He stretched himself on a chair, quite relaxed. The coffee and breads were ready for him. He could smell them. He thought he was hungry, then took some bites, picked up the coffee mug, shifted to the window side, and stared outside from his corner. What was he looking at? What he wanted to see?… maybe he knew nothing about it. There was no clear vision or any question in his mind then. Actually, he didn’t either bother about them. He just tasted and sensed the smell of the hot coffee. His face looked pleasant with the lips smiling at the corner. Well,… content!
He was in his seventies and owned a glorious past, bitter and sweet – rough and tough – simple and sweet. His life’s boat still sailing through. Life never reveals which way and how it would be or how it should be.
At this juncture of life, once, he asked himself- who am I? Yes, I do exist, but who am I? Why am I here? What does this universe represent to me? What am I for this endless universe, and, why all those worldly relationships?
He had finished his coffee. He was now satisfied. What does a cup of coffee mean to him?… a blessing!
Suddenly some noises attracted him. He saw a group of pigs fighting for their food. Ah! Certainly, it wasn’t his bread or the coffee. Certainly, it wasn’t in his mug or on his plate. The picture of the fight was dirty and disgusting. So, he tried to distract himself, but, still, the very thought caught him off. He felt something undesirable inside him, and he would throw up everything that he had now.
“Oh! This world!!”- He exclaimed with much disgust. Actually, the two sorts of different thoughts and tastes were hanging him up. Certainly, he never wanted the other bitter one, especially, after he had experienced a nice one. A blessing and a curse!
Is it that this world has reflected upon him, with just the two extreme sides of it? Look at it! Give it a thought! Have a reaction or an action, or whatever you want!
“Yes, I do exist.”- He touched himself, moved to the mirror and saw his reflection. “Why does he exist?… just to feel all sorts of experiences, or choose wisely? Why was he there? He never wanted to encounter a scene that was bitter and disgusting, or maybe he never wished for that sort of experience. He shuffled for the corridor and thought of what the mirror has shown him. And what does this world try to reflect upon him? Again, he walked inside the room and sat on the chair, his head hanging toward the sky, where a ceiling fan had been moving non-stop. He stared at it.
Was he like a fan who just whirls around, revolves at others’ wishes, and never reaches its destination? There is no destination, because there is no such destination existing in this world. We are just like waves that only rise and fall at the same spot. It just creates a feature like it’s moving on, or oscillating. Countless questions made him tired. He shut his eyes and laid himself motionless under the sky. His old mind, despite a hot coffee, seemed to not work.
A bit of a moment passed, and there was already silence around. The air was quiet; The half-moon was traveling in the mid-sky; Stars were shining.
It was the month of May 2015. Suddenly he hopped out of his seat and reviewed the calendar. Yes, he was right. He then again moved to the window and slid it away as if to see if there was a half-moon existing and the stars were shining in the open sky. Yes, he was right. They all existed. All existed in a given time and a given space. He was then a witness, an observer of both time and space. Both time and space might have effects on him. Maybe!
Years had passed and there was a clear mark all over his face, and all over his body. Every line had its own story and reality. Like everyone, he was first a child, then a young man, a mature person, and now he has become an old man. But what he was yesterday, he’s not today. Time changes and things too have changed. Time has led him to shift elsewhere, anywhere at times. In all those periods of life, he had to encounter many new spaces- with different surroundings, all challenging, sometimes very pleasant, and unpleasant too.
His life had not merely faced different spaces and times, but also enriched him with new people and new experiences that he came across.
So, there is a relationship with all that. Either it’s a bad or a good moment, a bad or a good person, a bad or a good situation, or they are neither bad nor good.
Time.
Time is passing out. It never stops. It doesn’t wait for you. Time revolves around us. We are within a certain time. We cannot avoid it. Whether we react or remain neutral to it, it hardly matters. What matters is that which is prevailing now. He stood for a while and walked again to the mirror. He touched his face with his palm. “Time doesn’t turn old. Time just moves out. It doesn’t pass out. It doesn’t spend anything. We spend, we move, we turn older. The world had been what it had been when he was a child. And now, it’s the same. But, he was not the same, in no sense, either in a mental or physical way. He threw a glance at the half-moon that was traveling in a clear sky. “It has been the same from eternal age. No change.” But this is not life. Life means that birth, growth, and death exist. So he owned a life, he was born, grew, and now he is near death. He still experiences this world, which means its time and space and the people around him. This is life! So, wasn’t he more authentic than this world? He was more conscious, more than life. Isn’t that true?
Truth.
Truth, again, possibly a confusing word. What he saw now in the group of pigs was also a truth. The taste of the coffee was a truth, too. From which perspective..? Is it the one that felt disgusting or the one that felt like a blessing? Certainly, there was a different perspective to feel, see, taste, and vision a thing. That means truth is relative and there is no such thing as the absolute truth existing on the earth. That also means that time and space will enslave you, and you’re nothing more than an experiencing puppet. But, is that true…?
Read less and think more!
