Global Conference on Religion & Spirituality - A Short Story

Kuber, Mohan, & Vivek were friends. Dharma was their pet dog which accompanied them wherever they went together which was often. All of them had fairly comfortable lifestyles but yet felt that something was missing and were in quest for finding a purpose to life itself.

On a pilgrimage tour, on the banks of a rivulet they met up with a “Sadhu” and asked him about their pursuit of finding a meaning to their existence. The Sadhu said to them “take a boat to the other side of this bank where you will find answers to your individual desires to satisfaction”.

All the three do so accordingly, with Dharma accompanying them. On reaching the other side, they come across a bewitchingly beautiful forest area. The dog is moved by the selfless service of the “boat”. The boat though transports a vast mass of people from one side to the other, has no desire ever to see what lays ahead, but is satisfied thoroughly with helping every one across. Dharma therefore refuses to go along with the other three and decides to remain in the boat and serve with such selfless attitude.

(The dog and the boat are used as allegory)

In the forest the three friends come across a small courtyard with huge casks lined up on the sides along the perimeter. Half of them are filled with precious gems, and the other with exotic books on Religion, Yoga, Mythology etc. Kuber salivates on seeing such huge money and decides to take as much as he can with him, and goes no further.

Mohan is so fascinated with the amount of reading material, similarly makes a choice; he will carry the maximum he can and he also goes no further. However none of these attract Vivek’s attention, he goes further and further beyond the courtyard, till finally he finds a small temple and the Deity. He bows down in reverence and in sync with his name “Vivek” - which translated means “the power to distinguish between the visual world and the invisible spirit”- enlightenment dawns and he has no further interest except to be in that “nirvana” state.

After waiting for a while for Vivek to return, Kuber and Mohan with their bags full of riches and passionate reading material decide to go back. Once back they encounter the same Sadhu, who asks smilingly as to whether they have found their “pursuits”. They thank him profusely and say “yes”, adding by the way that Vivek and the dog are not with them, and are worried about their welfare. The Sadhu replies that there need be no worry as they too are there where they ought to, and takes leave.  Kuber and Mohan get a surprise of their lives when they spot both Vivek and the Dog besides the Sadhu in his retreat.

Kuber with the money he had taken from the temple starts a business and in very short span becomes a multimillionaire with branches all over the globe and funding various charities.  Mohan with the knowledge acquired thru various texts from the same place starts a religious trust and becomes universally acknowledged as a spiritual Guru.

Dharma the dog, after becoming the darling of various pilgrims dies and the locals erect a memorial and visitors throng to this site to honor this hero for its selfless service. As to Vivek, many alleged that they had seen him in the US and some others insisted that they saw him in interior Himalyas thus giving rise to a speculation that he was truly a realized soul able to manifest himself across the globe.

Kuber and Mohan often met, and the absence of Vivek -who was now talked off as a kind of an incarnation- was a constant subject of their private talks and in spite of their huge popularity, there was this undercurrent of regret about what it could have been for both of them.

The local government approached Kuber one day to be a major sponsor for a global meet on religion and spirituality to which Mohan was to be invited as a key participant.  Kuber had no problem.  And with his friend Mohan being a part of the event, they both felt that they should somehow persuade the Sadhu whom they had met along with Vivek to participate. The Sadhu was a bit unpopular with this rich and influential crowd as he was an outspoken man with no hidden punches. But with both Kuber and Mohan pitching for him, others reluctantly agreed.

The day of the meet arrived. The Government representative said he was proud not only to have such eminent persons participating but also to have such greats like Kuber and Mohan, but for whose efforts the conference would have not materialized at all.

There were speakers representing virtually every religion and considered as great spiritual masters and almost all spoke of the need for a global spiritual harmony sans all kinds of fundamentalism and violence. Finally it was the turn of the “Sadhu” and there were palpable unease as no one was sure as to what uncompromising “truth” will emerge from this holy man.

