When I was young, I remember my mother playing,

A game of fun and companionship, for my entertaining.

If we learnt all the rules, and played by the book,

We would have thrills and delights and may even find a crook.

On such occasions I would rejoice, and join her,

With her delight would arise my own, and we would be together.

Then one day an old bearded man came, and we all went to hear him,

She listened and something changed, as she abandoned our plaything.

Mother said that the man spoke about, opening the cave in our hearts,

Me I also tried at a tender age, to find this cave inside me and all its parts.

The times passed and I moved on with my life, and grew distant, from my mother,

My wife and children took up my time, and I worked for my living, for another.

Life had its sweet moments and its sorrows, and we would visit on celebrations,

My father passed away and my mother was aging, and we talked of separations.

One day she reminded me of the old man, and how she had filled the cave in her heart,

She felt she had done all her life needed, and the time was coming soon for us to part.

Now when I walk in the woods, and come upon a cave,

Oftentimes I feel my mother’s heart beating there, bidding me to be brave.

Rajiv July 2020

When humanoids first walked the earth, they must have looked up at spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Our universe will go in all its glory, long after; all of us humanoids, are gone. As we looked up into the heavens through the millennia, what did our minds seek? We must have wondered at the stars and the Milky Way and the celestial sightings. At the same time, we must have sought the understanding of our life, on Mother Earth. Our ancestors must have sought to grasp the meaning of this existence and what it means for our future. There is no single purpose, that a God bestows on our foreheads, when we are born. We are left to our own devices; we have free choice, withing our limited circumstances. It remains up to us to choose wisely, now that we have accumulated the knowledge, of a million years of evolution. Knowledge is just the sum of our past experiences, stored in our Human brain. Here we must dwell, now we must create, to make our life meaningful. I look up at my heavens and see this celestial sight, created just for me at this moment. My purpose is to remain fully conscious of this moment, and stay focused on this event.  My mind stops its chatter, and I live as the part of the universe all around me. Life and I walk hand in hand, with no conflict, at peace with each other, till death Our universe will go on, so what is there to fear?

Came upon this old memory in my FB page from many years ago:

Its chilling breath sent shudders down to my bones, and its dark shadow seemed to cover all the horizons and stifle my very soul. Yet he is an old companion and I no longer fear him, or am swayed by his power. He has made many attempts before to tempt me to accept his embrace; from my piddling birth, to a great fall as a child, horrific auto accidents, burning towers, and now the descent into a darkness, that only he can induce.

I turn around and laugh in his harrowing face; and bid him to be gone, and pick on some other purposeless soul. I wave him away with a dismissal thought; as I have no time for his histrionics, and a life of wonder to live. My purpose is greater than his; and he gazes long into my eyes trying to drag me into his darkness. Then he sees my smile, for as old friends we can read each other’s minds. “Death be gone,” I order for I have things to do, and deeds yet to accomplish. My happiness; dissipates his darkness, and light reemerges. I still have the power of the life force, that needs to bring the message of enlightenment to those around me. We are not thrown here or leave by chance; and each one of us has a greater purpose, which we must strive to achieve. Let my life sing and show the path to the glory of this creation, and bring joy to all around me. I have to walk bravely into the night; bearing this beacon of hope, and not be cowed down into submission by fear or despair. Live true to our vision of compassion for all beings; and that alone will be our eternal achievement. I truly believe that even my old friend death, will welcome me with open arms, when I am done with this idealistic life.