Daily Offerings from Alokda Archives - Page 21 of 34

Songs of the Soul: September 25, 2024

Sweet and infinite Mother, Mother Divine.

Maa all the journeys of life are in fact Your journey. From the most miniscule particle swirling in Space laying the base for all the wheelings and circlings, from the great cycles of creation to the daily round of the earth around its orbit and the life of man around his desires are all secretly impelled by Thy Force from behind the veil of our ignorant nature that knows not whither we go or are being secretly led through the forces and agencies of lower nature. Though it is ultimately Thy Power, since there is but only One Original Power, yet it works filtered, and in the process diminished and distorted, through the sieve of lower nature. This is so because we are not ready to bear the pressure of Thy intense and powerful working. Therefore man must grow through two stages. He first grows through ignorance which is often like a twisting and tumbling roller-coaster ride and then, when he is somewhat ready, the child is delivered to Thee whence he grows under Thy direct care. This is our second birth or a new birth. It begins by recognising Thee and ends by becoming one with Thee, an eternal portion of Thee growing more and more one with Thy Peace and Strength and Sweetness and Wisdom and Delight.

Such is the door of destiny now opened for us, for all who have been made ready and are being made ready. May all is give complete adhesion to Thy Will and Thy Working in us. May all in us be always full of a deep intense gratitude for bringing us so far and giving us the promise and the assurance for taking us to the intended perfection. May the new birth be fulfilled by a conscious and constant living in Thee, for Thee and by Thee.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa

2024-09-25

Why the Lord Haven’t Created the Perfect World on the Earth at Once?

Q: Why lord chooses this route for progressive manifestation which is sometimes not very pleasant for humans.. he is omnipotent and all-powerful, he should have just created the desired manifestation, No??

ALOK DA: Yes He can and indeed He does. All the typal planes of gods etc. are created directly by Him. But there is no evolution in these worlds. So the beings of these worlds are static. They are gods but cannot go beyond.

But man is part of the evolutionary world and therefore he can go beyond the gods and become one with God not only in his soul and inner consciousness but also in the very substance of his bodily existence. This is necessarily a long and laborious process and needs full collaboration of man as evolution implies challenges. It is not readymade so to say. The omnipotence and omniscience of God is therefore veiled as a tree dwells veiled in a seed. Slowly it would emerge through the challenges.

The unique thing would be that once fully emerged man will share the practical omniscience and omnipotence of God which even the gods do not. Besides based upon matter there will be concrete bodies for the otherwise formless Omniscience and Omnipotence. These bodies will also multiply the delight of oneness and become delight of the many though a unity in diversity. All this God cannot manifest fully if He remains in His original formless state.

Of course there are souls that find the game tiring and tedious. It is for them that He has opened the gates of Nirvana to escape and retire.

But there are others who love the challenges and the joy of service and the danger and delight of participating in the Divine Manifestation upon earth. For them now the doors of transformation have been opened.

2024-09-24

The Test of Fire

Sita, the daughter of earth, conceals herself before the Lila of the Lord begins in the forest. Ravana could not have come near her if she did not conceal herself and become powerless and weak. The first sign of this self-concealment is that she is lured by the unusual trick of the golden deer and refuses to listen to Rama’s counsel. She is abducted by the demon king and kept a captive in his kingdom where she spends her days remembering her Lord.

A great battle then ensues and she is released following the victory of Rama. She is all set to meet him but she must walk upon fire to prove her fitness before the reunion! Our modern mind naturally does not understand and revolts. But to one on the path of yoga the symbol is very clear. Sita or Nature is one, the Shakti or Power of the Lord, but conceals and diminishes Herself to become this earthly nature. Her Power is hidden from her own sight and therefore, she is lured by appearances, the golden deer.

The soul wanders in pursuit of this illusory goal, while in the process the demoniac or asuric forces are attracted to her and seek to possess her by force. Sita refuses to yield as all we must and even while in captivity spends her days remembering her Lord. A fierce battle is then waged in our nature between the forces of a higher Light and of Darkness. The Lord wins but there is still one more test that our fallen nature must pass so that it can ascend to a supernature and be one with its Lord. It is the test of inner purification, the test of our sole allegiance to the Lord and Master of our being, the test of our sincerity and faithfulness to the Supreme. Thus redeemed our nature and re-wedded to our Lord finds its supreme consummation.

