As a 16-year-old, long back
I thought the world was terrible
A place where one shouldn’t be born
And so I set out to read philosophy
To find ways to escape this world
And never ever to return back
Though along the way on this path
The heart did flutter a few times
Ignore it I did with single-minded focus
On salvation, that takes one beyond.
Now, when I find myself a 60-year-old
When the heart flutters now and then
I neither ignore nor get carried away
Since I am now acquainted with the Truth
And know that the heart is not in my hands
But with God to play with it as He chooses
To let life unfold as per His divine plan
Who am I to interfere with it in any manner
And in this surrender, I know life proceeds
More correctly than I can make it happen.
What about salvation? One might ask
And I can only reply with the wisdom I know
That is what is surrendering, but salvation
Moreover, how does it matter at all
What the body-mind-heart does in this world
When one has come to know through intellection
Whatever happens in this wide world
As brought about by any body-mind-heart
Is but a play of no significance to anyone
If at all it can be called a play, for what it is
Is but mere imagination, nothing but a dream.
Know Thyself 