Autumn leaves (Dr. Y. V. Rao)
Dr.
Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
M.Sc., Ph. D
Retired Principal
GUDIVADA- A.P
yernenivrao@gmail.comh.
B2-18
Autumn leaves
People on
the wrong side of 60 are like autumn leaves, waiting for their fall while
watching others all around them fall with unfailing regularity.
Most happened as accidents happen and drifted
through life, baffled by its mystifying jerks and mind- numbing jolts, dazed by
its amazing twists, astounding turns and paralysed by its abrupt reversals and
surprising turn-arounds, and fall they will , not being any the wiser for it;
some who felt let down , squatted /imposed upon and who felt hurt , spat at and
dominated by others were at a loss and even found themselves at the end of
their tether and hence, aimless and at drift , sapped of all energy and
enthusiasm heave a sigh of relief at the
moment of their fall taking that to be the end of this life—a gruelling ordeal,
a saga of sorrow and a frightful nightmare, while a few shudder at the thought
of falling, fearing that this may be the termination of their idyllic
existence, a continuous round of pleasure full of color, charm, dreams,
excitements and expectations about more of the same—a kind of an eternal
carnival and an uninterrupted celebration either attending or hosting parties,
patronizing the gourmet restaurants and living life as if there is no tomorrow.
But that rare soul , that enlightened one,
accustomed as he is to the uplifting freedom of a higher plane of consciousness
accepts his fall—his transportation to the Elysian Fields—with equanimity as
the end of yet another episode in the great drama of creation. The loss of such
a one will be deeply felt but his vision will live on, ever remaining fresh and
his inspiring example will linger on in memory long after he is gone. Such a one lives for history, not for today,
nor for the moment.
B2-19
The practice
of finding supportive evidence and arguments for a predetermined verdict is
like putting the cart before the horse. Yet, it is the pith and substance of
almost all normal human interactions where there is a vast scope for the play
of preferences and prejudices and personal whims and fancies. That means most
day-to-day transactions , be they ideological , cultural , communal or creedal
as also all matters pertaining to litigation and taxes and disputations on
philosophy , religion and literature , most commercial and economic activities
as well as rational , regional and linguistic issues and concerns and the whole
gamut of personal perversions and fetishes – intellectual, political, social
and sexual. The list is never ending. What is surprising however is that most
of the time, not even an attempt is made to give an intellectual veneer to /
put a rational gloss over such arguments and conclusions.
That it is not imperative that this should
always be so becomes obvious when we realise that all this after all is nothing
but the vulgar play of an overblown ego, desperately trying to assert itself,
driven by a compulsive obsession to win an argument and score a point at any
cost. So long as it remains untouched and untamed by values and principles, the
fruits of a thinking heart and a feeling head, the results can hardly be
otherwise. However , when the ego’s path is illumined by the enduring values
and elevating principles and when wisdom , and with it, dispassionate
discrimination dawns on it, then the horse and the cart will automatically find
themselves in the right place and things proceed as they ought to.
B2-20
At
death’s door, most mortals find themselves utterly confused about what all ahs
happened to them here, and equally confounded about what is to happen here
after and sigh with relief at the prospect of freedom from perplexity and
puzzlement , and confusion and consternation. Some others thoroughly shaken by
life’s many devastating trials and distressing tribulations often demanding
devious means and dubious deeds to surmount them, on the one hand, and totally
paralysed with terror born of misapprehensions about the after life on the
other , tend to think of it as an escape from a haunting sense of guilt and a
gnawing feeling of remorse about some of their diabolical commissions and
debasing omissions , while a few others not withstanding their being unnerved
by the imminent ending of an enchanting dream, a victorious march, a
cherry-picking expedition, a celebratory parade and a princely life—their being
the toast of every party, their every wish pandered to and all their whims and
fancies instantly taken care of—and unsure of what awaits them on the other
side of the great divide resign themselves to the inevitable, reflecting
nostalgically on their times of triumph and dwelling sadly on their unfinished
projects and tasks.
But that rare individual, that luminous soul
, unencumbered by either the memories of the past or the expectations about the
future and ever remaining equi-poised and even-minded calmly looks on death as
the end of a stream of events in consciousness—which it really is—and fondly
looks forward to a happy homecoming, and what can only be a blissful reunion
with the Ultimate Reality. For , he knows only too well that
“All forms
that perish other forms supply,
(By turns we catch the vital breath and die)
Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne,
They rise , they break, and to that sea
return”
as
Alexander Pope used in his ‘An Essay on Man’.
That such a one as lived amidst us is a rare
blessing which we should cherish and treasure.
B 2-21
Give a
man all the money and freedom he wants and watch him. You can learn more about
his character and destiny in an hour than in a lifetime of acquaintanceship.
B 2-22
(over)
I am too
proud to bow before the insolent, yet too humble not to before the truly great,
great in mind and spirit.
B 2-23
Life is
virtually a double stranded rope, knowing and doing being its strands , each
being reinforced by the other and the two together strengthening the rope.
Knowledge or action , standing alone scarcely makes life. Too trivial or
elementary? Not quite. For , if you think of all the things you did but never
knew and those that you knew but never did, you will at once realize that like
all great truths of life, this too is too important to be either new or
remarkable, and hence is apt to be passed over or lost sight of altogether ,
thereby occasioning a reminiscential need and a badly needed one at that. It
dawns on us that it is the simplest guidelines that are often the hardest to
follow and adapt in our day-to-day life. It makes for the further realization
that life is for living, living by doing what one knows and knowing what one
does, for that is the only way to be what one is intended to be one’s maker.
For , otherwise , (s)he would not have wasted two sets of organs , one of
perception and cognition and the other of action, where one would suffice.
Hence ,it is often said that a person endowed with an efficient hand and a
loving heart and a clear head is a complete individual—a paragon of
perfection worthy of emulation by
others.
B 2-24
Some
people never live life but merely exist as scum on the surface of the river of
life, never knowing what it feels like to be truly alive, for, they dare not
dive deep into it for fear of being drowned.
In the
words of John Dryden,
“Errors
like straws , upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive
below.”
B 2-25
One who
continues to live in darkness/illusion even after knowing what light/reality
is, is worse off many times over than one who lives in darkness believing that
to be the only extant reality, for there is still a chance for the latter to
know and live in light /reality. And for the former to denounce darkness is
like his spitting in the plate he eats his meal from.
B 2-26
While a
pole-vaulter cannot clear the high cross bar without the pole, he cannot clear
it with the pole either. Just so while we cannot live without our past, we
cannot live in/with it either. Our past should only be a map to guide us in the
present without ever becoming the territory to live on and build our future.
No man’s past can be his future; it has to be
built anew every moment with courage and foresight if it is to be a meaningful
and fulfilling future.
<*><*><*>
No comments:
Post a Comment