I was communing with God last night, and wondered at her power
What makes God omnipotent? Is it perhpas a skill I could acquire?
For long I had dreamt of becoming a super human; transcending laws
But this physical world has many inflexible barriers first to cross
The chief amongst them is our own conditioning and inferior belief
We have outgrown our innate knowing of our true state of release
We possessed this during our childhood when there were no barriers
But somehow during adult transformation we became distrust's carriers
Thus we spend inordinate amounts of effort in trying to take flight
Or flexing our mental muscles in an attempt to estimate speed of light
Assuming that there are limits of space and time, our work is constrained
We have chosen to live in a gilded cage, golden, but still quite restrained
It would be wonderful for us to know what our true state is and capability
A state free of all restraints, wherein our mere thought fashions reality
Standing at the cusp of two infinities, we cannot but wonder at our state
Our lives are spent in looking at trivia, whether they be small or great
4 comments:
This has reference to your creation entitled “ God’s Power”. As I went through your verse, the first thing that struck me was the significant departure, you have made in attributing the feminine gender to the Creator. Though in almost all major religions of the world, with of course, a few notable exceptions, such as Islam and Buddhism, there is a sizable representation for Adam’s rib (to take a word out of one of your earlier compositions), in the pantheon of deities, I have always found that when Godhood is referred to in the SINGULAR, it is always assigned exclusive masculinity.
As for your statement that one had a much better appreciation of one’s state of release, during one’s childhood, as against the state of affairs that obtains after one attained adulthood, I think that this averment has only a limited acceptability. I believe that what actually happens in one’s childhood, is not really a true appreciation of one’s limitlessness, as brought out in the mahavakya Aham Brahamasmi, which in any case will be far beyond the scope of understanding of any normal child, but a feeling of invincibility engendered, by the child’s total faith in the infallibility and the all pervading capacity and willingness of its parents to take its side in all confrontations and afford complete protection to it against all the vagaries of life, as the child sees it. This phenomenon of unquestioned filial trust, is very nearly universal, and it is totally independent of the actual status of the parent or his capacity to get things done. This can be best illustrated by looking at a hypothetical situation, in which, if two children, one the son of a peon and the other the son of the District Collector, under whom the peon is employed, happen to have an argument and the peon’s son is getting the worst of the bargain, then he will have no hesitation in trying to get the better of his much more highly placed adversary, by threatening, to take the matter to his father’s notice for necessary redressal.
As one grows into adulthood, two things happen to change the status quo described above. Firstly, the child, who is now an adult begins to realize that his parents in whose capacity, he had such implicit faith, earlier, are really not as all powerful as he thought. Secondly he begins to appreciate, better the complexities of life, which not only he, but also his parents are facing, and for which they both are commonly searching for a solution.
Perhaps it is this realization of the inadequacy of his earlier sources of help, that makes the child, now grown into adulthood, to seek for a more universally dependable source of solace and succour, and it is in this context that God comes into the picture for the first time.
Most adults who have reached this stage, go through their entire lives, holding on to this faith, in the unfailing benevolence of a compassionate Providence. In a few exceptional cases, however, the adult person still remains dissatisfied with the situation in which he finds himself, and his restlessness leads him on to further introspection and association with realized Masters, until, he begins to see by slow stages the light at the end of the tunnel and ultimately the blazing all consuming realization of the truth of the statement “AHAM BRAHMASMI”. It is only at this point of time that man really throws off his shackles and becomes totally free.
Perhaps, but the reference here is to the child's capacity to heal itself, to be energetic at all times with little or no food intake, ability to remain stable irrespective of external disturbances. This is an universal characteristic of all children, even those that have lost their parents at a very young age.
In fact Nachiketa and Prahlada exhibited this even though their respective parents were not exactly great role models.
I have just seen your rejoinder to my earlier comments on your verse entitled “ God’s Power”. The two examples that you have cited, namely Nachiketas and Prahalada, are of two highly spiritually developed children, who had honed their progress, through myriad past births of exceptional excellence. My remarks pertained to the normal run-of-the mill child, who can be taken as a typical example of the majority, if not the entirety, of our present day younger generation. In fact your statement that both the children, whom you have quoted as examples, turned out to be ideal youngsters, in spite of the fact, that their parents were no saints, goes to prove my point that the total and unswerving confidence reposed in their parents, by their children, is very often undeserved as they themselves will find out eventually, when they grow into adulthood. The point that I was trying to make is that the apparent joyousness of the child is not a result of its realizing the truth behind the mahavakya, “Aham Brahmasmi”, but only because of its faith in the infallible support of its parents, that it can fall back upon, at times of need. As for children, who have lost their parents at a very young age and who, therefore have no filial support to count on, I fear that experience shows that such children, in nine cases out of ten, end up becoming wayward adults.
I have just seen your rejoinder to my earlier comments on your verse entitled “ God’s Power”. The two examples that you have cited, namely Nachiketas and Prahalada, are of two highly spiritually developed children, who had honed their progress, through myriad past births of exceptional excellence. My remarks pertained to the normal run-of-the mill child, who can be taken as a typical example of the majority, if not the entirety, of our present day younger generation. In fact your statement that both the children, whom you have quoted as examples, turned out to be ideal youngsters, in spite of the fact, that their parents were no saints, goes to prove my point that the total and unswerving confidence reposed in their parents, by their children, is very often undeserved as they themselves will find out eventually, when they grow into adulthood. The point that I was trying to make is that the apparent joyousness of the child is not a result of its realizing the truth behind the mahavakya, “Aham Brahmasmi”, but only because of its faith in the infallible support of its parents, that it can fall back upon, at times of need. As for children, who have lost their parents at a very young age and who, therefore have no filial support to count on, I fear that experience shows that such children, in nine cases out of ten, end up becoming wayward adults.
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