The Calling

 

 

It was a splendid peaceful summer night. The Moon Goddess was silently and imperceptibly walking her path. It was a clear sky with a plethora of shining stars. Only from time to time, a cloud would appear on the horizon, but the Moon Goddess, with her majestic hands, would very caringly dispel it from her path. Here and there, a shooting star would reach its final destination and would fade into stardust. The forest was asleep. The trees were quietly dancing with the slight breeze coming from the south. Most of the forest creatures were in a deep slumber. Apart for the nocturnal birds, which were caringly producing their midnight symphony.

There was no living soul to be found, when our heroine approached the path entering the forest, except for the mysterious calling, that has brought our heroine here. This special calling was coming from deep inside the forest. It was so attractive that our heroine did not care for any external circumstances. Her only motive was to find the source. So she started walking on the forest path. She walked and walked and the path was swaying sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. She lost sense of time and space. Her only focus was on the calling that was coming from the heart of the forest. It was so attractive. Suddenly, something from inside her heart made her look at the side of the path. She realized the diversity of beautiful flowers that were scattered on the side of the path. The mysterious calling made her start picking these flowers. They were all kinds of colours- pink, purple, yellow, orange. So our heroine grabbed a bunch of them and carried on walking towards the heart of the forest. She walked and walked. The more she walked, the more she had the feeling she was walking towards a place that she actually belonged to. As she was getting closer, a sense of Home aroused in her heart. She knew she has been there before. As she was getting closer to the heart of the forest, the mysterious calling turned into a melody. The closer she was getting, the easier was for our heroine to start discerning musical instruments and tumultuous sounds coming from the beings dancing and happily shouting. The path swayed to the left and then to the right, and again to the left. She arrived. She was there, in the heart of the forest, where the mysterious calling was manifesting.

Our heroine was so mesmerised by the scenery that was unfolding in front of her very eyes. There were drums, there were fireplaces, there was food, and there were bells. It was a festival of a sort. Everybody appeared stunningly beautiful. Everybody wore colourful dresses and ankle bells. Everybody was ecstatically dancing and singing. Everybody was smiling and laughing. Their smiles were illuminating the whole place. Suddenly, someone noticed our heroine and told everybody. Rapidly, everybody stopped dancing and singing, and all looked at the newcomer. Everybody was smiling at our heroine. Then, from the middle of the dancing circle, a young beautiful boy with a bluish skin and effulgent face, and His consort, a beautiful young girl with a golden skin, approached our heroine. Both of them kindly extended their hands towards our heroine.

Suddenly, the boy said:

‘-Welcome Home! Shall we dance?’

Our heroine replied, rather reluctantly:

‘-But I don’t know how to dance.’

The blue boy extended His hands and replied:

‘-Don’t worry, everybody knows how to dance… it’s natural.’

Our heroine replied:

‘-Okay… I can try I guess.’

Then, the blue boy’s consort grabbed the flowers that our heroine had brought. Next, the golden-skin girl quickly and artfully made a flower crown and offered it to our heroine:

‘- Put these flowers on your head, they will make you fit in! Come on! There is no time to waste! Let’s dance!’

All of sudden, the music started again and the festival carried on. At that moment, our heroine realised that she was Actually Home. She was at the Home of her heart!

The Mind, The Body, and the Spirit walked into a bar…

It is Friday night. The weekend has come. Our hero has just finished work and was thinking of going to the pub.

-‘Whoohoo, it’s Friday, let’s go to the pub guys! Let’s get really wasted, you know, enjoy ourselves! You Only Live Once! YOLO! YOLO!’- shouted the Mind.

-‘Seriously dude! We have been through this more than 100 times and it always ends up bad for all of us, and the worst for me, of course, because I am the one who endures all the pain and toxins! Urgghh! Please, let’s just go home and sleep! I am really tired! It’s been a long week.’- replied the Body.

-‘Oh, you two! Here we go again! Mind, you should seriously have some restrain! And please show some respect towards your brother, Body! Without him we are both lost! – replied the Spirit!’

-‘YOLO, YOLO, YOLO! YOLO, YOLO, YOLO!’- chanted the Mind.

Thus, our hero ended up ordering a double Jack Daniels and Coke.

-‘Ahh, that’s nice!’- said the Mind, after our hero finished the drink.

-‘Ouch, that is hot, hot, hot!’-screamed the Body. -‘I don’t understand why you are doing this to me every weekend, Mind! You drag me here, you pour down burning liquor into my mouth and stomach, you are deluding yourself that you are having fun, and on the next morning, I am paying a heavy price! I am in pain, all in bruises, having headache, and the worst is when you drag us to someone else’s bed, and have sex with strangers! It’s pure luck, we haven’t caught up some disease! I can’t stand you anymore! You are driving me crazy! Spirit, can back me up here!’

-‘Body has a point! If you think you are not paying any prize for this misbehaviour, you are completely delusional!’– said Spirit. -‘There are universal laws that affect all living beings, despite of their ignorance! The ultimate sufferer is me, as I am eternal! You two will disintegrate with time passing, but I will have to take another body with another mind! We can all stop this madness here and now, but we need to unite forces and work together, put our differences aside, and ultimately, strive for self-realization. In turn, this will allow for escaping this material world and all its sufferings!’

