The fool who stares at the Sun
Knowing that he may lose his eyes
May one day see the blessed land
That beyond the darkness lies.
The fool who gladly leaps off cliffs
Knowing well that he may die
May one day sprout golden wings
And inherit the open sky.
*****
For years, I have had a rather peculiar experience at times and it is only recently that I have begun to understand what it is. At times, it so happened that I began to listen to a song and was so overwhelmed by its beauty that I had to stop listening to it. And there were times when I was reading a book and was so overwhelmed by what it was saying that I had to close it. Peculiar though this may be, I am sure it is not entirely unique. Everyone must have experienced something like this now and then. There is, of course, no way to engineer such an experience. The same song, the same book may not reproduce such an experience again.
It is only now that I am beginning to understand what a wonderful opportunity such an experience is. The only reason why we are compelled to "break the moment" in such a situation is because we are about to hit a glorious peak of energy where the mind is bound to fail, where it would have no option but to become silent. The mind tries to salvage its nonsense in such situations by running away. But if we were to not fall prey to such foolishness, something wonderful can open up.
There is a beautiful madman called Swami Rajneesh who, it seems, teaches his followers to take their energies to a peak through dance and to find those golden moments of absolute stillness at those heights. Well, it seems that sometimes even when we are not physically dancing, those peaks can come to us as gifts from existence. Those unbearably beautiful songs should be listened to. Those terribly beautiful books must not be closed. And at those moments when we are so deliriously happy that we cannot bear to be still... those are the moments when we should sit still and allow the madness to overwhelm us. These Great Waves are not meant to be avoided. We should ride them, for there is every chance that they might toss us so high into the sky that we may never return. They might toss us so high, that we might forget which way is down... and then we might just fall upwards.
It is only now that I am beginning to understand what a wonderful opportunity such an experience is. The only reason why we are compelled to "break the moment" in such a situation is because we are about to hit a glorious peak of energy where the mind is bound to fail, where it would have no option but to become silent. The mind tries to salvage its nonsense in such situations by running away. But if we were to not fall prey to such foolishness, something wonderful can open up.
There is a beautiful madman called Swami Rajneesh who, it seems, teaches his followers to take their energies to a peak through dance and to find those golden moments of absolute stillness at those heights. Well, it seems that sometimes even when we are not physically dancing, those peaks can come to us as gifts from existence. Those unbearably beautiful songs should be listened to. Those terribly beautiful books must not be closed. And at those moments when we are so deliriously happy that we cannot bear to be still... those are the moments when we should sit still and allow the madness to overwhelm us. These Great Waves are not meant to be avoided. We should ride them, for there is every chance that they might toss us so high into the sky that we may never return. They might toss us so high, that we might forget which way is down... and then we might just fall upwards.
chala...hya eka poem mule amhi ata aaplya blog che bhakta zalo!
ReplyDeleteSorry...hadn't read the post following the poem. but i'm extreamly pleased with the courage and mastery that you have expressed what we always find so hard to express. Lakh bolale patrakar..lakh bolale...
ReplyDeleteChetan! So gracefully expressed!!If only we won over those ecstatic moments..., who knows..., we would be probably enlightened by now; or atleast would have experienced a samadhi or two!!! You must have gone into literature, psychology and then spirituality.....rather than mathematics and then spirituality!!!! Kudos!!!! Take Care!!!!!
ReplyDeleteActually I had almost gone into literature! But life is very peculiar (particularly since I am peculiar).
DeleteAnyway, thanks for reading!