The Physics Of Not Really Bothering
Or What's Going On, Anyway!
Some people come around a few years earlier than me in this parallel called time. Some come later. They have the privilege to either make it for me or spoil it. They make their choices. Every time they do something that affects me, they make choices; millions of choices - all boiling down simply to - do right by me, or do wrong.
Thousands of people in infinite numbers of ways do right by me. They feed me, protect me, hold me, smile at me, love me, teach me, make efforts, worry for me, pray for me, grieve with me, laugh with me, show up, help out, appreciate, encourage, show the way, give of themselves, lay down for me, stand up for me, stand beside me, hold my hand, tolerate me, make allowances for me. Most of them, I do not remember. Most of their doings, I take as matters of routine or duty, or just 'naturally', or 'well, they had to, didn't they', or 'that's what we're all supposed to do, isn't it?'. I tend to forget that these have added endless Prana - force of life - to my existence.
Some people do wrong by me along the passage of life. Belittling and bullying and cheating and hurting and snatching and scorning and lampooning and generally ruining what could have been a much easier and rosier path, or so I like to think. I keep convincing and reminding myself that they have taken away from me - from my Prana; from my happiness - and so I am right in my dislike, or even hatred, of them.
I take the good as a right, both as in correct and as in something that is due to me. I take the wrong as incorrect and undue. How have I decided?
And in the cursing and hating...
...I take away love, loyalty, honour and sacrifice from all those who gave of themselves for me, even while there were others taking away from them...
...I take away from those who rooted for me even when they themselves were going through storms...
...I take away from those who gave me shelter and took refuge in me...
...I take away from the gifts of this bountiful earth, of the beauty of existence, of the eyes that light up when they see me, of prayers and care, of teachers and teachings, of caring beyond logic, of health and strength and daily food, of a daily miracle called life...
It's interesting - this journey.
Some things are predictable; like old age, and death; and sometimes, the fear of these.
Some things are glaringly visible; like the faults of others.
Some things I am blind to; like the hurt I may have caused.
I think that Evolution has played some nasty tricks on humans.
We think.
We plan.
We judge.
We persuade.
We collect.
We covet.
We rue.
We regret.
We claim.
We own.
As far as imagining, creating and providing reasons for unhappiness go, we stand on the top rung of the evolutionary ladder.
We learn nothing from our fellow creatures on the earth.
We have no understanding of the acceptance and adjustment of any other animal in the kingdom. Rather, we 'tame' them, and make them also 'do'. We do not let them 'be', or allow ourselves to simply 'be'.
We do not respect the plants and trees for their forbearance, their majesty, their unstinting giving, their non-judgemental embrace of all beings, their acceptance of all conditions; and their enormous contributions to the well-being of the earth. We think of them as 'resources' for our dim-witted schemes; our pathetic destructive 'lifestyles'.
We do not respect the stones, the dust, the sand, the water, the air, the skies, the oceans. We ravage the insides of the earth.
We seem to be some horrible freaks of evolution....
...till, one day, we start understanding, feeling, that we are not separate from anything on the earth; we start rejoicing in each sight and sound, we start noticing each breath, we start relishing each morsel.
....wonder replaces judgement....
...wonder at each occurrence, at each process, at every being, at the cohesion in the confusion.
Wonder, awe, amazement! We understand the miracle! We rejoice!
We see the past and the future - Time itself - in a new light.
Humankind - as a collective species, we are a disaster. But from every disaster some of us learn, some come out shining.
Sometimes, some learn that it's not worth our while to nurse ill-will. It takes too much effort, and saps away at Prana. If we give it space to live in us, it makes us ill.
Let them be, who have chosen to do 'wrong'. May they find peace in the shoes they have to wear; and I in mine.
Kindred souls.... fellow travellers...
There is too much to be happy about. Too much to live, to love, to experience, to learn.
Jeena hai.
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Happy birthday, darling Jashan! Learning from you to take it as it comes, to find happiness, to create it, and to share it!