Our hero downed another drink.

-‘Spirit, you go to hell, with your mumbo-jumbo spiritual lectures and myths! If there is anyone delusional here, it’s only you!’–replied condescendingly the Mind. –‘And you Body, stop complaining and moaning! I know for a fact that you are enjoying alcohol and sex as much as I do! You are only pretending that you do not like it, so you and Spirit can overthrow me and become the masters of our hero! I know you both pretty well and your petty conspiracies! So get lost! I am in control! YOLO!’

-‘You are not in control, Mind, you are simply delusional!’- said Spirit calmly. ‘Instead of being grateful to Body for taking you here and there, for feeding you day and night, and for essentially being your servant 24/7, you pay him back by punishing him with burning liquor. That’s simply a disgrace!’- commented Spirit.

-‘Spirit is right! I am your servant, Mind, show some mercy and compassion, I do so many things for you!’- encouragingly said Body.

-‘You two, can’t you just stop whining about this and that! I am trying to enjoy myself here!’- said Mind, as he was making our hero down another shot of tequila.

-‘Body you’ll be fine, you said it yourself, we have done this before more than 100 times, so why not make it 101!? Spirit, you manipulator! I am not going to let you deceive me with your moral/spiritual lectures. Why don’t you just let it go?’- said Mind.

Thus, our hero, controlled by the drunk Mind, continued on drinking more and more for the rest of the night. In this way, Spirit and Body became numb, and there was only one ruler. The delusional Mind.

PS: Inspired from: ‘For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.’ (BG 6.34)

 

 

Graceful Death

 

She just finished cleaning the bar area, when her colleague came out of the bathroom. He was also carrying her jacket. She thanked him and put it on. Then both of them left the building. They departed. Each one of them went the opposite direction towards their respective homes.

The night has started its reign and the night queen, the Moon, was shining from the Heavens. It was long way after midnight. It has been a long day for our heroine. She was physically exhausted, but at the same time, in a very peaceful state of mind. She was slowly making her usual after work walk up the hill, where her house was. The air was fresh, as there was a gentle summer breeze, which has blown away all the car pollution. Our heroine was breathing deeply, as she was passing through a public park. The place was soulless. No one was there at this time of the night. Peace and quiet. The pond in the middle of the park was casting almost a perfect reflection of the night sky. This made our heroine realize, how beautiful her surrounding were.

She made her way out of the public park and entered a path that was going through a field.  Our heroine saw that there was a herd of cows in the distance. They were lying on the ground, sleeping quietly and peacefully. Our heroine heard the calling of the Owl coming from the public park behind her. She remembered that she had read that in some Native American folklore the Owl represented death. This memory made our heroine thoughtful, but at the same time made her shiver. She continued walking up the road trying to distract herself from the call of the Owl.

The end of the path led our heroine to the fences and the door of the enclosed field. She opened it and came out on a high street.  She continued walking up the street and headed towards a junction, through which she normally passed, in order to get to the street where her house was. As she approached the traffic lights, our heroine noticed something lying on floor. Something that the passing cars were carefully avoiding. She was suddenly struck by a realization, as she started crossing the street and approaching the thing that the cars were avoiding. A rather grim realization, though. The symbolic call of the Owl has manifested itself into the material world. There was a dead animal of some sort and the cars were trying not to run over it.

At first, our heroine couldn’t discern what the animal was. It looked like a cat from the distance. However, as our heroine was making her way on the other side of the street, she recognized the animal, as a small baby fox. This realization has completely messed up the internal world of our heroine. She stopped at the other side of the street and started staring at the dead animal. She noticed that in reality the baby fox was in the process of dying, as its belly was pumping up and down. However, the baby fox must have been hit by a car that has broken its neck, our heroine thought. At this moment of insight, a wave of emotions has almost drowned our heroine. Disgust, fear, appreciation, awe, humbleness, sadness. She couldn’t move. Tears started trickling down here face. She was paralyzed. All she could do was just wait. Wait for the last dying breath of this baby fox. Wait for the final moment of when the spirit would have left the material body of this poor creature. The end of all suffering.

A Graceful Death our heroine was thinking, as she was looking at the poor baby fox. Graceful because our heroine unintentionally has turned into the Goddess of Time. The time of death for our baby fox. The time of release of this material body. The time of transfiguration of the soul into another life form. She was feeling hopeless and helpless. Tears were still coming down her face. The poundings of the baby fox’s chest were slowing down. The moment was coming. This made our heroine think about her own existence. Her own soul. Her place in this life. Her place in this Universe. Her relations with the surrounding world.  The poundings had stopped abruptly. Death has arrived. It stole away the life force of this creature.

