Sunday, June 12, 2016

The Dream-Search



“ So you think you can tell,
Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain; can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
 A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?“     
   Pink Floyd. Wish you were here

“ You think you are the teacher and find you are the taught. You think you are the seeker and find you are the sought. Sing a song of glory and you will be the glory! “ Sufi Choir.

We all experience the stages of life-  birth, childhood, youth, middle age, old age and , finally, death.
Over time, we observe ourselves and others whom we know – relatives or friends or neighbours- progressing through different stages. We attend birthdays , weddings, baby showers, anniversaries and funerals.
We experience growing older, and the sadness of  a near one drastically transformed by  age or illness, or irrevocably ended by death.
Each of us grapples with our own questions about the meaning and purpose of our lives, about the ultimate truth, about God,  about rebirth and afterlife or nothingness.
We are all waylaid by fears and worries about our own future: what will happen to me in my old age?
Will I suffer illness and indignity and loss of health/mobility/freedom? Will I  lose my mind and my sanity?  Who will take care of me when I am helpless and suffering?
When and how will I die? What will happen to me after death?
Does God exist? Is there an afterlife or rebirth?
Does my existence have any  reason or purpose?
Who is asking all these questions? Who, really, am I ?

We deal with these and other existential fears and doubts in different ways: by dismissing them or  submerging them in our sub-conscious, by temporarily forgetting them through activity or addiction , by trying to find the right answers  in different ways or by just trying to take each day as it comes .
No matter how our life is going at the moment, inside every one of us there is this underlying dis-satisfaction, this nagging fear of the unknown, this yearning, however faint, for a lasting joy and peace.
And so we begin to search for answers…for books or people or teachers that may guide us, for inspiration , for a miracle.
We jump through many hoops…but sooner or later we suddenly taste a subtle, secret joy, catch a brief glimpse of infinity.
This is how it begins.

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