner parties and public gatherings, where he could show off his pretty wife.
The second queen, according to the king was the wisest among all, and hence, in the times of distress and trouble, he would seek only her advice. He would even take her opinion in all the important matters.
Lastly it was the eldest queen - whom he would totally ignore all the time and would never even care for her. It was as if, she didnt exist for him.
...the story had a pause at this moment. We were parking the car now. We headed for a beautiful quiet walk through a boulevard strip before we could reach the cafe..
As we walked, he continued with the story...
Now one day, the king fell ill and the doctors declared that he wouldnt survive now.
The king sent out orders for the four queens to come and meet him on his death bed.
He then asked the youngest queen, if she would come with him, now when he is dying..
The queen said - "no, i cant come with you. " She walked off.
He turned to the third queen, and asked the same question.
The third queen said - " why would i come with you, i'd rather marry someone else". She walked off too.
The king repeated the question to the second queen, who said -
"i can accompany you till the grave, but not beyond that".
The dejected king looked at the eldest queen, and asked her the same thing, to which she smiled and said - "ofcourse i will come with you. "
... By this time, we had approached the door of the cafe and had taken a U-turn to take another round of walk..
I was eagerly waiting for Kinshuk to complete the story.. but he seemed to be lost in his own thought.
After a while, he looked at me, and asked my interpretation of the story..
"Is it over?" - I chirped.
"Yeah" - came the short and crisp reply.
"Well, I didnt really get the analogy in the story, if any."
To this he replied - "The youngest queen is your body. You take care of it so much, love it.. pamper it. But when you die - it leaves you.
The third queen is all your material possessions. You have them for show-off. But they too, will not come with you, when you die.
The second queen is your family and friends. You think they are the most important in your life.. but they too dont go with you when you leave this body..
The eldest queen is your Self. Your Soul. It stays with you and it goes with you. And this is the one whom you ignore the most - all your life!
Bring the attention back to yourself - to deep inside of you. Meditate. Know yourself. Know that this body is not yours, this car, this house, this family, friends -- nothing is yours.
.... We never opened the door of the cafe. We headed back home after taking an hour's walk..
:-)
12 Comments:
actually i am confused.
Anyways, doesn't death do away with such individuality ? So whether the soul goes with you or not, or whether it is your 'own' soul, or whether you have a soul afterall, does it matter?
All this theory does is maybe make you feel good about yourself and about there being a greater meaning to your life...
The story seems flawed, considering it does make a lot of assumptions about the soul, its uniqueness and about individuality.
My take is, its just a sweet story which people tell others to show their thoughtful and philosophical side, and try to sell it as food for other peoples' thoughts. But in reality, its just a simplistic theory written by someone with very little understanding of spirituality and philosophy.
as a man, as a woman.. as a cockroach, as a horse, as a fly... it might be a long way..
whether you realise it in this birth, or you do it at some later birth - choice is yours. :)
you know, a friend of mine says this often - 'oh wats this.. its just this one life that i have got..let me have fun! let me drink.. let me fag.. let me have all the pleasures of the world.. '
but, what he probably forgets is - that its not just this life. there have been many lives - come and gone. there will be many more awaiting us, if we dont break this cycle of karma and get rid of it for once :)
Have you experienced the Karma cycle for yourself?
I have been born here, on this planet, so many times before.. and I know my present life is not unique.
Post a Comment
<< Home