Be Empty

BED  CROW

Page Five

Birthday

         I had a dream.  In this dream, my wife, Kumari Anand, wanted to celebrate my birthday lavishly.  There was a big empty hall and everyone had been decorating it for the last few days.  It looked very beautiful.

         On the day, the invited guests started arriving and we warmly welcomed them.  Soon the hall was full of well-dressed ladies, gentlemen and children. Beautiful girls and boys wearing wonderful, expensive clothes were there, and the precious jewels and ornaments of our guests glittered brightly under the lights. The atmosphere, with all the decorations and perfumes, was delightful. Everyone was smiling, chatting and laughing, looking here and there and wishing each other well. All the tables were full of happy groups of friends. All were served with beautiful glasses which were filled with the best imported drinks.

         All my family were present and according to our custom everyone celebrated my birthday even though some were Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or people with faith in many other religions of the world.

         After the formalities, we filled our glasses with different drinks according to our taste. Then we raised our glasses and toasted my birthday and good health to all. Thus we celebrated this happy occasion. Glasses were emptied and filled again with drinks of different colours and tastes.

         After that, people started sitting on the tables, drinking as much as they wanted and as much as they could. Countless empty bottles were replaced with full ones. Thus they went on drinking normally - until the drink started drinking them!  The drink started controlling them.

         I remembered once filling a bottle with intoxicant, uncertain if I should. Hesitantly, starting with just one drop and then another, more and more until soon the bottle was full.  In the same way this hall became filled with guests, delightful food, drinks, knives, forks - and then, all kinds of modern weapons.

         Soon my respected guests started to spit and vomit and abuse each other. Intoxication began to show its power. They spoiled all the dishes, smashed the glasses and bottles and tore the decorations to pieces.  Such was the show inside my hall. Everyone started fighting, some with knives, and some with broken bottles. Some started firing guns. Blood started flowing from the wounded. Some lost their heads and some their noses.  Some died.

        Thus my dream turned into the First and Second World wars, and the wars in Vietnam, Korea, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa. This is how modern science has updated its technology - sputniks and missiles and uncountable deaths.  In my hall, finally two big power groups were ready to destroy each other along with the whole world.

         This is what we see in the world today - scientific, religious and political training for destruction and troubles increasing day by day - the gift of modern civilisation. People were in this ‘hall’ to enjoy a birthday party, but instead of celebrating, they are rejoicing with their own heart’s blood, just as savage people did in the past.

         Seeing this, every micro-cell is shouting, “Stop! O Shako¹ of numskull!² O nut-case of science! Slow down and give the show away, this D-day. For we see through our burning eyes this burning world with our burning souls. Don’t pour a glass of boiling water on us with your burning hands - it has burnt our hearts.”

¹  shako /ˈʃækəʊ/  - n. (pl. shakos) 

a cylindrical or conical military hat with a peak and a plume or pompom.
ORIGIN C19: via Fr. from Hungarian csákó (süveg) ‘peaked (cap)’, from csák ‘peak’, from Ger. Zacken ‘spike’.

²  numbskull (also numskull) - n. 

a stupid person.

         The ego of this world always looks outward. It seeks peace in worldly objects but never tries or thinks to look inside its own body, where real peace is hidden. As long as people do not develop the habit to look within - to search inside the mask - they will never find peace or truth.  They must uncover this pure self, real peace, the Lord of all - God. They must remove their ego, otherwise the third, fourth and countless wars will sprout up to destroy you and the world. Thus ego is forever eating up the universe in the name of peace.

         Until each individual develops this habit to search within, the truth which is within all will not be revealed. This ugly, cruel ego - this dreadful fire - will burn the world, ruining each and all. So, you are requested to get inside in search of that peace which is permanently inside you and none other than yourself, the real God of Peace. This Lord of all beings is covered with the mask of ego. This mask is not real - it is just an outer cover - but everyone believes it to be real; they have developed their habit to rely on it so strongly. But it is just a habit.

         You think this habit alone can protect and save you, the life of this ego - which is a flaw. This ego has no existence at any time because it is not real. Unreal cannot be real and real cannot be unreal either. This eternal truth is there within each one of us - in every step of life it is constant from birth to death. It is everywhere in this world and this creation, and beyond as well.

         We have forgotten this truth, this Reality, completely. Never did we try to think of it before, and even now I don’t see many trying to know this fact. This shows how completely we’ve been affected by this false ego. We have become so intoxicated that the unreal decorations of the world make it seem real. This is our drawback - this applied concept that has developed in us so thickly that we are unwilling to look and get inside the self. We prefer to look out into this unreal world which yet we have to give it up when death takes us away by force, even though we’re unwilling to go. 

         We don’t want to leave all the things we possess but death compels us to do just that. We are chewed up inside the jaws of death like we chew candy, even then we are unconscious of our reality. Every fraction of a second our life is uncertain. If we look at the statistics we will understand the rate of mortality in this world and realise how uncertain life really is - death can occur at any moment. Even then we don’t care. Look at all the people - they are about to die but they don’t want to know the self. They are the master of death but prefer to remain its slave, so thickly are they covered in ignorance.

         Therefore rise above this unreal mask to the real Self. O man or woman of ego! Get free of this intoxication - get out of ego and realise truth - then you will understand you are immortal. Death can do nothing to you who are changeless and pure. Know yourself and this world.  Know the real Self and unreal death. Be sure this ego can never be real. Wake up from this dream forever. Be empty, be conscious, realise truth and enjoy immortality.

         You are ever free, ever empty, ever changeless, ever pure light - so have faith on these sayings, have practical experience. Be introverted and try to see your Self within yourself and all over the creation. You are not only master of this, your body, but you are the real master of this creation. Rely on my words and realise this truth practically within yourself.

- OM -