Alok Pandey

2024-09-24

Songs of the Soul: September 24, 2024

Mother Divine, Mother of Light and Delight

Maa may all grow conscious with the true consciousness. May all grow happy with the true happiness. May all find true Peace and repose in Thee.

Maa, this world suffers due to the thick crust of ignorance and its offsprings ego and desire. These are the original children of Diti, the mother of division and falsehood. These deviate us from the true path through false whispers, wrong promptings and the lures that misguide the soul. May these and all other enemies of the soul that obstruct the way to the true spiritual life be slain with no possibility of being revived by the sanjivani of the Asuras, the dark illusion that prolongs the hold of the ignorance. Maa, Thou art our true Mother, our mother and father and friend and master and teacher and beloved. May all our relations and attachments be consumed and absorbed in our manifold rainbow hued relation and attachment with Thee, until nothing else remains but Thee alone, everywhere and in everything, Thee, Thee alone.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa

2024-09-24

How Can I Make the Mother My Friend, What is the Right Attitude?

Q: I have heard many times that we can make Maa our friend. For one day I tried that and the following question popped in my mind – how to avoid feeding the ego or expecting that I will be free from difficulties or any such worldly selfish attitude? Then what should be my attitude?

ALOK DA: Friendship with the Divine is indeed the rarest gift that can be granted to us. When we aspire steadily for such a friendship then surely one day it is given to us and then life begins to change beautifully. You are already blessed to have this feeling within you. It is a sign that She is already your friend. all that is needed is for you to build the bond from your side, since friendship, unlike love, is always a two-way process.

You have asked what does it mean to make Maa as your friend. Well at the very outset a friend is someone with whom we share everything without fear of being judged or condemned. We know that a friend will always understand us and be there to help us whenever we need it. It is the same thing with the divine Mother. To ask for Her friendship means that we start sharing everything with Her from what we think to be the most trivial to what we imagine as something that is of great importance. I have said seeming because the divine values and looks things very differently. Yet He acts taking into account our values. So instead of sharing things, what gives us happiness and what gives us pain with Maa we begin to notice that a divine Hand begins to silently arrange our circumstances of life in a way that only a friend who knows what is best for us can do. A friend does not only give us advice also does what needs to be done for us if it is within his limits and capacities to do it. The divine Friend may give us advice if we want it. But even more importantly He starts doing things for us to ensure that our life ahead is made smooth as far as possible in the present conditions and through the circumstances that we choose to be in.

The first thing, however, is to make Her a confidante of your life and open and lay before Her all your thoughts and feelings and will and actions without any hesitation. What we instead do is to either keep everything inside us or else turn towards human beings to share them. Nothing wrong with that but the problem is that human beings even at their best are limited. they are limited in knowledge, limited in power, limited in love. It is best, therefore, to turn towards the Divine who is the Source of everything. then what one receives from Him can be shared with others or with someone we may feel love for. What I mean by saying this is that friendship with the Divine does not exclude other relationships in our life. It is just that we do not depend upon them but on Her for everything. On the other hand, when we have friendship with the Divine we receive so much more all the time that it improves our relationship with the world around.

The second thing is that we should develop a bond whereby She is the first (and preferably the last) person we call whenever in difficulty just as we call a friend in need or in distress. She becomes our ICE (In Case of Emergency) number and once we have called Her we know that she will do what needs to be done through whatever human or other instrumentation. But when the thing is done do not forget to express gratitude. People often thank the human being because they are not yet able to perceive that it is She who impels everything. Therefore all must be offered back to Her with gratitude and love. Not that the Divine needs it but a bond of friendship has to be built from both sides. It is not a one-way process of only taking from your friend. What does the Divine want from us? People often think that by giving Him a little bit of money, often extra from what they need, they are forging a bond. Well, money is needed for His Work but for Himself He needs our love and trust. This is developed by thinking of Her as often as you can. This constant Remembrance of the Divine, this feeling of an insatiable need of Her, this thirst for Her Love, this utter self-giving and abandon of what we have and are and do to in a gesture of service to Her is what seals the bond between the Divine and man. After all, we would also want to do something for our friend, isn’t it? What can we do for the Divine who Himself is the doer? Well, we can choose to offer ourselves in His hands to become Her faithful instruments and channels. This is how the two=way relationship develops.

Finally, we should take out some special time to sit with Her, to speak with Her, to be with Her just as we wish to be with our a friend. This begins as we get less and less enamoured of humanity and begin to seek Her. Share everything with Her, when you take a walk, let Her walk with you. when you go for work let Her be with you, when you eat and sleep, ask Her to eat and sleep with you. Let Her be with you with each breath and heartbeat of your life.

