A Little of What I Saw… A Little of Imagination
In life, many of us wander saying, “There is no peace in my life! There is no peace in my life!”
Where has the peace we seek gone and hidden?
If only we knew where it resides, how comforting that would be.
Wouldn’t we then feel this restless search is unnecessary?
I look back a few years into my life.
I reflect on the meaning of my pursuits.
Without reason, my lips curve into a smile. My heart laughs at me.
“Ah! If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time chasing those things,” I think.
But is that thought truly real?
Because it is precisely those searches that led me to this town called Understanding.
Had those quests not sprouted within me…
When we apply for a job, they call us for an interview.
One common question asked is: “What is the greatest achievement in your last job?”
We answer proudly. Then comes the next question: “What lesson did you learn from that experience?”
They ask this to know how the events we faced shaped our perspective on life.
That is why I say: regretting the past “Ah, I shouldn’t have done that” is of no use.
It is those very past actions, whether success or failure, that have sculpted us into who we are today.
I too have been betrayed by those I considered close friends.
But I believe those betrayals refined me.
The tears that fell from my eyes only later did I realize they were divine dew sprinkled upon me.
Some people tell me, “I am 55 now. In ten years, when I retire at 65 (as in England), I will be happy.”
I too once thought like that.
We imagine happiness as something locked away in a glass box, waiting to be handed to us as a prize after we finish running a race.
But life is a journey without permanence.
We know its beginning, but not its end.
That end is hidden in mystery by a power beyond all.
Some who expect to live a hundred years die young.
Some who think they will die soon live long.
Life is a pilgrimage, a journey.
Every day we walk is a blessing.
Happiness has not gone to hide somewhere it is frozen within us.
Those who discover and melt it live joyfully.
Those who don’t, end life in longing.
There is a story.
A Zen monk came to a village.
A boy, wanting to mock him, caught a sparrow and hid it in his hands.
He asked, “Master, is the bird in my hands alive or dead?”
If the monk said “dead,” the boy would release it.
If he said “alive,” the boy would crush it.
Either way, the monk’s answer would be proven false.
The monk smiled and said, “The answer lies in your hands.”
Yes when we say, “There is no peace, no happiness in my life,” whose hands is it in?
Not in the hands of monks, nor in God’s, nor in psychologists’.
It lies within us.
We forget the spiritual awareness buried inside and search for it outside.
I too am guilty of this.
In the famous late poet Kannadasan’s song “Satti Suttathada” there is a line.
“When I peel the skin of an ant, an elephant appears.”
I once muttered this line without grasping its meaning.
Only after life’s blows I begin to grasp the beginning of the understandong .
How tiny an ant is, how hard to catch it.
To peel its skin is harder still.
And from within emerges an elephant.the largest of beasts.
At first I thought, “Is Kannadasan rambling nonsense?”
But then I realized when we crave to do the impossible, when we desire what cannot be attained, disappointment follows.
Behind that disappointment comes clarity.
That clarity is the greatest wisdom, says the poet.
The greatness of that wisdom is as bog as an elephant compared to an ant.
Dear readers, do not take this as the words of a great philosopher.
I am not one.
I am simply turning a few pages of my life aloud,sharing my perspective.
Others wiser than me may give better explanations, and I accept them with love and humility.
Peace, joy, happiness all lie within us in different dimensions.
Count your small daily acts as achievements and live happily.
At night, before closing your eyes, spend two minutes reviewing your day and pat yourself on the back.
You can do it.
I will return again.
With love,
Sakthi Sakthithasan Little of What I Saw… A Little of Imagination
In life, many of us wander saying, “There is no peace in my life! There is no peace in my life!”
Where has the peace we seek gone and hidden?
If only we knew where it resides, how comforting that would be.
Wouldn’t we then feel this restless search is unnecessary?
I look back a few years into my life.
I reflect on the meaning of my pursuits.
Without reason, my lips curve into a smile. My heart laughs at me.
“Ah! If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time chasing those things,” I think.
But is that thought truly real?
Because it is precisely those searches that led me to this town called Understanding.
Had those quests not sprouted within me…
When we apply for a job, they call us for an interview.
One common question asked is: “What is the greatest achievement in your last job?”
We answer proudly. Then comes the next question: “What lesson did you learn from that experience?”
They ask this to know how the events we faced shaped our perspective on life.
That is why I say: regretting the past “Ah, I shouldn’t have done that” is of no use.
It is those very past actions, whether success or failure, that have sculpted us into who we are today.
I too have been betrayed by those I considered close friends.
But I believe those betrayals refined me.
The tears that fell from my eyes only later did I realize they were divine dew sprinkled upon me.
Some people tell me, “I am 55 now. In ten years, when I retire at 65 (as in England), I will be happy.”
I too once thought like that.
We imagine happiness as something locked away in a glass box, waiting to be handed to us as a prize after we finish running a race.
But life is a journey without permanence.
We know its beginning, but not its end.
That end is hidden in mystery by a power beyond all.
Some who expect to live a hundred years die young.
Some who think they will die soon live long.
Life is a pilgrimage, a journey.
Every day we walk is a blessing.
Happiness has not gone to hide somewhere it is frozen within us.
Those who discover and melt it live joyfully.
Those who don’t, end life in longing.
There is a story.
A Zen monk came to a village.
A boy, wanting to mock him, caught a sparrow and hid it in his hands.
He asked, “Master, is the bird in my hands alive or dead?”
If the monk said “dead,” the boy would release it.
If he said “alive,” the boy would crush it.
Either way, the monk’s answer would be proven false.
The monk smiled and said, “The answer lies in your hands.”
Yes when we say, “There is no peace, no happiness in my life,” whose hands is it in?
Not in the hands of monks, nor in God’s, nor in psychologists’.
It lies within us.
We forget the spiritual awareness buried inside and search for it outside.
I too am guilty of this.
In the famous late poet Kannadasan’s song “Satti Suttathada” there is a line.
“When I peel the skin of an ant, an elephant appears.”
I once muttered this line without grasping its meaning.
Only after life’s blows I begin to grasp the beginning of the understandong .
How tiny an ant is, how hard to catch it.
To peel its skin is harder still.
And from within emerges an elephant.the largest of beasts.
At first I thought, “Is Kannadasan rambling nonsense?”
But then I realized when we crave to do the impossible, when we desire what cannot be attained, disappointment follows.
Behind that disappointment comes clarity.
That clarity is the greatest wisdom, says the poet.
The greatness of that wisdom is as bog as an elephant compared to an ant.
Dear readers, do not take this as the words of a great philosopher.
I am not one.
I am simply turning a few pages of my life aloud,sharing my perspective.
Others wiser than me may give better explanations, and I accept them with love and humility.
Peace, joy, happiness all lie within us in different dimensions.
Count your small daily acts as achievements and live happily.
At night, before closing your eyes, spend two minutes reviewing your day and pat yourself on the back.
You can do it.
I will return again.
With love,
Sakthi Sakthithasan
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