Finallly, it is almost done up. Our new home sweet home-Sapnon ka Ghar (house of dreams). A big nice flat that is not easy to afford in today's inflation-driven times. Finally, we will move just before Diwali. This is the topic that has drawn up our energies and focus right since the begining of this year. It is all that a
family like ours could ever want for. An idyllic dwelling. Yet it has brought about more pain than happiness...almost to the point of regret for buying it. It has taken away our
spending power, our peace of mind and our time, energy and effort. Yet somehow I now feel it fails to provide the happiness, contentment and harmony that we thought it would bring us?
There is almost every kind of material comfort. The family is a wholesome family, with a pet dog to complete the picture! It sounds like a happy family, but still there is always some tension in the air! What then is lacking? We do not have the answers to such questions -Whose house is this one and whose house is that one? "My" house or"your" house?
What is it that a house means to us? A place where we live? A house that you can come home to ? A house is built by builders, masons and all those who set up the physical structure. A home is built by all the people who live in it, all who contribute towards in any way to make it a conmfortable place to dwell. Does this mean that the home belongs to only the people who run and maintain it? Does it belong only to those who pool in hard cash, or those whose name is written on the agreement and those
who pay the EMI? What about those who contribute indirectly, or behind the scenes, who stand by and support all decisions for the good of the family, and put in their positive energies to to make things work smoothly without mishaps?
And moreover, if you say this is "my" house and that is "your" house, would we be able to carry away our houses with us when are burried or burnt after we pass away? Or for that matter, can we take any of our beloved, coveted possessions with us into the other world? There is actually nothing we would carry away with us, when this jouney ends, except for our souls. And how do we know if your end will come before me or vice versa ? In essence, should we not think of our homes like rest-houses in our journey of life and our friends and family like fellow travellers in a bus or train?
In this journey we have no clue as to who will get off first, and at which station!
And there is really no one who will accompany us right from the begining to the end of this journey. We begin alone and end the journey alone.
So then what or who can we really call ours? No one and Nothing! And what "on earth" (i mean this literally) really matters then, while we are here? After we die, what is left behind is just good or bad
memories in the minds of the people we interacted with in our life on earth? If our memories and facts of our existence were wiped out from the minds of those living, after we pass away, what then what would remain of "ours"? So we can only live on in the minds of people, as memories after we die. Can you then control who lands up with your house and possessions after that? Can you then choose to control who will remember you and who will not?
So then what is the fight and resisitance about anything or anyone that can never be yours throughout this lifetime? Is there even one thing that stays with us without change, forever, throughout our lifetime? And who can accurately predict when each change is about to occur, and what each change will bring about? If anyone or anything can be taken away from you at any time, what then is in your
hands? What then, can you do while you are living this life?
Continue to flow with the flow of life, and life takes you along. There are many flows going in different directions. You may choose your flow direction. But do you think you have a choice to stop or to flow? No! You don't have any choice but to go with the flow of what life brings you. In that sense, you are like the river that must keep flowing. Along the path, if you like a particular riverbank that is beautiful and green, you can only stop by for a while, but you can't call it yours or expect to stick out there forever, because like a river, you must leave this beautiful riverbank and continue to flow on ahead, until you meet the sea. And you cannot take the riverbanks to the sea--there are no river banks in the sea!
family like ours could ever want for. An idyllic dwelling. Yet it has brought about more pain than happiness...almost to the point of regret for buying it. It has taken away our
spending power, our peace of mind and our time, energy and effort. Yet somehow I now feel it fails to provide the happiness, contentment and harmony that we thought it would bring us?
There is almost every kind of material comfort. The family is a wholesome family, with a pet dog to complete the picture! It sounds like a happy family, but still there is always some tension in the air! What then is lacking? We do not have the answers to such questions -Whose house is this one and whose house is that one? "My" house or"your" house?
What is it that a house means to us? A place where we live? A house that you can come home to ? A house is built by builders, masons and all those who set up the physical structure. A home is built by all the people who live in it, all who contribute towards in any way to make it a conmfortable place to dwell. Does this mean that the home belongs to only the people who run and maintain it? Does it belong only to those who pool in hard cash, or those whose name is written on the agreement and those
who pay the EMI? What about those who contribute indirectly, or behind the scenes, who stand by and support all decisions for the good of the family, and put in their positive energies to to make things work smoothly without mishaps?
And moreover, if you say this is "my" house and that is "your" house, would we be able to carry away our houses with us when are burried or burnt after we pass away? Or for that matter, can we take any of our beloved, coveted possessions with us into the other world? There is actually nothing we would carry away with us, when this jouney ends, except for our souls. And how do we know if your end will come before me or vice versa ? In essence, should we not think of our homes like rest-houses in our journey of life and our friends and family like fellow travellers in a bus or train?
In this journey we have no clue as to who will get off first, and at which station!
And there is really no one who will accompany us right from the begining to the end of this journey. We begin alone and end the journey alone.
So then what or who can we really call ours? No one and Nothing! And what "on earth" (i mean this literally) really matters then, while we are here? After we die, what is left behind is just good or bad
memories in the minds of the people we interacted with in our life on earth? If our memories and facts of our existence were wiped out from the minds of those living, after we pass away, what then what would remain of "ours"? So we can only live on in the minds of people, as memories after we die. Can you then control who lands up with your house and possessions after that? Can you then choose to control who will remember you and who will not?
So then what is the fight and resisitance about anything or anyone that can never be yours throughout this lifetime? Is there even one thing that stays with us without change, forever, throughout our lifetime? And who can accurately predict when each change is about to occur, and what each change will bring about? If anyone or anything can be taken away from you at any time, what then is in your
hands? What then, can you do while you are living this life?
Continue to flow with the flow of life, and life takes you along. There are many flows going in different directions. You may choose your flow direction. But do you think you have a choice to stop or to flow? No! You don't have any choice but to go with the flow of what life brings you. In that sense, you are like the river that must keep flowing. Along the path, if you like a particular riverbank that is beautiful and green, you can only stop by for a while, but you can't call it yours or expect to stick out there forever, because like a river, you must leave this beautiful riverbank and continue to flow on ahead, until you meet the sea. And you cannot take the riverbanks to the sea--there are no river banks in the sea!