Let me close with two passages of the Mother which beautifully describe this bond of relationship with the Divine as Friend:

‘I have cried too with the joy of a child, “O supreme and only Confidant, Thou who knowest beforehand all we can say to Thee because Thou art its source! “O supreme and only Friend, Thou who acceptest, Thou who lovest, Thou who understandest us just as we are, because it is Thyself who hast so made us! “O supreme and only Guide, Thou who never gainsayest our highest will because it is Thou Thyself who willest in it! “It would be folly to seek elsewhere than in Thee for one who will listen, understand, love and guide, since always Thou art there ready to our call and never wilt Thou fail us! “Thou hast made me know the supreme, the sublime joy of a perfect confidence, an absolute serenity, a surrender total and without reserve or colouring, free from effort or constraint. Joyous like a child I have smiled and wept at once before Thee, O my Well-Beloved!”
[Prayers and Meditations, CWM 1: 374-375]

‘We don’t like the company of someone who has a contagious disease, and avoid him carefully; generally he is segregated so that it does not spread. But the contagion of vice and bad behaviour, the contagion of depravity, falsehood and what is base, is infinitely more dangerous than the contagion of any disease, and this is what must be very carefully avoided. You must consider as your best friend the one who tells you that he does not wish to participate in any bad or ugly act, the one who gives you courage to resist low temptations; he is a friend. He is the one you must associate with and not someone with whom you have fun and who strengthens your evil propensities. Indeed, you should choose as friends only those who are wiser than yourself, those whose company ennobles you and helps you to master yourself, to progress, to act in a better way and see more clearly. And finally, the best friend one can have —isn’t he the Divine, to whom one can say everything, reveal everything? For there indeed is the source of all compassion, of all power to efface every error when it is not repeated, to open the road to true realisation; it is he who can understand all, heal all, and always help on the path, help you not to fail, not to falter, not to fall, but to walk straight to the goal. He is the true friend, the friend of good and bad days, the one who can understand, can heal, and who is always there when you need him. When you call him sincerely, he is always there to guide and uphold you—and to love you in the true way.’
[Conversation of 13 March 1957, CWM 9: 58-59]

2024-09-23

The Great Flood

The earth was overrun with floods and only a few had survived. King Manu had laboured hard to save as many as he could in the gigantic boat which rocked through the waters amidst unprecedented heavy rains. It was his duty to defend his subjects and he was doing it ably enough. A dream vision had forewarned him about the imminent catastrophe. He had seen in his dream a fish grow to a huge size carrying the boat tied to a projection above its nose. The fish had appeared in successive dreams and cautioned about the great floods during which his wisdom, grit and determination will all be tested to the utmost. His task was to rescue his people and the Vedas.

It took a week-long effort to build the boat. But who was to be picked up and who to be left behind, he wondered. As the king he was duty bound to treat all as equal and could not possibly be partial in his choices. The floods had not yet started but the boat was ready. Not knowing what to do next, he spread the word around about his dream. People had to come near the river shore and then they would be taken onboard the boat starting with women and children and boatmen and those well versed in the knowledge of the scriptures and the warriors followed by the rest, space permitting. He then offered everything to the great Lord and waited for the fated morn to arrive.

The daybreak arrived but there was nothing unusual. It seemed like any other day. Though the word had been spread only a few had come trusting the vision of the king. The rest simply laughed at him. Oh! how can one trust an inner revelation that no other person had? Some thought he has gone mad. Only a few gathered who knew that the king was not only pious but also a truthful man fully devoted to the great Lord. It was quite natural then that the great Lord would appear before him to help his subjects. So they came and waited.

As the day went down and most homes had turned off the lamps, clouds began to gather suddenly and unexpectedly. The winds moved at hurricane speed and thick drops of rain started pouring like javelins from the sky.

‘Let us not wait for the river to swell more. Let us set the sail.’ The king and his trusted men shouted. But their voices were lost in the speeding winds and the boat was beginning to rock. Quickly the few who had gathered, tied by their faith in the king and the great Lord, went up the boat and set the sails. The younger among them started rowing the boat that rocked like a fragile toy upon the mighty river swell. It was still the thick of night, an unending night as it would seem since the clouds covered the sun above while the water spread covering the earth below. All who had chosen to stay on fixed grounds were drowned.

