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.

His-story Her-story

Don’t know why, from very young age, I did not like studying history; never paused at any time to think why I had an in-born aversion to history, so much so, when I wrote my first government examination, which included among other subjects history, I was frightened I might fail in history. But God saved me, and I passed with 57 marks out of 100, the least mark in any subject in that examination. And I made up my mind then that I would not venture into the study of history in future, and I had kept my word. I don’t feel drawn to the historical events that have shaped the present world or the nation.

I like story-telling, and had been fond of listening to, paraphrasing and adapting stories from my younger days, and it gives me great joy to weave a story, even if it is just a cock and bull story. While re-telling the story of someone else, I had tried to fabricate my own twists and turns, and that had made the story interesting; sometimes giving credit to some unknown author, I had presented my own story brilliantly and no one doubted the authenticity of the story. I know story-writing and story-telling are not the same thing; they are two different art forms.

By breaking up the word history, one gets the so-called HIS and STORY, and the modern day feminists seem to be arguing why it should be his story and not hers; but my concern is not the sex, whether it is male or female, but about story. History basically is a story told from a particular angle, sometimes from the angle of the victors and sometimes of the vanquished. But it is a story, and all stories have certain truth in them, though the per cent of truth may vary from person to person. History tells a series of stories, oriented towards a particular goal.

In the recent years I begin to understand that history is not a subject which is boring and meaningless; if studied with interest and inquisitiveness, we can gain a lot out of history. I do agree those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it, and if nations and the world at large keep repeating the same mistake committed for ages, it is because people do not take time to study their history, to mark the significant moments which have made their present. If only we look at history as objectively as it is, then much of the problems in the world may find adequate solution.

But can history be objective through and through? We human beings have our own perspectives and leanings, supported by our own ideologies and political and social class we belong to. History often turns out to be like ten blind men touching different parts of an elephant and concluding that elephant is an animal with that particular aspect they had touched and felt; seldom do we come across a narration of history which is all comprehensive, devoid of any subjective leanings. But is it impossible to write such a history? No, it all depends what is the purpose of my presentation of history; if I want to present the history as objectively as possible, then I would make sure that my subjective views are kept at bay. It is a task that I need to embark upon, before it is too late for me to even think of entering into the limitless ocean of history, entwined with time and space.

Mutual Giving

I have great regards and admiration for the people who want to make the most of the years at their disposal. Quality living is a big question mark, when the world battles with all odds to gain a few more years added to our life span. But we need to ask ourselves, is adding a few more years with the help of artificial means going to help us realize the worth of this life? Are we not in many ways the replica of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, who floundered his whole life in acquiring all known knowledge, and was on his knees before Satan, pleading for a few more years, months, weeks, days, hours or minutes. If Doctor Faustus failed to receive reprieve, so it may happen in our case too.

To make hay while the sun shines, is not merely a proverb that has no relevance to our times. A few days ago, a friend of mine brought this point to my attention when she said, we can't afford to be bogged down by trivialities, but will have to look beyond the horizon, to make the best of our situations and times. Our life span is carved into our hearts, and there is no physical mechanism to stop aging. It is said that only in the case of film stars, age does not catch up with them (or at least that is what they think!). A journalist has asked an actress, you said you were nineteen two years ago, and say the same even after two years! She smiles, I am not the kind of person who changes her words!

Fortunately most of us are quite aware of our own limitations, and do not expect to achieve the impossible, and our expectations from life are quite reasonable. On an average, we are capable of giving only about half of our life span for quality work - real contribution to the world. Is it possible for us to carve a niche for ourselves in the annals of world history? Or is it really necessary for each one of us to leave behind a legacy that the world will care to safeguard? Legacies are formed on the basis of what we want to give to the world, rather than robbing from the world's treasuries things that will benefit only me and my concerns.

Often I am reminded of what is often quoted, even out of context, from one of the sayings of Abraham Lincoln, Ask not what the nation has done for you, but ask what you have done for the nation. The same quote could be rephrased as, ask not what the world/life has offered to you, but ask what you have offered to the world. In fact, the world heritage that we cherish today is the fruit of the labor of several thousands of men and women, who had given freely what they had so that the future generations may have happiness in full. But the beauty of life is that if returns to the giver manifold of what is given, and one is filled beyond all limits. We are called to this mutual sharing of what we are and what we have.

Today I would like to pause for a while and consider what I have given to the world from the moment I was up from bed. Let me enlist all that I have done which could benefit the world; it may be a hug to my spouse, a kiss to my child, a smile to my neighbor, a kind gesture to the aging parents, a kind word to an ailing relative, a sympathetic look at the beggar on the road. In other words, there are much more important things in life, which I can offer to the world than my money and riches. Perhaps it is easy for me to throw a few coins to a beggar, and may cost me a lot to stand and look at him sympathetically, even when I have nothing to offer. If I begin to give without counting the cost, then I will know that I am going to receive in turn manifold riches, that can fill the whole world!

Flowing with Time

At first I couldn't understand what she was saying; it took me a minute or two to really understand. She had been on the move in the city doing a lot of purchase all through the day, and was quite tired at the end of the day. But she was determined to finish the accounts before she went to bed. It might take a couple of hours for her to tally the figures, but would go to sleep only after seeing it through. At first she said, who knows if I will be alive tomorrow morning or not! If I don't, then it would create a lot of problem for others, she said laughing. Planning to do the accounts on the next day morning cannot amount to procrastination, but there was something beautiful in what she said later.

