Bored at going through life that churns out the same routine day by day, one day we decide to take things into our own hands and work towards changing our fate and work towards a new destiny. Thinking that material gain shall overshadow all our troubles and worries, we work hard to rise up in life. We now have all the money and all that money can buy. We have all our friends and relatives milling around us. Then as time goes by, one by one all those whom we loved to have around leave or pass away. Only a handful of us remain behind. Some are bedridden. Some are immobile. Others have gone senile. Yet some others don't remember us. The young ignore us. We seem to be alone in this world of strangers. A sudden fear of death takes over. The thought what shall our last moment of life be like sets in? Should we wait longer? Or is our time soon? We are left in a limbo. This is the 1st scenario.
As we were promised the promised land of milk and honey, God's kingdom, we began our quest to reach it. We were pointed to several paths that apparently would take us there, each pioneer claiming that the path they showed us would bring us there. It is tough to decide. We are confused as to which to follow. We step on one anyway. We begin the journey at the expense of sacrificing time and money and leaving family and kin behind. But there is no sight of the promised land as yet. Days have gone by. Months have gone by. Years have gone by. But there is still no sign of God as promised. We arrive at the crossroads. We feel lost. There is no signage. We are lost for direction. We are lost for a guide who has traveled by or been there. Questions crop up. Were all these hearsay by others that we believed and followed and tracked up till now? Have we been conned? Have we been deceived? We look towards the skies now for guidance hoping a star among the many shall shower its love and compassion and come to lead us to God's kingdom. We pray even harder. No one comes. No one appears. Should I wait longer for a sign? Or should I retreat back? This is the 2nd scenario.
Looking around us we see many arrive at our bedside waiting for the hour clock to strike. We have yet some time to pick up a chat with the one beside and opposite us. As for the 2nd scenario, there is hardly anyone around. Who do we turn to? Loneliness sets in in both situations. Fear sets in in both situations too.
Where are you standing right now? Here is a spoiler. If in the first scenario, we are still bound by the material world, in the second we are ready to take the leap into the subtle world, that of knowing the (Jeev)Atma or Soul or Self.
Then a light appears from beyond in the 1st scenario. Suddenly a golden figure reaches out to us. Almost immediately a dark figure grabs hold of us too. A tussle goes on. We are now in the clutches of the golden figure. The dark figure retreats. We look behind to see that we have left our dwelling, our home sweet home, behind. We cry out loud, protesting that we do not want to follow. We want to return to our precious dwelling. We plead with the figure. He seems not to hear. There is no smile on his face. But wait, he doesn't have a face to begin with. Soon we pass through alien territories unimagined. We travel for days. We soon begin to quieten down, knowing pretty well that it is of no use. We realize that we are a captive now. We do not have the cash and money to buy us out as we did back then on earth. We begin to take in the surroundings. We begin to sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds. We then suddenly realize that we have been passing through here before, not once but several times. It suddenly dawns on us that we are being brought to be judged. We remember and recall the large screen that is going to display our life's work for all to see. Already shame starts to set in as we start to recollect our life's work. It is written all over us. We cannot possibly hide anything anymore. We stand stark naked before the assembly of the wise that awaits us. We stand with our heads held low waiting for the show to begin. Guilt and shame build up in us. After the show is over the reviews come in from the members of the assembly and others, some of whom we recognize. Some are harsh to us while others seem to ask to be lenient on us and give us leeway and another opportunity. The verdict is given. There is no space or moment to appeal. The next moment we plunge into the darkness. Soon we sense and feel that there is some light and some mumbled voices. We know that we are close to man and his kind again. We begin to work on ourselves preparing another dwelling to house us. All that was said at the assembly is fresh in us. Days go by. Months go by. Then we find ourselves ejected out of a capsule into the world. We are back. As days go by we begin to lose the memory of all that was said to us in the assembly. We lose ourselves again to the world. We get caught with its antics and mischiefs. Then something happens that makes us regain an inkling of the memory of our true Self. It is vague but there waiting to be discovered. We find ourselves in the second scenario now. We are searching for the way back home. We are promised the promised land of milk and honey, God's kingdom, and begin our quest to reach it. We are pointed to several paths to arrive there, each pioneer claiming that the path they showed us would bring us there. We begin the journey at the expense of sacrificing time and money and leaving family and kin. But there is no sight of the promised land as yet. Days have gone by. Months have gone by. Years have gone by. But there is still no sign of God as promised. We feel lost. We are lost for direction. We are lost for a guide who has been there. Thoughts ring in our minds. Were all these hearsay by others that we chose to believe and follow and tracked up till now? Have we been conned? Have we been deceived? But there was something in us that drove us to investigate our Self in the very first place, right? That cannot be a lie, right? That cannot be false, right? We look towards the skies now for guidance hoping a star among the many shall shower its love and compassion and come to lead us to God's kingdom. We pray even harder. No one comes. No one appears. Should I wait longer for a sign?
Then the unexpected happens. A star shines extremely bright in the skies. We recognize it. We follow it. We come upon a dwelling in the woods. A frail old man is sitting in the shadows of the fire he has lit. There is a faint sound of chanting, something unheard of. We move closer to him to have a clear view of him. He invites us to take a seat. He seems to know us. He runs through the past, present, and future that awaits us. He enlightens us. We begin to learn our purpose in coming here. He bids us farewell telling us that we have all his grace, love, and compassion. We track back home to start life anew. We make headway fast with his grace. The lure of the world loses its hold on us as time goes by. We have aged too in the meantime. There is no more responsibility or work on hand. Satisfaction fills us up. We carry love and compassion. We settle for completeness. We sit still. We do nothing. We become in the image of that frail old man whom we met in the woods.
One day someone steps before us as we sit outside our home lighting a fire. We seem to know him. We invite him to take a seat. We run through his past, present, and future. We bid him farewell telling him that we are only one call away from him. He moves out of our sight but he lives in our hearts.
*This is a work of fiction laced with some true happenings.*