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the innocent ramblings of a soporose lychnobite
Calvin & Hobbes
The Inheritance of Knowledge
Friday 25 July 2014
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.
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
P.S: By the way, do check out the Zenfone in the link above. Coming back to materialistic things, its like totally awesome! :D
Hyderabad Diaries - Day (stopped counting)
Monday 7 July 2014
10:17 AM - No internet for 24 hours. No work for 24 hours. The IBM guy is going to come over today so that we can do some 'complex data analysis'. I feel pretty fucked up right now because I could not do any research on the 'complex data analysis' stuff on the internet. So now when he arrives, I'm just a noob to him.
Forget working experience, I'm not even knowledgeable on that topic. And the fucking internet service provider had to choose this time to screw around with their customers.
Anyway, Hyderabad is turning out to be a pathetic experience after all. The weather is fucked up. It never rains, but the people here still call it the rainy season. Its sweltering hot every day.
When I was in Bengal, we waited eagerly for the rains to arrive and save us from the unbearable rain. When I boarded the East Coast express, it was raining. And I came to this stupid city just to face the summer again!
Its a stupid city. The people are filthy rich and filthy dirty. Thankfully the colony that I'm living in has a few hygenic households. Moreover, people here have a penchant for loud bikes. They will intentionally replace their silencer pipes with dis-functional ones just to completely wipe out the primary intention due to which the smart engineers put silencer pipes in those bikes.
In Bengal, It was risky to drive because the footpaths were empty and the people were on the streets. In Hyderabad, its risky to even walk on the footpaths. Traffic is everywhere. And I finally figured out how to avoid accidents while walking on the road. Don't look left. Don't look right. Just keep walking. The speeding bikes and cars will avoid you. You don't have to be careful to avoid them.
Enough of ranting for now. Now its just a countdown to losing the impression I built on the IBM guy.
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