Why should I unnecessarily postpone the things that I can finish today, because tomorrow would come with its own share of toils and troubles. If I don't finish the troubles of this day, then the next day I will have to complete the works of the previous day, and may be forced to put off the day's work to the next day. In the process, the workload may keep accumulating, and there may come a time when it is beyond my capacity to wind up with all my responsibilities, and then may start the blame-game.

This is an ancient wisdom, which states, let me not postpone the things which I can do today. The secret power of the "now" is intrinsically embedded in this notion of going with the flow of the current, so that I am not stuck with unnecessary worries. But sadly, it is not at all easy for us to flow with our share of duties, commitments and responsibilities. It is because, the time that is at our disposal may seem like an endless ocean. We imagine that we are going to live for ever and ever. There is a simple way how we can train our minds to flow with the current of the day.

Let me take a sheet of paper, and write on the top, My Life Span! I will write the figure that comes to my mind, as the number of years I will live in this world. It may be 75 or 84 or even 96. Don't think too much, just put the number that first pops up in your mind. This is just a subjective figure for us to work on our life-cycle. Now let me deduct my present age. That means, I have still so many years to live. Does the years look too long, too many? Now multiply the number of years by 365; this gives the number of days I will live. If the remaining years of my life is 52, then I have 52 x 365 days to live. Let me further convert the days into hours: 52 x 365 x 24. It is here I begin to see the value of each passing hour. I may realize then that I cannot afford to waste even a single hour.

Today I would like to pause for a while and look at this day, from the moment when I first opened my eyes from sleep; it will benefit me, if I were to make a log of what I had done, minute by minute. I may be surprised to note that I had whiled away a lot of time, and have even wasted. Fortunately I don't need to pay for the time I spend, and therefore do not realize the cost of it all. If I were to do this exercise at the end of the day, then I may be able to realize that I had waste more than a few hours in useless things. Anything that is not helping me live a fuller life can be counted as a waste of time. If I do this exercise for a few days continuously, then probably I may become more conscious of the preciousness of the present, and may use it judiciously. It is then I may realize that my life span has doubled or tripled already!

End of the Beginning

We are taken by surprise to note that the year is almost over, and yet another year is about to begin. Even before we could really become aware of this fact, out feet are on the new year, and many of the promises that we had made the previous new year day are yet to be realised; true enough, we have even forgotten what promises we had made. Time waits for no one, and it surely does not pause; it is not like a DVD film I am watching, that I can pause for a while to savor the beauty of the scene, nor can I "rewind" the scene to take note of the details I had failed to pay attention to the previous time. If only we had that privilege to do with time what we do either in memory or in a recorded film, then things might be very different. But for the most part we should be happy that time does not wait for any one, or else we may have too many thing to complain about, and may even curse our fate for asking for the time that does not move at its own pace.

The beauty with time is that you don't need to exert to flow with the current of time; it takes you by force, whether you like it or not. But today I would like to remember those people for whom time is a fierce enemy. I would like to recall to mind what a few fractions of a second could be for a rocket launcher; a few minutes for the one who is one the verge of death, a few hours for the one who is at the guillotene; a few days to a cancer patient. Time is not a pleasant thing that these people can savor, but is what they would like to forget. It is too frightening to think that time sometimes runs short. Christopher Marlowe in his beautiful play 'Doctor Faustus' talks about what time means to Faustus who had sold his soul to Satan in order to gain all worldly wisdom; when it is time, he is on his knees pleading for a few hours, a few minutes or at least a few seconds...

Concerning the differences in perspectives between the east and the west, it is said that the western philosophy looks at reality in a linear fashion, while the east looks at it as a cyclic, and that makes a lot of difference. We have even depicted this idea pictorially, showing a snake eating its tail. The idiom may not be very appetising, but the idea is there for us to understand. Life continues without any beginning or an end; we enter into the cyclic process at one particular moment, and may disappear at another, but the process continues. Therefore the popular adage, what seems to be end is in fact the beginning, makes a lot of meaning. Every end is actually a beginning, and every beginning may also be an end. It is too hard to make a distinction as to which is the beginning and which is the end. In the cyclic process, there is no beginning and no end. It is so very beautiful to flow with the current, which is never ending.

The greatest healer, it is said, is the time, and if only we allow ourselves to be moulded and shaped by time, there would be hardly any scars. We may not need to carry psychological baggage year after year. Let the waters that flow constantly in the never-ending ocean of time wash away all the fatigue and tiredness we had been carrying upto this very day. Let us not carry anything further to the new year that is dawning. Let the worries and troubles, hatred and vengeance disappear in the waters of time. We are here to start the new year as a tabula rasa, a clean slate to start all thing anew. There is a thrill in starting things anew, because new hopes and new expectations can boost our confidence, and we may be in a better position to handle ourselves and the world around us.

As I stand at the threshold of yet another year, I place all that I had achieved and all that I had failed; let time be the best judge, who can tell me frankly and truly how my days had been spent. I have nothing to regret or complain, because I know if not any one else, at least time will take care of all my sincere efforts. I am here to present myself in the powerful yet gentle hands of time, for her to heal the wounds, strengthen the soft options, soften the hardness of heart, break the stubbornness, join the broken dreams, speak the unspeakable, kill the hatred and vengeance, and to be born as a new being as the sun begins to shine on me tomorrow. Every day brings in new hope, just as every new year brings in new hope that we have still some more time to hold ourselves accountable for the world that we live in, and maybe this day next year, we will be able to stand before time with a little more confidence that we are a little better than the last year!