Yesterday my daughter took her elder daughter to join a tour of the world of print organized by a local publisher of kids' books who opened up their doors to children above 5 years old in conjunction with their warehouse sales. I babysat the 3 and 2-year-old while they were gone. Both mother and daughter picked up many books adding to their already massive collection. I flipped through them and was captivated by Little Fruits Strawberry Book titled "Who Am I?"
Looking at her reflection in the water starts the little chick asking around who she was. When every animal only knew its "clan", identifying by the mode of travel, finally, a mother cat walking her kitten tells her that she is a chick. The chick is excited at knowing who it is. Similarly, at one point in life, the question arises as to who we are and we begin asking others. One might come by a guru as in the cat in the story who can reveal our identity.
This storybook also included the continuing saga of Cheepy Chick to find her mother, "Are You, My Mummy?" It reminded me of an earlier story I had read to my grandchildren, "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman.
As Tim Warnes writes at https://www.timwarnes.com/blog/2021/6/18/are-you-my-mother, "Finding your mummy when you don’t even know what she looks like is a challenge!", it is a challenge for us too to look for our "Mother". Just as the baby bird knows “I did have a mother, I know I did. I have to find her. …” we seem to know deep within us that we do not belong here amidst all these forms and names. After much searching and asking around, "The Snort put that baby bird right back in the tree. The baby bird was home!" Similarly eventually we shall come home just as Tavayogi autographed the following words "The journey begins and ends there" in my copy of his book "Andamum Pindamum" that the residence of God as being within the inner chamber of our hearts. It is a journey of returning back home. God comes as the snort to lift us back into our nests from which we had fallen eons ago.
The quest to know oneself has been going on for ages I believe as Agathiyar has spoken about our numerous failed conquests in past lives in the Nadi readings. Now we are at it again only after being reminded of the past. Would we be successful this time around? Only he can tell.
But whether we have placed sufficient effort or not, he surely has. He is determined to save us unless the lure of the pleasures in this world is too great for us to see through the veils, the richness and majesty of the inner worlds that lie beyond these veils. I am beginning to understand why Bhagawan Ramana and the other saints chose to keep to themselves for most of their lives. There is a treasure within us that we are not told about until the guru comes to whisper in our ears. The truth lies with a few and they are not telling. What we hear trumpeted aloud is of this chaotic world.
What lies beneath the chaos is peace and calm. I understand now why coming through a devotee Mother Prapanjam, before leaving, whispered the word "Shanti, Shanti, Shanti as I kept speaking, asking her to shower her grace on others. It is just that it saddens us to see so much sadness, cruelty, brutality, animosity, betrayal, backstabbing, theft, poverty, wars, etc in this same world that charms us with its beauty, hugs us into its arms, sings a tune into our ears, releases its sweet aroma to mingle in the air, and sustains us with nourishing and tasty fruits. All shall be well she implied adding that as she was the Prapanjam she shall take care of others too.