Meanwhile the boat kept rocking as if it would sink any moment. But always a mysterious hand seemed to save it. Seven days and seven nights they steered driven by the power of faith.

At the end of the seven days, the select few chosen by fate found the sun slowly showing up from behind the clouds. The boat had also reached ashore a place largely covered with snow with some land and scant vegetation around. It looked bereft of life, animals or men. King Manu, who always led by example and from the front, got down to see if there is any possibility of settling down there. He had very thoughtfully brought in the boat some cattle and seeds and saplings of trees that could give fruits and grain. But first he had to ascertain if the terrain was hospitable.

He went very far from the shore and ship before his eyes met a hermit or a seer sitting quietly in an ingathered state. Seeing the king, the Rishi smiled and greeted him saying that he had been waiting for his arrival.

The king was surprised with joy to learn that a greater Plan was aiding him in his journey.

How could the Rishi know, he thought for a moment, but knew also that the rishis had access to knowledge through a different kind of senses and operations of the intuitive mind they had evolved through yoga. Was he also not shown by the great Lord the coming of the cataclysm? He who rescued his kind had already ensured that he would find their new home. Manu sought guidance and wisdom from the Rishi, sitting at his feet in a state of humility.

The Rishi started to reveal the secrets he was waiting to impart. “The earth had grown burdened,” he started. “The evil hidden in the underbelly of life had raised its head and was polluting the mind space with falsehood, doubt, fear and greed. The earth goddess needed to change her worn out garb exploited by human greed. The great flood that drowned the earth was a thorough cleansing and purification. Now that the bath is over, she is ready to wear a new gown again.”

When Rishi paused, Manu wondered what really is earth and why must she go through such gigantic destruction. He had heard of previous pralayas but never imagined that he will witness and, even
survive, one of them.

The Rishi knew before the king could speak and continued. “Though there are countless planetary systems and countless gods and goddesses who govern the cosmos as cosmic managers, yet earth is a very special formation,” he said. “It is here that the great drama of evolution is unfolding through which consciousness climbs creating new forms for the habitation of the great Lord until this creation becomes one with the Creator.”

“Who then is the Creator? Is He Brahma, the bearer of the Word, or Vishnu, the powerful and Wise? Or Shiva, the mighty or the bewitching Krishna?” the king asked.

The Rishi replied, “O king, Brahma and Vishnu, Shiva and Krishna are but four aspects of the One Great Lord. They represent the Great Lord’s aspects of Existence, Consciousness, Force and Delight. That is why the wise call Him as Sachchidanand. Call Him by any Name and He responds since He dwells in every creature and responds to the truth in their hearts.”

The king was silent for a while contemplating on the great mysterious One, whom the wise call by many names each representing one quality or the other of His Infinity.

Then breaking the silence with a thought from afar he asked, “Here upon earth we see that everything is in pairs. So I carried pairs of animals and my fellow humans. But does the One has not His companion? How does He create?”

The Rishi explained, “Though One and Nameless, the One becomes two for the purposes of creation. They are the two principles of creation that we find everywhere, masculine and feminine, purusha and prakriti, Brahman and Maya, Ishwara and Ishwari, the Lord as the stable basis of all creation and His Shakti, the Knowledge and Power, the Conscious Force that builds, governs, penetrates, moves all creation in many worlds.”

“Many worlds?” the king pondered and reflected loud.

“Yes, O king, limited by our vision we believe the material world to be the only one. But there are countless worlds built of a different substance, worlds of the immortal Gods that are full of splendour and light, and in their contrast and opposites, worlds of the Titans, dark and dangerous.”

“But why did the gracious Lord built the dark and dangerous worlds?” the king asked as the image of a terrible shadow was recalled by him during the great voyage. It was as if a gigantic shadowy being was constantly rising from the sea to drown their boat. But the great Lord rescued it safely through the stormy turbulent waters.

“Out of love He creates,” the Rishi continued, “Out of love He throws challenges as the Night across the path of the immortal Soul so that it may grow wiser and strong even as the Lord.”

The king contemplated and saw how every difficulty had only helped him grow stronger so that he could steer his people through this tremendous crisis. But this was only the beginning of a long new journey, he thought and the Rishi again responded to the unspoken word held back in the king’s mind.

“O king indeed all destruction is the prelude to a new and higher creation. Therefore, you must rebuild a new world here and then spread out everywhere so that mankind does not make the same mistake again and bring their civilization once again to the brink of destruction.” The Rishi paused and the king anxious to know asked, “But I have little resources left. How then shall we build?”

