Life Takes 1 | Life as Bodhi sees it

Monsoon evening, The ravaging monsoon storms had fell silent in the past few days. The sun shone bright through the deep blue skies. The evening looked like a young woman, with her hair auburn , dressed in a luxuriant green flowing robe. Her grace and radiance even made the elements silent, as if it all stopped on their tracks, only to be owned by her full of life charms. At a distance, I heard cuckoos call for her. Their voice reverberated through the silence only to trail of in desperation. Folk of sparrows chirped and chirred like girly giggles and gossips. She paced forward in slow rhythms.

I walked with her, trying to feel her with all my senses. The more I looked at her, I got elated. I paced a slow pace with her, completely lost in her.

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A few days before, I have seen her in all her fury where she has torn down the heavens- must be one of those days. The storm was screaming duet with rolling thunder Storms. But now she is elegance personified, trust me, living many a years with her and I still couldn't get my hands around her. She has taught me many things and I have understood a few things. When the threshold for her tolerance is pushed, she has all the mighty power to bring hell upon earth. After a while, as if conscious of her own destructive power, she calms down in slow spouting bursts. Like a heavy rain after the thunder storm, she drains her heart down her cheeks, immersing herself in a shower of thoughts. When its all over, it will leave the world purer and fertile, but before that happens, its thandava of the extreme kind that leaves the paradise flooded.

She taught me to cry, so as to clear up my clouded mind and taught me not to mess with her.

The more I know about her, the more love and respect I have for her. I became the awareness and she became the energy. Collectively we became the consciousness.

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Walking with her, we reached the old Bodhi tree. It stood tall. For the Bodhi, I would be a passing moment and my lady love an eternity-she is beautiful alright. The Bodhi welcomed us with its cool shade. Bodhi gave us the best seat in the house, front row, center with the view of distant horizon. Seated there, we could see green paddy fields, stretched all the way till the base of the mounts. The field has a clear water stream running along its side. The passing winds drew patterns on that huge green canvas. The off-white fluffy clouds peeked from behind the mounts. It looked as if the clouds too are watching the artistic elegance of the winds on the paddy fields.

"Hey" cried a cheerful voice from behind. It was that little girl with the cheerful smile. I have met her here a few times before. We have talked and at one time she had even sung a song for me. She plays under the watchful eyes of Bodhi- The elderly wise who has knowledge of the ages.

"What are you up to today?" I asked her. She opened her tiny little hands and showed me the lichens she has collected from the nooks and corner of the rocks.

"I am collecting tiny grass for the fish." she said. "Its hard to pluck it, I had to use a stick"

"Do the fish eat it?" I was curious.

She got down the lap of Bodhi and went near the stream to feed the fishes with the lichens. She trotted down along the stream with a smile. I felt happy seeing the way her face lit up.

After a while, she climbed back and sat near me. Her eyes focused on a few birds wind surfing and performing aerial acrobatics over the paddy fields.

I was thinking of the little girl, one day she could be a world renowned botanist, a compassionate writer. Now she is capable of dreaming and believing. Its when we start to take the twisted and winding road up the hill of life, we feel lost, insignificant and incapable. The irony is that life wants us to take the winding road, only to make us focused, significant and capable but most of us end up other way growing up, fearing life.

It is so that...unlike the little girl who pluck the lichens, we give up early and don’t use the stick - an extra effort to trust our self.

It is in such silence that Bodhi talks to me in his soft voice. I like the way he laughs,at my jokes at times. its all a rattle.

 Bodhi: Irony isn’t it?

I : Yes. It is. We humans are so good in screwing up our self.

Bodhi: Does the little girls action have any consequences?

I: On the fishes- I don’t know. On the lichens- Yes.

Bodhi: Yes, humans don’t' know quiet a lot of things.

I: Not as much as you because you have been surviving for decades. For you we humans are just passing moments.

The Bodhi laughed, its rustle resonated through the evening silence.

Bodhi: Me...Surviving? Haaaaa...You are wrong. I have been living my life, while you humans tried to survive every day. One day you have asked me whether I felt cold the other night when the heaven and earth conjugated in orgasmic fury, and what did I tell you?

I: You told me that, you never felt cold because you felt the rain and you became the rain itself. You have told me that when the wind blows high, you become a wind, bending, flowing with it and you become the wind, you even rustle your leaves trying to match the baritone of the wind. It is like you become that and you touch the soul of the elements. The awareness , energy and consciousness cycle.

Bodhi: Yes, yes, yes. So you humans just survive and call it life or whatever. That is because, you humans have forgotten the universal truth , the very reason of your existence on this planet.

I: You meant to say....

Bodhi: Any other species of animals living on this planet are interdependent on each other. Lichens help in decay,the fishes eat the lichens if u feed it or not, the birds eat the fishes..I don't have to tell you the cycle of life. If you take away any of the species from that Eco-system,the natural checks and balances collapse and the Eco system gets destroyed completely because they are interdependent. But you humans are neutral in any ecosystem, no species need your help to survive. Nobody is dependent on humans for survival. All other species have evolved to sustain itself by supporting each other without the help of inferior species- the humans. Take away the humans from the face of the earth and the world will reboot itself into a thriving ecosystem.

I: That is the universal truth?

Bodhi: Yes. Only the first part of the truth. The Second part of the universal truth is, you are the protectors of this world. Your job is to give back in kind for what you take from this world.

I: There is truth in what you said. I always believed in the notion that humans survived in this world only because of the societal rules they made for themselves. We humans have turned into manipulators than protectors.

Bodhi: Manipulation is resisting the natural ebb and flow of universe and creating a fatal diversion. It is irony that you all wait for a new messiah to come and save you, when its only you who can change your fate. You pray to a higher self to protect you while you choose not to believe in yourself. How can the higher self work through you when you doubt yourself? Every human in this world is a blessed soul. The higher self wants you to believe in yourself, have compassion for fellow beings and faith in your actions. Then the actions you do automatically change the course of yourself and the history of the world.

You attain oneness with the world. This is when you call it living life to its potential . As you move along, the universe has a way of testing your positive potential to tap into your energy. This is the energy that the world depends on to move itself forward. From time to time, you have to recharge your potential with your belief to constantly provide your world with energy. The awareness, energy and consciousness cycle.

“You don’t achieve greatness, you earn it with your belief.”

I: I have never heard you using the word GOD. You use the word higher self!!

Bodhi: Higher self is in you. It is the clarified version of yourself, your collective learning and your beliefs. The universal truths are simple, but you humans have a way of not paying attention to simplicity. Simplicity bores your complex minds .Humans are attracted to the frills on the fringes, thus you live on the fringes of truth and not in it.

The little girl interrupted our conversation. She has managed to collect another handful of lichens. She held out her little palm to show me the lichens., then got down the steps towards the stream.

The beautiful evening slowly descended behind the mounts. All I can see is the reflection of her auburn hair on the clouds.

I looked at Bodhi, he is preparing to welcome another night. I knew that as the darkness falls on him he will meta morph into night itself, standing tall, blending into the dark night.

I climbed down the steps and reached near the little girl who was sitting near the stream looking at the little fishes. I walked her to her home , then continued walking alone towards my home near the farm.