The Moss

 

Wake up and Connect! It was the hour to wake up from deep slumber; to connect and be connected; with self, environment and the supreme.

It must have been three past midnight when I woke up and walked into my small garden; my little heaven; looked around with happiness to find the twinkling stars and the shining moon. The sky was as clear as it can be and the freshness in the air was breathtaking. There was an occasional sound of a bird turning in its nest and flapping its wings in happy anticipation of dawn.

I sat in my usual place, closed my eyes and was transported into another world within no time; a world within world; a world within me. I saw myself having a stroll in a garden which was full children playing merrily. It was personification of life and happiness. A small stream which was flowing almost in middle of the garden was sounding like the gurgling incoherent sounds made by a fully fed infant. There was a small bridge on the stream and many children were sitting on it, swinging their legs in the water and seemed to be rubbing something with their feet. Their faces were lit up with happiness and excitement of having found something new.

It was The Moss! I walked closer to the children and what I saw was truly amazing. They were rubbing their feet on the small and big stones adorning the water bed and were removing the moss from the top of the stones. As the freed moss started drifting in the flowing water, small and big fish swallowed it gleefully and were gathering around the feet of the children for more. The children seemed to be enjoying it and were full of happiness when the fish touched their feet playfully.

The Discovery! Slowly and steadily, the stones freed from the moss started showing their shining surfaces and it was a great discovery for the children. One of them took out a shining stone and was holding it high as if it was the biggest diamond ever mined. I went up to the child, sat nearby and smiled in admiration. “Uncle, I never thought that there could be such a lovely stone under the moss. I am happy that I am able to unearth one” the child said.

So is with Humans! By now attention of all the children was turned towards me. As if speaking to self I said “It is so with Humans as well. There are many layers of ignorance, disbelief, mistrust and lack of faith which hide our true selves. It takes conscious efforts to rub all of them from the surface and discover true self; shining, happy, confident and trustworthy; be a beacon to self and pathfinder to others”. They nodded as if they understood all of it.

The Hidden Treasure! I am sure that they must have carried a lesson with them; there is hidden treasure in all of us; in all the creations of the God Almighty; one has to believe and endeavor to unearth it.

Bare Feet!

01 Oct 2012; A defining moment in my life when I realized the depth and meaning of the word ‘Empathy’.

I was on a pilgrimage where I walked barefooted for about fourteen kilometers and it was this journey which opened my eyes to the deeper meaning of ‘Empathy’. I believe that it was ‘Divine Grace’ which channelized my thoughts in that direction.

While walking barefooted on sand, pebbles, stones and rough surface, the soul of my feet started aching and every small pebble or stone seemed to pierce through it. Though the pain was excruciating, it was overcome by the faith in the supreme and I kept going.

As I walked along, my mind wandered in to a different world. A world where we see a number of people who cannot afford footwear going through their lives barefooted and unnoticed by those who are more fortunate to possess footwear. It is only when a pebble or stone pierced through the soul of my feet did I realize what those people must be going through day in and day out. The sympathy which I used to feel for them before changed in to ‘Empathy’.

“I can feel your pain now” I cried out silently. From then on, I started thinking of various ways to put self in to the shoes of others and the more I thought, the more it said “Empathy is not only putting oneself into others’ shoes but also to know where it pinches and feel it too.”   

It was a great lesson! Life teaches many a lesson very silently, discreetly and expects its students to rise to the occasion and receive its teachings.

 I thank the divine grace for blessing me with this great lesson and hope to walk the path traversed by others to connect and contribute.