The other day, I happened to be present at a get together. The elites and all the big names were present there. The party was in full swing, with people chattering away. Amidst roars of laughter, clinking of glasses, and seemingly happy demeanors there was something amiss. I was sitting at one corner enjoying my humble lemonade observing all the frivolities of the evening.
Everything appeared to be perfect! It reckoned to me that each face present there had a story to tell. In one room, there were several stories waiting to unfold. I noticed people who were happily intermingling with each other would suddenly become quiet and lost when left alone even for a minute. It was a contrasting situation. It made me wonder how a person who was so happy and outgoing a few minutes ago was suddenly so somber? What was it?
The following day, on my way to work; I again started observing people on the road. Each one seemed to be in their own frenzy. Rushing to get somewhere! The urgency of being somewhere and doing something was all left in their purpose of “being”. I was also one of them. But, this thought kept lingering with me the entire day. I was looking for answers to questions I was not even sure of.
On Saturdays, I usually visit a temple. The temple was bustling with devotees. The priest was chanting the mantras. People standing with folded hands waiting impatiently for the priest to finish. Husbands nudging at their wives to leave early. Children fidgeting endlessly waiting for the ordeal to end so that they could play. Again, I witnessed the same “hurriedness.”
At one corner of the temple, was a small shack. There lived an old hermit. I thought of paying a visit to him. I knew it was my mind urging me to see if the hermit who had renounced the world also had the same kind of restlessness which I was observing from the past couple of days. I walked toward his shack. To my delight, he was sitting on the footsteps doing his rounds of rosary. I did not want to disturb him nor did I want him to see me. Therefore, I stood behind the large peepal tree watching him. His fingers were mechanically racing through rosary beads while he gave a fleeting glance towards the commotion happening around him. He too seemed to be in a hurry to finish his rounds of “japas”. Again, the same “hurriedness” but of a different kind.
I left the “place of answers” with a confused as well as an intrigued mind. I realized the rich, the common man, the priest, and the hermit all had one thing in common. It was the underlying simmering restlessness. I could understand and relate to the common man’s woes but not that of the rich and the hermit. One had everything to make his life comfortable while the other was devoid of any desires.
That night, I stood at my window gazing at the vast expanse of the sky. It looked so serene and quiet. But was it really so? It was a cosmic illusion and deception. Perhaps, here too the ‘maya’ was at its play. Its tranquility was a cosmic illusion or if I may call it a cosmic deception only to divulge a camouflaged cosmic mayhem later. The space was also buzzing with endless cosmic activities. The “cosmic restlessness” pervades the entire universe.
This left me with one question which was perhaps also an answer to the question to which I have been seeking an answer for years. The ultimate goal of everyone is to attain “moksha” or salvation from the cycle of birth and death including the universe. What does the death or termination of the cycle of birth and death mean? It supposedly means attainment of ultimate peace. A respite from the “chaotic hurriedness and restlessness.’
I am no authority on the subject. I cannot vouch for others but I came to understand that till you are part of this “hustle and bustle” there is no escape from the mundanity of it. The pursuit of peace and spirituality by a hermit also causes the same kind of restlessness as the rich man trying to build his empire because both of them are pursuing their respective goals. The nature of goals might be different. Even the journey may not be the same. But, the very fact that one is trying to accomplish something in itself instills a cacophony of emotions, and when emotions come into play there is little scope left for perpetual peace.
I realized that most of the pain that we inflict upon us is because we are desperately trying to silence the inherent hurriedness and restlessness of our being. Let go of that desperation. We cannot stop it nor can we control it. But, if we learn to accept it, then I feel most of our miseries will not seem miserable at all!
I kept gazing at the sky trying to fathom the perplexities of the magnificent creation. A thought tiptoed silently into my mind. It said, “Dear, do you really want to experience moksha? I answered with the same quietness “yes”, It whispered, “control all your emotions such that nothing perplexes you anymore. Just “be” in the state of “being”
Remember, you are part of the great cosmic dance. Dance till it lasts!
I sighed deeply and walked back to the room remembering the great saying in the Bhagwat Geeta, “कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि.” Today, I had a different interpretation of this shloka. I felt it told me to be attached to everything around me as it was my cosmic duty and at the same time learn to be detached from it all. Could attachment and detachment co-exist? Maybe, they could!