The very beginning was a kind of a reprimand; He said he was pained to hear almost every early sponsor talking about how “proud” they were etc. In today’s world he continued that a child of four was proud of its mother, an eighty odd year old man was similarly proud of his granddaughter for some inane gestures, and almost none seemed to have any hint of an understanding that “pride” is largely a negative sentiment, which has replaced almost completely the need to experience a much nobler sentiment such as “gratitude”.

The grandpa must be grateful to Lord for giving him a granddaughter who is great, and the child of four cannot have any sentiment other than gratitude for a mother who is good. The child expresses its gratitude, -almost always without a pride- by way of celebration out of sheer love by various gestures. This love in spiritual realm called “bhakhthi”, is a sentiment where even the remotest sense of “pride” is absent.         

Without this humility- absence of pride- and a sense of gratitude, “realization” or finding a purpose to our lives – which is what religion and spirituality is about- is well-nigh impossible. We are all like a part of characters in a great movie, and the only audience is the “supreme spirit” which is a witness to every action of ours. The sole purpose of our “human life” therefore is to get to that “audience” stage and merge with that supreme spirit from where one can watch this movie without ever participating in it, unattached, unmoved, and in perpetual freedom and bliss, without a “duality” of experiencer and experience; something like a common salt and its salty nature, or sugar and its sweetness..  

One has however the choice to assume a free-will unto him-self and revel in this drama cooing all the time that “life is so beautiful” kind of false sense of comfort and knowledge, as unfortunately there are compromises galore here. A hero can turn into a villain, a comedy can turn into a tragedy, a beauty into an ugly apparition, all in a matter of a few moments when and if the producer desires, and all justified by an amazingly bewildering “cause and effect” paradigm, leaving a majority with constant doubts and unease.  

He then concluded thus; it is all very easy to discuss/analyze/ dissect and get intoxicated with the beauty of His creation/ our realization. The hard part is to translate it into practice and reach the ultimate “nirvana” stage which would appear at every step to be an unattractive pursuit as even apparently the “experience” would cease at that ultimate stage and notwithstanding the supreme spirit’s ever vigilant look-out for any spark and the overwhelming kindness to help you cross over.    

There was pin-drop silence followed by murmurs of dissent. A section of the guests felt that the Sadhu was actually taking a dig at all that was happening and had no business to do that. Though Kuber and Mohan understood the “Sadhu’s” message answering their unease about what it could have been for them in relation to Vivek, being not yet fully ripe, were at the moment beginning to get worried about the repercussions; they were the ones who wanted the “Sadhu’s” participation, to begin with after all.

Luckily the conference was at its fag end. Peace was soon restored, and with some brief vote of thanks, all dispersed for a high tea. Soon enough, the business was as usual…. Someone remarked that the “Show must go on….”.   

For both Kuber and Mohan, the “Sadhu’s” words carried a huge import. It was as if he was addressing them in particular, and wondering whether there was a message for them and contemplated a “handing over” their respective empires to deserving sub-ordinates. They also missed Vivek.

As a first step towards getting out they decided that they will seek the “Sadhu’s” guidance and reached his Ashram. The “Sadhu” on seeing them, - even before they could speak – said that once they are ready they can go to Vivek who is in Rishikesh waiting for them. Before they could recover from their pleasant surprise, the “Sadhu” added that they will find their pet Dharma also there.     

Almost instantly, both Kuber and Mohan felt a whole lot of sentiments overwhelming them. Their innate pride at all their secular achievements vanished, humility took roots even as they felt a swelling sense of gratitude when they realized that their friend Vivek has been an “audience” witnessing every action of theirs and was in fact waiting for them, followed by an enormous surge of Love/Bhakthi and found themselves in a celebratory mood telling the world about this coincidence.  

While Kuber decided to hand over his empire to his son, Mohan decided that he will pass on the reins of his spiritual Ashram to his most trusted devotee. They looked forward to meeting their friend Vivek even as they remembered what someone said in that “Global Meet”. The show must go on….. They were clear, that while they had no power to gag the show, they had full trust in their friend “vivek” to help them transcend this stage towards “freedom”.

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Ekalavya alias Vichu

Ekalavya alias Vichu