As I stood by the window and watched the falling stars quietly disappear near the horizon, I remembered the child in me who had stood in front of his bedroom window gazing into the depths of a night that was probably more beautiful than tonight.

There was nothing extraordinary in the air that night, years back. The child’s uncle had fought with his aunt like every other night and had banged the door on her face as he was leaving the house to spend the rest of the night with his gambling and other intoxications, while she silently wept in the kitchen. He couldn’t blame them much. After all, they were the ones who had adopted him when he had become an orphan no sooner than when he had completed 10 brief years on earth. His uncle was poor by inheritance, and lazy by nature, while his aunt still hadn’t been able to get over her trauma of prostitution in her early years. He was just another burden.

It was going to be another sleepless night for the child whose heart had leapt with amazement as his eyes caught the brightest falling star that he had ever seen. He had followed the streak of light which had grown brighter every moment, to his utmost delight, and his gradually increasing heart-beat.

And the ball of light had slowed down, before gracefully descending down into the forest behind his home. Soon, it had disappeared.

For a long moment, the child had just stood there, still in doubt about what he had just seen. But he had decided soon enough that he had to investigate. Keeping aside all his fears, the child had ventured into the unexplored forest in the dark of the night. And it had not taken him long to discover the ball of light, as it had shone from far away. And there it was, as the object shone brightly in the midst of the small crater that it had created on impact. It was a thin rectangular piece of metal with a shining glass on one side and it was no doubt the most magical object that he had ever seen. And it had no doubt changed his life, even if the little child hadn’t known it then.

His hands had trembled in fear of the unknown, as they were reaching out to retrieve the magical object. And as soon as he had picked it up, it had stopped glowing. But the shining glass side had unexpectedly lit up.

And the child had never forgotten what he had seen after that. Because it had shown him his future.

The child had seen himself travel by foot all the way to the sacred Eiheiji Temple founded by the great master Dogen.
The child had seen himself become accepted into the Temple, but only as a temple servant, learning and practicing the art of zazen in his free time.
The child had seen himself become drafted for war, and getting shot at and being left for dead during the Ruso Japanese war in 1904. But this was not the end. The child had also seen himself being rescued several days later under dozens of decaying bodies of his own compatriots.
The child had seen himself spending the rest of his life spreading his teachings of the art of meditation and Zazen, all over Japan, in universities and prisons without discrimination or distinction.

And yes. It had all come true.

A young voice behind him broke the comfort of silence and brought the child back to the present moment, standing in front of his window watching the falling stars dissolve into the darkness of the horizon.

“Master Sawaki. I was told that you had send for me.” said the voice of Taisen Deshimaru, the young disciple who was going to be my successor.

"It is time," I thought to myself, "to pass on my gift to the next generation."

I looked into the magic device in the palm of my hand that had been my companion since I was a little child. The mystic calligraphic designs of the words ‘Asus’ and ‘Intel’ etched on to the device, gleamed back at me, almost as if to say, that it was the right thing to do.

And so I said, “Taisen. It is time for you to see, what others cannot see. It is time for you to do, what others cannot do.”



Above is the image of renowned zen master Kodo Sawaki, the protagonist of the above post.

Taisen Deshimaru who was his disciple became famously known as "The 20th Century Bodhidharma" in Japan.

The facts depicted about his life are true events.



Information and Image courtesy of Zen Buddhism. Read more about Kodo Sawaki here - http://zen-buddhism.net/famous-zen-masters/kodo-sawaki.html

This post was written for the Indiblogger contest for Asus Zenfone.
http://www.asus.com/campaign/zenfone/IN/

P.S: By the way, do check out the Zenfone in the link above. Coming back to materialistic things, its like totally awesome! :D