yet another birthday

[this was written at different points in time but is backdated just for the record]

My birthday is usually quiet and unnoticed, and as I’d written earlier, am still not sure of any optimal approach to this day 😉 The words of a gentleman who has gotten to be one of my most intimate friends comes to mind – he jokes On his birthday one sings happy birthday … but he dosen’t understand is that he is one more day closer to his death!

My heartfelt gratitude to him for not just saying rosy eloquent things, but cutting through all that and being more to the point! He says things that might at times appear to be bleak pessimissm, but when I really listen to them with a more open mind, find they are stunningly compassionate and pragmatic words that stir me into taking a close and critical look at what I’m doing with my life! 🙂

This friend I’ve known for the past few years merely through electronic audio and video, but had the most unexpected priviledge of meeting him personally last month.

Standing face to face with him, I had nothing to say except silently thank him and wish him well from every element of my being for his largely unpublicised but invaluable contribution to humanity and my own life. Of course, I know that the last thing he wants is a flowery blog post praising him – he’s made it abundantly clear that the only way to express my gratitude is to implement what is taught in my own life.

Still as a writer and have this tendency to express my thoughts down in words, so on the occasion of this day, I share some notes:

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Date: Feb 13, 2006

He’s really the ultimate motivator! I felt he was like a patient father teaching his child cycling. “No flashy 10 speed gear bike or helper wheels… just learn with whatever you have”. And standing in some corner with folded arms and telling me – “I’m not doing anything… you pedal, you learn, fall but you get up, you keep going…”. Only when the kid grows up a little
bit does he realize the value of such a father.

——–

Actually now that I think of it, my own (late) Dad was just like that. I often recollect about him that he might not have left me with a lot of property, but he definitely had ensured that he’d left me capable of standing on my own feet! 🙂

To be a sincere student of Life, for life is both rewarding as well as difficult. There are so many things to learn from Life – from all its infinite manifestations – but its so hard to learn because to learn we must learn to listen – really and deeply listen. And to listen, it requires a quiet, non-assuming mind.

We came out from the deep
To learn to love, to learn how to live
We came out from the deep
To avoid the mistakes we made.

My opinion concurs with these lyrics by Enigma when they sing that’s why we’re here… and they go on…

It takes many lives till we succeed
To clear the debts of many hundred years.

So far I might’ve made only made weak attempts… but I find that my resolve to continue has only strengthened over time.

I find encouragement in my friend and my teacher’s words “People will progress slowly — they may take two steps and then fall down, and get up again; then again take two steps, and again fall down. Later they will reach the stage where they are so strong they can’t fall down. It takes time.”

——

Anyway, this time my birthday was celebrated in a very unexpected way and thanks to Ramakrishna for putting down the details here!

Muktha samvaada with a difference

Also see: photos