I was overcome with emotion. Sadness, also anger, and I was certainly very confused.
"Sorry to learn that you lost your father", well-wishers condoled me.
Lost your father?
What could those words really mean?
What does it mean to lose a loved one?
How could my father be lost to me?
There he had lain before me, his eyes staring into space and his body a little cold.
.
If his body lay there before me then what had I lost?
Oh! Did they mean, I had lost his soul?
But his soul, it did not belong to me, so how could I lose it?
Just because he was my father, had I some right on his soul?
Assuming I had a right, where should I go looking for my father's soul, to reclaim it?
I hear much, but understand little, probably not realising that
"I am not a human on a spiritual journey but a spirit on a human journey".
I now realised that my father and I, we were just travellers who met on this short journey called life. We met and travelled together for a brief while, only to be separated a little later.
What had I lost or what had I gained? What could I give and what could I take? Everything is temporary. These possessions, these relations and even this body, none of it is mine. Who knows what was there before this moment, and what tomorrow will bring?
Worry never robs tomorrow, of its sorrow, it just saps today, of its beauty and strength. We all have only this moment, that is why it is probably called 'the present'.
Therefore I will continue to seek meaning in my existence. I choose to be loving, and true, to spread joy and be useful. As Guru Nanak ji said,
When death will come calling, then all these relationships and possessions will mean nothing.
So meditate on the one eternal truth, the Creator.
Who knows if this breath we inhale could be our last?
Interesting Links:
Hum Aadmi Haan Ek Dammi (We are but a man with only one breath) Kirtan composed by Guru Nanak ji and now sung by Sardar Harjinder Singh ji (YouTube)
Reposted: 01 Sep 2022 on the anniversary of departure of Sardar Man Singh ji.
Originally written and posted: Oct 2014
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