The unexplored field

'Hurt' is unfathomable. Though it acts as a storm that could hit the city (life) anytime, it is something which makes us panicky, depressed and compels us to change our entire perspective about life. We all are afraid to get hurt. We are on cloud nine if things go in the way we want them to and when they don't agree with our dreams, we are badly hurt. Once we recover from the bitterness of gloomy days, we build a wall around ourselves that could prevent us from getting hurt in the near future. But however tall or strong the wall is, it is vulnerable in front of nature. 

Now the question that comes in is:

Why do we get hurt? 

The answer which I received by reading one philosophical book doesn't match with being 'dumped' or 'cheated'. It goes far beyond such common reasons. Each one of us has created a mental image about ourselves. This image is considered superior and perfect by the respective person who holds it. 

Now this is very simple. I feel that my opinions and views are much better than the person sitting next to me. This same notion can come to you and millions of humans living across the globe. This self-concept has created divisions among people for instance: 'I am a communist and you are a non-communist!' which has merged disharmony into the day to day activities of the people. 

Now just imagine the day on which you had a fight with your loved one. You and the other individual carry in the minds the imagined 'self-concepts' that makes the letter 'I' come into the picture. Now this 'I' is the ego. This small tiny alphabet can make you feel you are on the right track and the other on the opposite one, that pushes you to persuade the individual to behave in a way which is convenient to you. The other also possesses your same wish but it's content is altered as per his self-concept, making both of you feel hurt at the same time. 

The 'I' or 'me' has created a lot of limitations. It is happy when it meets people who are ready to walk on the path of it's own illusions and fantasies. But when the 'I' is criticised, it is hurt. Well it is indeed necessary to draw a line when the time comes to protect one's self-respect and dignity. But projecting your self-image as the 'perfect' one and nurturing expectations that others would behave in a way which is correct according to you, is also not a good idea. 

The thoughts that come to me could also come to you. If we started communicating by bearing this idea in our heads, won't we consider each other as equals? This could make our conversations more clear and open, discarding all the illusions that makes us feel that we know everything. It can also help in exploring the depths of pain and forbidding us to build up those walls that prevents us from leading a fearless life. 

I admire the quote of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi:

Outside, beyond what is right and wrong, there exists a vast field.

We will find each other there. 

Letter to the Demon

Dear Demon,

I very well know that you are alive within me. You and the Angel strike a perfect balance of existence within my mind, transforming me as every milestone of my life becomes a history. Just as I am thankful to the Angel for spreading happiness on my doormat, I am thankful to you for making me what I am today. 

People detest you. You are known for spreading negativity and tears of sorrow, which we all try to run away from. You are always behind me, waiting for the right moment to push me into the hollow well of depression.  This is one of my greatest fear. But it is this fear which has made me incapable of understanding you. 

When I am hurt due to some reason, my Angel makes me aware about your presence. I ignore you and you open the door of darkness for me. This has been happening since years and I always try to run away from you but to no avail. You are always there, waiting for the right moment. When I go through a period full of sufferings, I ask myself:

Why have I been bestowed by happiness if one day it is ought to be destroyed by the Demon? 

That is when my Angel replied to me:

There is no gain without pain.

After that incidence I began to question your arrival. Rather than getting afraid of you, I began to confront you with my new found strength. You gave the answers to my questions and opened another door for me where I found my mistakes committed in the past. I was astonished to see the amount of self-created problems by being under the influence of illusions and how I used to put the blame on others for not fulfilling my expectations which they never accepted from the bottom of their hearts. 

That is the time when I looked at you with utmost reverence and felt happy for having a companion like you. You are the one who puts my wisdom to test but in a very bitter style. But I am okay with it. This bitter personality of yours has given you a name but it lies on me whether I could see the light within the darkness. 

I now accept you whole-heartedly. Whenever you would approach me, I would welcome you as a divine creature and would love to have a small chat with you. I would accept without reluctance the changes which you would suggest to improve my situation. At the end of the discussion, I would open a door for you where you would accompany me into an experience of another milestone and I would hold your hand when I know it's time to confront another suffering. 

Mind is like a baby!

I remember my dad telling me one day:

"There is a hidden child within every adult".

We were actually discussing the behaviour of a 40+ villager and I had for some reason found her personality very childish. We all have a belief over a thought that greater the age of a person, higher would be his level of maturity. In some cases this age-old assumption does strike a bow. But what happens when you come across an individual who was successful enough to reduce the intensity of your belief? Would you just call him 'immature' and walk off or would you look more deep into the matter? 

