A young man with a fine voice is asked to take part in a pageant play, though he tries to beg off, saying he always gets embarrassed under such circumstances.
He is assured it will be very simple, and he will have only one line to say: "I come to snatch a kiss, and dart into the fray. Hark! I hear a pistol shot..." and then stride offstage.
At the performance he comes onstage, very embarrassed already by the tight-fitting colonial knee-breeches he has been made to put on at the last moment, and becomes completely unstrung at the sight of the beautiful heroine lying back on a garden seat, awaiting him, in a white gown.
He clears his throat and announces: "I come to kiss your snatch -- no! -- snatch a kiss, and fart into the dray -- I mean, dart into the fray! Hark! -- I hear a shistol pot -- no! -- a shostil pit, a pistil shit. Oh, bat shit, rat shit, shit on you all! I never wanted to be in this damned play anyhow!"
No one wants to be miserable, but they don't realise that their very wanting to be happy is the root cause of their misery. 'I want to' is the biggest disease haunting the world today, not AIDS, not hepatitis B. People don't want to be happy right now and right here. They set goals to be happy. And the ridiculous goals read like this: "I will be happy when I buy a car." Does he really become happy when he buys a car? No. Instead of driving down merrily in his car, he sets another goal to become happy and the car becomes irrelevant. His next goal becomes something like: "I want to own a house or a palatial mansion (depending on the person's imagination)" and he strives towards it. And he goes on and on till he realises that all his life he was 'wanting' something or the other but didn't exactly want to live. Because the moment you possess something, you don't want it anymore.
The same is the case with marriage. Till you marry, you have dreams of how you would lead a life of bliss. And you do for a couple of months (it's reduced to a couple of days) and the marriage turns sour because of your very longing to be happy with your spouse. The spouse no more becomes important, but what he/her does becomes important. They slowly try to change the person to his/her demands because there was no happiness in the marriage. And the goal has turned on to something more materialistic to become happy: setting up a house, providing a good education for the child, buying a new house, etc, etc, etc... When do we learn that happiness is not a thing to be pursued but a state of mind that can only be lived?
Sages have understood the dilemma of the human being and have advocated meditation as the tonic to get rid of the evil. But people neither have the time nor the inclination for meditation because they feel if they stand and stare they would be left out of the rat race. And a rat race is it. Because it is like moving around in circles not knowing for what.
Was too caught up with streamlining my blogging activity that I couldn't find time to go for an extended spiritual marathon. But however, I did my regular hourlong breathing exercise and followed it by another hour of sitting meditation. In the evening I made up for the morning's biking by going on a 15 mile bike ride in and out of the city.
My mission
To jog-bicycle around the world, climb the mountains, swim the seas and soar the skies. Since they are not remotely possible, I settled for a daily dose of spiritual triathlon -- jogging, cycling and meditation -- necessarily in that order. My idea of a spiritual triathlon is 10 miles of jogging and 10 miles of cycling followed by an hour of meditation. I sincerely feel that not less than a spiritual marathon can tame the mind and mould it the way you want it to. So go ahead and have fun taking a dekko at my spiritual athleticism. But don't forget to drop in a word or two on how you feel about my blog and my way of life. Your advice is always valuable to go that extra length to the Garden of Eden
Food for cycling thought
A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"
The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."
The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."
The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."
The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Stop the pursuit of happyness
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