Our heroine couldn’t believe what she was witnessing and experiencing at the same time. Her hands were shaking, but she felt she had an obligation to do something. So she went on the street and moved the soulless body to the side and put it on the pavement. She couldn’t just leave it on the middle of the road. She felt obligated to move it away from the tires of the cars. An obligation she had never experienced before. A Law surpassing any worldly matters. A Spiritual Law. As she left the body on the pavement, our heroine realized that this experience had changed something in her inner world. Something very subtle but yet profound. She felt connected. She felt Grace. Grace manifested itself through the death of this poor creature.

Our heroine started walking away towards her house. Tears still coming down her face. She felt mesmerized and humbled at the same time.

‘Graceful Death, what a Graceful Death!?’- she said out loud  to herself, as she kept walking.

All there is, the rest is just made up!

He woke up from his usual afternoon nap. Looked around, trying to find his slippers. He spotted them on the side of the bed. He put them on. Then, he put his t-shirt on and left the room. When he walked outside, he suddenly realized that he was being late. The sunset was approaching and he didn’t want to miss it at any cost. So he started rushing up the hill.

The distance to the top was few kilometers, but he didn’t know how many exactly. The moment he started walking up the road he realized he had made a giant mistake putting on the slippers. The road was full of little stones, which felt like needles piercing his feet with every step he was making. However, he didn’t have time to go back to put on his shoes, if he wanted to be on time for the sunset. So he kept walking and decided to distract himself with the surrounding environment.

The road was going up, as if it was a way to the Heavens. On his left side there was the ocean and on his right side there was a forest. He realized that he was sort of walking on the line between two worlds. The water world and the earth world. This made him smile, but suddenly a passing car that was going up the hill, made him realize that he needed to hurry. So he did.

He made it just on time for the sunset. The mountain peak was a small peninsula. All three directions were facing the vast Ocean. He made his way to a rock, which was facing the horizon. He sat there and started staring at the sun. When the Moon started rising from behind, the Sun was slowly making its way down. As the Sun was shooting its last strikes of light, our hero felt again that he was on the borderline between two worlds. The day and the night worlds. The Light and the Darkness. He was fascinated by this realization, which made him wonder. The Sun has finally set.

The Moon has started her reign. With the Moon, millions and millions of stars have appeared on the evening sky. It was a summer night, with the clearest of skies. Our hero lied down on his back and started staring at the beautiful and limitless sky. Something very interesting happened. He noticed a shooting star and made a wish as the tradition goes. He thought it was one off thing, but then there was another one. And then again, and again. Sometimes two or three at a time. It was a meteor shower. It was the most beautiful scenery that our hero had had ever witnessed.

‘All there is, the rest is just made up!’- suddenly a voice came in. Our hero was startled, and looked around to see who was speaking up, but there was no one.

‘I am telling you, what you see, is all there is! And the rest is just made up!’- the mysterious voice repeated, as if it was a bit annoyed with our hero and his lack of engagement.

‘What do you mean with all there is?!’-  our hero responded, thinking that he was crazy for speaking with the wind.

 ‘I mean, what you see! The stars, the universe! You are one with them! You are stardust! That’s your Essence! That’s everything and everyone’s Essence, if you think about it. The rest is all made up!’- replied the mysterious voice.

‘But that is not true? What about me and all my friends, family, my life in a sense? Don’t you think they are real?’- asked our hero.

‘Of course, they are! However, the Essence, the stardust is what gives them life! Therefore, what you see in the night sky, is all there is! – replied the mysterious voice.

‘I see…but what about my body, my eyes, my legs, my arms, my bones? Or what about my organs, or my brain? – asked rather enthusiastically our hero.

‘All stardust! You were born a star, you are a star now, and you will be a star forever!’- replied the mysterious voice, rather calmly.

‘Well, what about my ideas, aspirations, and beliefs? What about my dreams? Are they real? – asked worryingly our hero.

‘They are useful for now…, but ultimately, they are all made up! In essence, what you see in the sky right now, is all there is! – calmly replied the mysterious voice.

‘So are you telling me that all there is, is stardust…the Essence as you call it? – asked our hero.

‘Yes! Nothing else! – the mysterious voice replied.

‘And also everything else is made up!?- asked our hero.

‘Yes!’- replied the mysterious voice.

‘But where does this leave me then? How should I live my life, if everything is made up? Is life even possible if that is the case!?- shouted our hero at the empty space.

‘You live in accordance with your Essence, you listen to It, you trust It! You call upon for answers and you wait for responses! You let go of all the made up things and you connect with your Essence! You forgive yourself and you humble yourself! In this way, you can live your Essence!’- replied calmly the mysterious voice.

‘In a sense, always remembering that this is ALL THERE IS, AND THE REST IS JUST MADE UP!’- added the mysterious voice.

At that moment, our hero woke up from his deep slumber. He must have dozed off, while lying on the rocks. He realized that his conversation was just a dream. A provocative dream. Time has progressed so our hero decided to head back to the place he was staying for the night. He put his slippers on and started walking down the hill. Down the road. He was alone. Everybody has returned back to the village. The Moon was our hero’s only guide in the middle of this beautiful summer night. He remembered what the mysterious voice had told him. Therefore, our hero let go of control and followed wherever the Moon was leading him tonight.