“The outer resources are but means, O king!” the Rishi spoke, “Discover the power, the infinite Shakti, the Divine Mother and build with Her Wisdom and Power, the same Power that has built this rainbow-hued creation.”

“But where shall I find Her? By what means shall I seek Her?” asked the king.

“Find Her in your heart, O king, where She resides permanently. Find Her through love, it is through love that She has woven the stars as necklace around the Unseen Lord.”

The Rishi closed his eyes and a Voice filled the king’s heart with hope and joy and his soul heard in the deep quietude of the snow.

We are but sparks of that most perfect fire,
Waves of that sea:
From Him we come, to Him we go, desire
Eternally,
And so long as He wills, our separate birth
Is and shall be.
Shrink not from life, O Aryan, but with mirth
And joy receive
His good and evil, sin and virtue, till
He bids thee leave.
But while thou livest, perfectly fulfil
Thy part, conceive
Earth as thy stage, thyself the actor strong,
The drama His.
Work, but the fruits to God alone belong,
Who only is.
Work, love and know, — so shall thy spirit win
Immortal bliss.
Love men, love God. Fear not to love, O King,
Fear not to enjoy;
For Death’s a passage, grief a fancied thing
Fools to annoy.
From self escape and find in love alone
A higher joy.
Seek Him upon the earth. For thee He set
In the huge press
Of many worlds to build a mighty state
For man s success,
Who seeks his goal. Perfect thy human might,
Perfect the race.
For thou art He, O King. Only the night
Is on thy soul
By thy own will. Remove it and recover
The serene whole
Thou art indeed, then raise up man the lover
To God the goal.
[Sri Aurobindo: The Rishi]

2024-09-23

Songs of the Soul: September 23, 2024

Sweet Mother, Maa whatever we may do wherever we may be, may we be carried by Thy Presence, surrounded by Thy Peace and Light and Grace and Love, a pure and perfect channel and instrument surrendered in Thy Service for Thy Forces to pour upon all.

Maa, our sweet and infinite Mother, may we carry Your Presence everywhere and become Thy ideal children, radiating Thy Peace and Light and Sweetness and Harmony and Love everywhere.

May Thy Will be fulfilled in us and in all. May all taste Thy Peace and Joy, the Peace, the Joy, the Strength, the Sweetness, the Love that flows ceaselessly from Thy Heart and is the share of all who surrender themselves at Your Feet.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa

2024-09-23

How Do We Align Our Will with the Divine Will?

Q: How does one then align one’s will with the divine? And in this context please elaborate on the role of surrender.

ALOK DA: Sri Aurobindo cautions us against tamasic surrender wherein one inertly accepts all kinds of suggestions as if coming from the Divine. Added to this we as human beings have a tendency to automatically justify everything. That is why one of the first things that awakens through yoga is the flame of discernment which is a faculty higher than reason. Its light separates the true from the false, reality from appearances and masks. This is the first light through which we can receive some reflection of the Divine Will.

This light of discernment grows as we learn to stand back from our nature and its movements and quieten our mind by turning the senses within rather in a discursive way outside. When the habit of justifying in some way whatever we do is dropped and we learn to look at things calmly and without preferences, this light begins to spring forth into the mind as a full moon shines upon a placid lake.

The next step is to quieten not only the mind but also the vital movements within us, that is to say the heart and its turbulent emotions, the storms of the vital passions and the restless upsurges of desires. This is gained by a steady practice of equanimity within us of which the practice of niskam karma or action without an eye on the fruits or results (but doing it well nevertheless) done as an offering to the Divine is an important element. When we have thus grown in equanimity at least to a reasonable extent then the Divine Will gets reflected in our mind or the heart as a gentle push in a certain direction.

Finally, as a result of these and a growth of aspiration the psychic being within begins to emerge. It is then that we know with certainty the Divine Will, the sure indication of the thing to be done and the way to do it.

As you can well see that such a process is bound to take some time. Until then one has to make some working rules. These rules are not so much as do’s and don’ts or some rigid mental and moral dogmas but rather states of consciousness and a general understanding of the truths of yogic life. One such rule is the golden rule of this yoga given to the sadhaks by Sri Aurobindo thus: “Live always as if you were under the very eye of the Supreme and of the Divine Mother. Do nothing, try to think and feel nothing that would be unworthy of the Divine Presence.” [Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 32: 172].

