Timely Treat

We are living in a busy world, where the most commonly heard comment from people, when asked for a favor is, ‘I don’t have time!’ But behind these innocuous words is there a philosophy and way of life which is so typical of our times, and may even prove to be a danger signal. Are we so preoccupied with so many things in life, that we find it impossible to look into some of the ‘essentials’ of life? Do we really find it impossible to squeeze in a few minutes to be with our dear ones? I tend to believe that ‘I don’t have time’ is merely an excuse to say ‘I don’t care for you!’ It is an escape route, we often wish to take, and quite many can easily see through what we mean!

Tony D’Mello in The Prayer of the Frog (Vol. 1) has two tiny anecdotes to illustrate what we mean when we say ‘I don’t have time’! The first anecdote talks about a monk who had invited the governor for meditation to his hut, but the governor had been postponing the visit because he did not get time. So one day the monk confronted the governor and said, ‘You put me in mind of a man walking blind folded into a jungle, and too busy to take the blindfold off!’ If we care to take a close look at what we are busy with from morning till evening each day, we will realize that not all of them are of top priority.

Without realizing we might often be spending (or say wasting) so much of our time with things which are not so important. This also refers to our priorities, which are the one’s which take most of our time – our personal wellbeing or that of others, or both others and me. If the governor understood that attending a meditation would benefit him far more than getting involved with mere administrative routine works, he would have given priority to attending the meditation practice with the monk. Considering our top priorities honestly may open our eyes to assess where our hearts lie.

The second anecdote that D’Mello describes is this: There was an exhausted woodcutter, who kept wasting time and energy chopping wood with a blunt axe because he did not have the time, he said, to stop and sharpen the blade! This is precisely what we are most often preoccupied with. It is said that if a wise man has ten hours to chop wood, he would sharpen his axe for eight hours. To think that nay serious preparation or setting our priorities is a waste of time would only put us at the back bench.

The most important point therefore is to know our priorities, to know which one is of primary importance. Next time before I tell someone I don’t have time, I need to give a serious thought to where I am, and where I want to go. For the one who is open to learn from life’s experience, there is always time, and escapists and late-comers will always find it convenient to say ‘I don’t have time’, and thus escape or exit from life’ challenges.

Objectionable Obsessions

We all of us have our own obsessions, some good and some bad. There is no one on earth who can claim that he or she is a free from any kind of obsessions. There are certain objections which are considered socially objectionable, and when the person goes against the set norms of the society that person is often referred to as a rebel. But it would be wrong to imagine or think that all rebels are against the society, or its set patterns. It is next to impossible to define where we draw the line. There are certain rebels, who with all their good intentions, desire the good of all. The Marxists and the Maoists in West Bengal can be considered as belonging to such a group.

Each one of us has our own obsessions and preoccupations. There are some of us, who are voracious readers, and they love to read night and day; and there are others who like sitting in front of the idiot box round-the-clock; and there are some others who love to loiter around aimlessly. But our obsessions are limited not only to our external behaviors, they are also seen in our thinking patterns. I too have my own obsessions and preoccupations, some known to me and others, and some known only to me, and I try to guard them as a secretly guarded treasure, and they may die with me, without anyone knowing about it.

Some years ago, while visiting one of our schools, I had to stay with our Jesuit community, and I was given a guest room to stay the night. That was the first time I was going to stay in that community. Next to the room I was given to stay, was a room with painting boards, canvass, incomplete paintings; the place looked like a professional studio of an artist, and I was wondering who might be doing the paintings. It came as a surprise that one of the Fathers was doing the paintings in his leisure hours, and he had a lot of time to spend on it, but I had known him for over twenty years, and yet I had not known him as a painter or artist. Later I heard that painting was one of his passions.

But what is dangerous about obsessions is to cultivate a secret set of them, which may separate me from the rest of the society. When obsessions go overboard, then we may be called eccentric or pervert. It is not that they are bad elements, but the problem with them is that they had not known where to draw the line between what is personal interest and what is societal. But each one of us has an obsession, which may complement in a social setting. Most of us are incorrigible in some way or the other: some in their behavior, some in their thinking, and some in relating to others. We love to live in our own worlds, which may give us an identity and sense of being.

I am incapable of overcoming some of the obsessions, which may be in my blood, and some became part of myself during the upbringing, and over which I may not have much control. Most of my obsessions may come in conflict with those of others, and there might be times when I might feel left out in a social setting because of my eccentrics. It is possible I may not be able to overcome them, but it might be necessary for me to be conscious of my grey areas, so that when I am confronted, I am not taken aback. If there is a possibility for bringing my obsessions under control, it would enhance my personality and life in general. But that is a life-long mission, and I may be no before I realize a different ‘me’.