Buddha sits across the hall.
He holds a lit candle in his hand but of this light that he wishes to share with me I see only a dim flicker, for there lie between Buddha and me seven curtains of sheer.
The benevolent Buddha even inquires in concern whether I see the light.
And I, ignorant of my ignorance, answer in the affirmative.
Buddha smiles and does nothing further to help me.
Then a day comes by when one of the curtains drops.
All of a sudden I see the light a bit more clearly.
Then more time goes by and more curtains drop and more clarity ensues, till finally, all curtains have dropped and I can see the light in all its splendour.
I become one with the Buddha.
My error - mistaking the dim flicker for the full light – is a common one.
It’s an error we routinely commit when we set out to decipher the wisdom behind our clichéd truisms.
Let's hang on to our clichés then.
In all probability, the surface is all we’ve scraped.
-Sachin Jha.
About the blogSome of the write-ups in the blog emanate from a simple desire to elicit a laugh from friends.
Some are reactions to a current event or a movie I’ve just seen. A few, however, are little tugs at the Buddha curtains. |
ABOUT MEI'm by training an engineer (mechanical, IIT Delhi) and by profession an entrepreneur(chemical manufacturing). Currently though, I’m a practicing lawyer.
Books I’ve authored: ‘It all adds up’ (Penguin) ‘The ordinary, the enchanted, and the quaintly happy’(Rupa). |