Another rule is the rule of balance and moderation that avoids excesses and activities that cause excitement and throws up our nature into a rough ride.

A third rule is to feel out the actions that bring or create peace and harmony and inner joy and the spirit of unity as opposed to those that bring thrills and depressions and confusion and discord and quarrels and clashes.

In any case whatever we do must be done as an offering to the Divine so that eventually His Wil may prevail upon our ignorant choice. This offering of our will to the Divine, that is doing what we may conceive as the best course of action at a given moment gradually starts the tuning process. it is what is known as consecration. There grows along with it the urge to obey the Divine which naturally in present context is not as it used to be before when people could write and get direct replies. Now one has to feel for the response within. It invariably comes but we have to feel for it within as well as build a knowledge base, at least some general things by reading Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. This last one is well within our reach and the one closest to common sense and the basic logic of the yoga practice. Rest can develop alongside on this base.

2024-09-22

The Flute Player

The charming flute-player had bewitched the whole village. Men and women of all ages flocked around him as his lips blew through the bamboo reed. As his gentle fingers ran over the holes wild animals became docile and flowers danced with joy under his magic spell. Even the sun and rain seemed to obey the rhythm of his music. Some enjoyed the sheer magic of his flute and cared not to analyse. Others tried to understand its method and process. The scientifically minded even tried to gather all the associated things as evidence linking them to his flute-playing capacity. They studied the quality of bamboo and the size of the flute with the spacing of holes and the force of his breath moving through it. The simple, religious minded observed his lifestyle, his eating habits, his sleep and his routine. Thereby they could emulate some of these to stimulate in themselves the capacity to play flute.

Then the flute player disappeared one day. To where none could say. But he had left behind his flute. The village after waking up to the sudden loss was divided into different systems and philosophy each claiming its right over the flute-player’s fortune. Creeds sprang up, each claiming sole authority over the flute-player. Cults and rituals began in his name, where every adherent was expected to religiously follow the lifestyle of the great master. The flute was wrapped in silk and gold for the eyes of the faithful to worship. Few privileged ones (privileged in the eyes of the caretakers) got the rare opportunity to touch the flute with their fingers. In time the legacy turned into a flute religion. Each faithful member was expected to keep a flute in a worship room, wrapped in fine silk. The poor could do it in glazed cotton though. The flute was taken out of the silk cover annually in a mass festival called the bamboo-festival. The traditional ones worshipped flutes of different sizes made of bamboo alone. The modernists changed with times and flutes of fibre glass, metal and plastics with machine-art adorned their houses. The philosophers mocked the ritualists. They saw in the flute a symbol of great cosmic rhythm. They discovered and wrote books on the great seven cosmic rhythms and principles that governed life everywhere. Out of these seven rhythms sprang up the seven great laws. The hard core practicalists converted these laws into fixed and inflexible rules that all must follow. Anyone trying for any variation in the rhythm was regarded as a deviant member to be socially shunned or punished. The scientists laughed at both—the ritualists as well as the philosophers. They saw in the flute-player’s magic nothing but a clever play of harmonics. They classified these harmonics into precise mathematical formulas. They calculated the rare statistical probability of the events linked to the magic of his flute. They hypothesized how the sound of the flute drove the wind in a certain way that changed the pattern of the weather and, thereby, favourably affected the crops.

Days went by and centuries and generations. The flute-player’s magic turned into a hard religion, his free force into a system of philosophy, his creative art into a precise technique. Even worse, the rarity of the event turned many believers turn sceptics and, in collusion with the scientifically minds, they declared it all a myth and a legend believed by petrified minds.

The flute-player’s soul watched all this with great pain. For all of them had caught only an outermost fringe of his clothing. And what they all missed was his delight that he longed to share with all and the source inspiration that he wished to awaken in others so that the magic could dwell in every heart. And so, he decided to come back again. But this time he was born in another land and wore another dress. He spoke another language and had a different lifestyle. Times had changed but these things had little significance for the flute-player since he could draw the same force of inspiration and breath the same delight in every age. But people failed to recognize him. The religionists banned his entry into their citadels declaring him an infidel, a breaker of sacred traditions. The philosophers failed to understand the new music he brought to life in his creative freedom and declared him a heretic and a revolutionary. The scientists once again started analysing with their lens and their calculators. But the children followed him, entranced by his magic and the flower once again danced with joy and the wind felt thrilled and the sun once again kissed the earth and greeted it with the freshness of a new dawn.

Alok Pandey

2024-09-22