If I were in your case, I would love to carry a little bit of investigation. Yesterday I was feeling a bit sad over a certain issue. My mind kept me restless and I was narrating a negative thought over and over in my head, like chanting a mantra. After some time I regained my inner peace by having a deep insight into the reason behind my sadness. That is the period when I discovered a new topic for my blog:

Human mind is like a small baby. 

Well I know it may sound absurd. But I feel that it may contain a tiny drop of reality. Just like a baby craves for happiness and cries loudly when he finds himself in a despicable situation, the same way we love to receive pleasure and hate to gain pain, either by complaining about it or avoiding it all together. This is very obvious and simple. Let me explain you with more examples. 

When I was leading my life in my native place, I saw a small girl of 5 years yearning to gain attention of a one year old baby. She called her many times, running around the woman who was carrying the small baby, desperate to play and have a quality time with the innocent child. However the baby didn't show much interest in that 5 year old girl. She grew angry and later that emotion paved the way for tears. 

How many times have you, as an adult, grew upset just because someone you like didn't bother to spread a smile? Or how many times have you become angry just because a friend who messages you the most, has suddenly stopped being in touch? It is an emotion that we experience millions of times as we all love to gain attention, praise and also an urge to get pampered. In some people the drive that accelerates this desire is very high and hence they are termed as 'attention seekers'. 

Is there any universal definition of maturity? What according to you is maturity? As per the idea which has been sent to me by an unknown force, it refers to a state wherein a human slowly learns to understand the behaviour of it's own mind. When one learns to differentiate among his thoughts and choose out those which can generate an ideal response as per the situation, then that person can be truly called as a matured person. 

Treat your mind as a small baby who loves to have a possession over toys. Now compare those toys with praise, power, money, success, attention and so forth, keeping in mind the things which you would dream to chase. Then just as a small child holds your finger and takes you to the market place to buy toys, your mind would take you to the real world to accomplish it's wishes. But be aware. If you don't stop the child and make him listen to you when it is needed, the child would go out of control, in turn making you exhaust all your energy in just running behind it. 

So one has to be extra careful. Just as a parent has to analyse his budget and provide the child with gifts he is capable of giving, one must listen to his soul for understanding his capability that would make him enjoy the fruits of his achievement. 

The day I became rich

The feeling of being rich transformed into a great amount of leisure within the deep corners of my heart. As I walked down the road whose edge was marked by the scenic beauty of magnificent hills, my happiness knew no bounds. The sun shined above the tall Eucalyptus trees but it wasn't that bright, hence I could witness the beauty of the blazing ball. The infants of a hen were frantically running in different directions and it seemed as if the nature provided them with an indescribable amount of energy.

I felt rich because I was relaxing within the arms of a non-polluted ambience. No noise could disturb the peaceful humming of the minds and the inner self got wholly immersed into the blessings of God. I could sense God everywhere and his presence made me forget about the misery, the misery that resulted from the separation with nature in my world. I rather thanked him for teaching me what my soul really wanted, who was always restless in seeking out varied things to gain pleasure. As a chameleon stood still on the trunk of a tree, my soul floated slightly higher above all the worldly sufferings. 

The eyes of the villagers gleamed with playfulness and innocence. One of them was having a quality time with a sheep and an old hindi song was being played in his house. The melodious tune matched perfectly with the vibrations of the surrounding, making one urge to dance amidst the greenery. The cows were standing in the sheds and the dog was looking straight into the farthest distance, maybe contemplating it's own thoughts. 

According to me, I was being surrounded by the richest people in the world. Those who hop onto luxurious items can understand this feeling of richness if they look deep underneath the ground of illusions created by us. It is just like bending yourself to catch a glimpse of pure water within the darkest corners of a well. I had got a golden opportunity to feast my eyes on lives which I could never control, nor can they fall into the category of 'human possession'. 

An individual was lucky enough to have a meeting with Gautama Buddha. He had a doubt in his mind and that he felt could be solved by the greatest thinker of all times. He asked Buddha:

"What's the difference between like and love?"

Buddha gave an answer to his question by adding a beautiful metaphor:

"Like is followed by a sense of selfishness. If you like a flower, you would pluck it for a temporary period of satisfaction and pleasure. But if you love a flower, you would make great efforts to water it everyday so that it can enjoy a comfortable life".

The nature teaches us the importance  of love, which truly upholds the value of sensitiveness and understanding. There is no feeling of possessiveness and hence all the creatures are able to live in harmony. That day as I became rich, I could clearly decipher the connection between love and peace.