Running after Dreams....

Once in my dream, I saw a small child wandering with very curious eyes. He was so curious because everything he saw was amazing and very new to him. His coming to this earth has been only a few years 7-8 years and his sensing has just begun to give him a feel of his presence on this earth as he was beginning to know the things, people, and environment around him.

 

With no memories of the past and only an unfolding future ahead, he was free and happy. All he was seeing and feeling around him were wonderful and they were happening for the first time in his life. One day when he was playing alone, he saw a beautiful garden. With wondering eyes and a curious mind, he entered the garden. He was so happy and curious as if he found a piece of heaven on earth. The Garden was full of many species of flowers with varied colors and scents. There were green tall trees and birds on the branches were dancing and singing. The water in a beautiful pond at a corner was so still and seemed like in meditation peacefully.

 

On that sunny afternoon, he found himself in a wonderland under the blue sky. 

Now, with curious eyes, he looked around and saw the row of followers beautifully arranged in the harmony of colors and he went near to them. His hands automatically reached for one of the beautiful flowers to touch and feel it. But before he could nearly touch it something sharply pinched his soft fingertip and with pain he first time saw the inverted sharp thorn of a beautiful rose.

 

Maybe he learned flowers are not always soft and beautiful. 

Then he kept on his journey of this garden. Far on the horizon, the array of green blurry mountains was just like in the picture of his textbook and sometimes he had tried to draw them in his copy with his small hands.

 

As he was looking at a folk of birds flying over the sky, he saw something small and colorful coming down. His eyes just followed the creature and it slowly landed on a beautiful flower very near to him. In an instant, he rushed towards it but even faster the creature flew up. Though most of the things he was seeing had no name in his dictionary of mind, he was familiar with this beautiful butterfly with colorful wings. The colorful, playful, and delicate butterfly had begun to draw his attention. Sometimes, he thought that the butterfly was not going to come down but unexpectedly it again landed on the next flower and began to suck the nectar. He looked at it carefully from the distance of some feet. His eyes were amazed with the beauty of the butterfly its dance and movement. Gradually the desire to catch the butterfly began to grow in his mind.

 

Then he slowly approached near to flower with utter silence. The butterfly was unaware of his move. Now he was in very short distance. In that closer look, he found the butterfly even more attractive and he moved his hands slowly but the butterfly sensed the move and flew away. As it was flying, his eyes followed and he ran after it. His eyes were so fixed upon the butterfly that he even did not care where he was running and thorns were scratching his skin but he was not feeling even the pain. Despite his effort to track it, the butterfly just disappeared somewhere in the garden. By this time his desire to catch the butterfly had become so strong that he was determined to track and catch the beautiful butterfly. He kept on searching flower by flower in every corner of the garden for hours. He would have already had lunch by that time of the day if he was at home.

But today, in the garden with the passion of catching the butterfly, he had forgotten even the hunger and pain in his small legs. He was sweating but his search was going on. Even after hours of search, he was clueless about where the butterfly might be and there was no sign of it. Then he sat down on the ground feeling a little tired. Slowly, he was becoming hopeless and thinking about giving up this search.

 

All of a sudden, the butterfly landed very near to him in the distance not even feet away on the green grass of the ground. He was so happy and surprised to see his fading hope becoming the truth. This time he was so sure of catching the butterfly and was ready to take all percussion not to distract it. He slowly crawled on the ground in silence and approached very near to the butterfly then moved his hand towards it shaping his fingers likewise. Now, flicking wings were in between his fingers, and up to this moment may be butterfly was unaware. He was holding his breath to catch it but he could not hold it long enough and within the blink of his eyes, the butterfly flew up again and for seconds hovered around his head and landed on the tree branch. He quickly stood up. The butterfly flew away in the sky and disappeared in the darkening evening giving no chance of following.

As the darkness of evening was spreading, he remembered his home. Up to this time, he had forgotten his home, parents, thirst, and all the pain. Now with hopeless eyes, he found himself alone, tired, and hungry and then moved his steps slowly to return to his sweet home.

That day in the garden the child experienced and learned the lesson for the rest of his life.

Wake up Wake up....Sometimes feel I am still dreaming. Mediation is a way to wake up.

 

Notes:

Child: - Every one of us.

Garden: - This World

Butterfly: - Unlimited Desires