The Dragon Hunter

Death is but a beginning - in a sea of beginnings. But truly, there are no beginnings. We are forever caught in this vicious cycle of friends, family, money and love. In truth, these are nothing but the sidedishes on a platter called illusion. These are the fine gossamer threads in the curtain that has been put over our eyes, blinding us from the truth.

"You are too young to be thinking about things like these! It is a mistake to give these thoughts the freedom that you have given them!"

Critics are forever hounding us. These servants of illusion toil ceaselessly, imprisoning as many souls as possible. Here, take this job. Work till you are grey in the hair and weak in the soul. Here is a car. This is a tiny box-like thing that will take you through a bigger box, to meet little people. It IS a small world, don't you forget that! Here is some money. Buy yourself more boxes - houses. Ah! Here is a lovely girl. She is smiling at you. Go and embrace her before the other man does. Here is a handsome fellow! He is yours, can't you see? Hold hands and make love. This person will be the final turn of the key in your padlock. There is no escaping it. Get married - because that is the language that we understand. Uh oh, you are going to die because of all the stress. Don't forget to turn off the lights when you go. Have a nice day.

We enact a script, switching roles often. But the play is old an boring. Noone can ask questions. Of course not! It just wouldn't do if someone decides to doubt the will of the Masters. You get nailed to a piece of wood for doubting something like that. You can say you dislike a person. You can say you hate a movie. It IS a free country, after all! But you can't dislike God. You can't hate religion. These are things that are and should be taken for granted.

When you live in an illusion, you need a myth to survive. And we, as humans, have embraced countless myths - money, power, lust, religion. These are the empty hopes that we fill our mundane lives with - evanescent destinations in a pointless journey.

WAKE UP!

Look at those trees filtering the early morning sunlight. There, can you see the color of the sky and that little girl? That smell - that underlying smell amidst a huge smog of deoderants and perfumes and paav bhaaji - that is the smell of humanity. Inhale it, let it mingle with yours.

Every second that we live is another second of pure bliss. To be here, in this time and space, and knowing that there are other times and spaces that we can go to at any point, knowing that there are different layers to illusion, knowing that infinite compassion is what truly keeps the heart pumping - oh! What joy!

I am off in search of this joy. I am a hunter, looking for dragons under unturned stones. There are no more dragons, you say. I don't know that and neither did don Quixote.

So, this will be my last post for some time to come. My bags are packed. The road is long. The signboards are dead.

Wish you well.