Sample Chapter

Life : An Odyssey

It Is Because One Antelope Will Blow Dust From Another's Eye That Two Antelopes Walk Together

An adage with the profundity of harmony... Co existence - The very essence of living together... One becoming the joy of another... The thing missing in today's world... A way nature meant us to be, with each other.
But now co-existence has become a far cry. To live and let live is not what people seek actively. People have developed appetite for grief and pain. Especially so, since instead of focusing on their own happiness, they wish the unhappiness of others. The latter has become more important than the former. Like people want to reach somewhere without going anywhere.
...People are sceptical to open their heart, for to do so is to go into the unknown, to road an unknown path. Forgetting that the end result is not in life but in living!
Such to life, which paradoxically people do not live. People instead fear to do so. Rather people love to fear. In fear they get the safety found in the suffering! When in fact, we need to have freedom from fear. That very fear is the cause of many diseases Fear is a negative emotion. Fear drains you of all energy - physical or mental. Fear makes you anxious and weak. Fear makes you indecisive and sceptical Fear makes you impotent. Fear makes you angry. Fear invites death! Russell has gone to the extent of saying that to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Fear has the capacity to make you superstitious and cruel too. Then how does one become fearless? Simply refuse to instil fear in another. That's it. So you should neither fear nor make another afraid. Emerson has said that in a storm, a wise man prays not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear. Conquering fear becomes a man's first spiritual duty. Toynbee has said that the human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenceless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenceless against ourselves. To conquer misery you need to conquer fear.
And you can conquer fear with faith. Or with love. Faith in yourself. Love for yourself. The circumstances around you are of your own making. Hence only you can better them. It is your mind that creates the feeling of suffering. Tap your inner strength. What makes you think you are helpless and weak? Embrace courage. You are as strong as you think you are. Or weak. Make it a rule of life never to fear.
And of course it does help when you have somebody to blow away that dust of fear Like the antelopes do, You are bom, you live, you die. May ask you much do you live? Be true to yourself. Anawer this question honestly. Let not your ego come in the way. Nietzsche has said, "Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog called Ego.” Ego will prevent you from living. Ego prevents you from giving that helping hand to someone who needs it.
I implore you to give a deep thought to your own existence. For if you do not know who you are, how can you understand what the world is? Thinking deeply helps one discover the truth. Kekule saw the structure of the benzene molecule in a dream.
When Einstein heard that a painter had fallen from roof, he asked him how he felt while falling. The painter said he felt weightless. That propelled Einstein to put forth his Theory of Relativity.
You get an insight by simply thinking deeply. You may have difficulty initially initiating the process of deep thinking. But who doesn't encounter difficulties. Just recall Einstein who had said to a twelve year old, "Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you that mine are still greater.”
Know well that Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards. The fruits of your action will not be known maybe for a long time to come. That's a mystery. But that's where the fun lies Einstein has mentioned. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. We are too concerned about our future or take pleasure in regretting our past and conveniently forget the present.
Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Take time to stop and smell the roses. Now and then it is good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. Here time is of essence. Most wisdom is being wise in time. Mistake not knowledge for wisdom, though. Knowledge will make you hang on, wisdom will teach you to let go.
Once a disciple asked his master, What must I do for enlightenment?" The master said, "Nothing. The surprised disciple asked why not and then can it even be attained, and if so how. The master said that the enlightenment doesn't come from doing, it happens. He further said that you can attain enlightenment through non-doing. Then the next logical question came from the disciple, as to what one must do to attain non-doing? The master replied, "What does one do to go to sleep or wake up?"
Thus you can say that mind is like the stomach. It is not how much you put into that counts but how much it digests. If you have seen the way you travelled so far, you will realize that you simply now need no destination. The journey of life itself is so beautiful. Life is all in the moment—"Now. In ‘Now’ you will get peace. In ‘Now’ you will get love. In 'Now' you will get bliss. All that you need you will get. When? ‘Now’. As somebody said, “The time to regret is over; the time to live is Now.” All the other things you are seeking are wants, not what you need. All your needs can be fulfilled, but not all your wants.
Also learn the art of ‘Mining'. Mining is the art of keeping the precious only. Take out of life what is needed and simply leave the rest. John Milton has poetically said, “The mind in its own place and in itself / Can make a heaven of hell a hell of heaven.” Try to be with your negative emotions. See why they are there.
Reasons not necessarily exist in a reasonable form. Develop insight. Insight comes with being with yourself, being kind to yourself. Your own wisdom will guide you for those times, if you are with yourself. In fact, difficult things take you close to enlightenment.
Happiness lies in the ability to relax with your condition. If you are certain that everything is uncertain, then you are free. When you are with time, you are at peace. When your mind is happy, It expands and time appears short. You must have also noticed that when the mind is unhappy, it contracts and time appears long. Only peace and love are the greatest healers.
A belief in someone helps too. For there is only one happiness in life. To love and to be loved in return. But if you are seeking bliss then you do not need anyone. No human being can make another one blissful. Bliss depends more on inward disposition of mind rather than outward circumstances. Seek bliss rather than happiness. Happiness can be converted to unhappiness in an instant. Bliss cannot change. Yes, it does help to have someone by your side. To blow away the dust. To chase away your ego. Let that someone be anyone. It does not matter how or who you love, but that you do.
Confucius has said everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness Try to see that. Life is nothing short of a magic. There is magic everywhere. If only all of us take time to ‘see' it. There is this unseen magic in the air, there is magic seen in nature, with every tree that grow there is magic in water which sustains life. If there was no magic then how else could there be life on this earth? While on planet earth, also learn to appreciate diversity in humanity. We never fall to appreciate nature's diversity when we enter a garden full of flowers. But when we come across mental diversity, we find it ugly and not beautiful. Learn to look beyond people events and happenings to understand the real meaning of life. Your belief in someone will, in fact, dictate your own behaviour.
John Nash has said. "In any sort of strategic interaction the best choice for any single player depends critically on his or her belief about what other players might do. We should live and learn but by the time we have learned it is too late to live. We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.
Socrates has said, "A life without introspection is not worth living." We are always getting ready to live but never living. Your mind knows only some things. Your inner voice, your instinct knows everything. Listen to your instinct to know the right thing. Instinct is the nose of the mind. Know well that bliss comes when we forget ourselves. That pain and suffering leads to our growth.
Pruning a plant makes it blossom Aeschylus has said, "Call no man happy till he is dead." It is no surprise then that Buddha's last words were, "Be a lamp unto yourselves.” That lamp will make you realize that only attachment separates and not detachment. That lamp will also make you realize that if you know and find yourself; you will lose all your misery. That same lamp will make you realize that when you discard yourself; you will regain yourself. That very lamp will make you realize that detachment and desirelessness can make you fearless and fearlessness can only give you peace. That lamp will show you that there are no bad times, but only good lessons. That lamp will enlighten you that ‘nowhere’ could also mean ‘now here’.

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Read more in my book “Life- An Odyssey”.

A must read book for you to become the real hero of your story.