The Chalice of Life.

Most of us lead our lives as it comes by, nothing to do with the why and what of things; things that keep falling like cobblestones on the path of life. Ever since I was mature enough to ponder about simple things, I realized that some of the most decisive moments of our life pass by unnoticed, mingled with a stratum that lay beneath the usual layer of life(which stands for the eat, drink and be merry and the Shahrukh Khan Happy go Lucky attitude types). Whatever happened has happened because of some reason; it’s not just like that. Every tear that has kissed the cheek and every smile that has graced the lips has a reason.

Here I would like to say that

“All dishes are served equally; none favorably and none unduly.”

There is no one who has got more than his share of happiness, or more than his share of tears. Consequently, everything happening around us is or at least can be attributed to reason.

So, as Mr. Sherlock Holmes used to say:

“Watson, the point is a simple one.”

Think about where you are going, what you are doing, which path you are taking and most importantly why you are taking it. Reasoning is a powerful means of analyzing and evaluating our status in the voyage of life, so I suggest we use it as much as we can. The habit of reasoning is immensely useful in making decisions in our lives but, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, it is not the final achievement. There comes a point in life of every man or woman, where all the reasoning fails; the reasons seem nothing more than footsteps to the final pedestal. We must not forget though, that we need these steps to reach the final pedestal.

The ultimate thought that might tingle or incite you is called the Chalice of Life. It is an afterthought to every thought that the mind is capable of thinking; it comes at a point when the mind has lost its power of reason and has surrendered in favor of divinity. It is what you have earned in your life.

The Chalice is a continuum of oneness which cannot be differentiated with the tools which have been developed using intellect alone; it goes beyond our current methods and understanding.

This passage from the Upanishads (one of my favorite ones because of its all encompassing meaning) amply illustrates this point:

"There the eye goes not,
Speech goes not, nor the mind.
We know not, we understand not
How one would teach it."

The Upanishads tell that a true experience of reality transcends all intellect, thinking or sensory perception:

"What is soundless, touchless, formless, imperishable,
Likewise tasteless, constant, odorless,
Without beginning, without end, higher than the great,
stable--
By discerning That, one is liberated from the mouth of death."


Also about the continuum of oneness:

“Where there is duality, only there one can see another; only there one can smell another; only there one can taste another.. But where everything has become just the self, then whereby and whom can one see?”

It is this experience of Oneness that is the Chalice of Life.

In the following lines I have thought of some questions that have been bothering me for quite some time. Some have answers I know of, some have answers that I am unaware of and some are unanswerable. I have made an attempt to drive home the point that reason is our torchlight while walking through the unevenly lit chambers of life. The Chalice of Life however, remains something which is unexpressable and unimaginable; it can only be attained and felt, not given or expressed.

Hope all these lines written by me make for some good reading:


What is spirit and what is thought?
Is life a cellar or is it a loft?
Thought is a consequence, Life is the question,
and spirit is the answer.

What is dull and what is bright?
What is day and what is night?
It may be dark, it maybe daylight,
but its only what you see through your eyes.

What is loss and what is gain?
What is pleasure and what is pain?
Pleasure is the loss and pain is the gain.
But time preaches that ‘All is the same’.

What is conquered and what is lost?
What is costly and what is not?
Conquered is whatever is not lost,
Costly is little more than you have got.

What is sin and what is sacred?
Is it love or is it hatred?
Sin is whatever circumvents belief,
Love and hatred are names for relief.

What is hurt and what is a tear?
What is far and what is near?
Hurt is what induces a tear,
Far is what once was near.

So many questions and so less answers,
Life is the stage and we are the dancers.
Questions will remain only the answers will change.
The past is lost; the present is gone, only the future remains.
Reason is not the finale; thought is not the verge,
Death is only the edge,
Realization is the suffix,
Then what is the crux?
The answer is the Chalice,
And the universe is the palace.

It is beyond what all words can speak,
And afar from whatever the eyes can see.
It is something beneath the depths of oceans and seas,
Unknown, unconquered and mysterious it will be,
Forever, like our own distant dreams.



Thanks.