Some Drop Out Half-Way
I thought that each bud would grow into a flower and all of the flowers would last forever. I thought that the rosebuds covering our lands would always remain fresh, and the crops growing in our fields always grow abundantly! I thought that the shoots which sprouted after the long winter would reach eternal spring through the efforts of great men of suffering and remain fresh forever.
I thought that the moon and the sun would always continue to follow each other on my horizon, and that the sky of my country would never witness an eclipse of either sun or moon.
I thought that whoever had awaited the spring for years would not retire into hibernation when the signs of spring appeared. I thought that they would not turn back without drinking the water of life after they had met Khidr.
I thought that the members of our community, who have been taken in thousand of times, would no longer be deceived and surrender to other deceptions by the same cheats.
I thought that each one of us who has been revived spiritually would remain active and alive, and never suffer illnesses, and that the ethos around him would spread the scent of revival. The wooden boards upon which the dead are washed would crack because of disuse, I thought, that things which are applied to the dead like musk and camphor would no longer be needed. I thought that spiritual death would no longer occur.
I thought this community of sincere, altrustic men, which set out to serve under the threat of death like the Apostles, would never join those who desired to crucify Jesus. I thought wealth, fame and position would not make them go astray to change their path, and that mean things would not seduce them, and they would always have the same high thoughts in their minds and the same songs on their lips. I thought they would lead their lives with the same propriety.
I thought that this army of godly men, who made a covenant with the Creator to stop the suffering of the oppressed and to silence the tyrants, would never side with the oppressors. I thought they would never belittle their past and separate from it for the sake of transient pleasures or for the sake of remaining undisturbed. I thought that devotion to our spiritual roots would become stronger and stronger, and that our ideals would never be abandoned. I believed our manners would never change. Like pure rivers flowing into seas, our lives would renew themselves. I thought paths and channels leading in different directions would unite at the point where roads lead to infinity.
I thought that the different characters would eventually form a heavenly unity like a rainbow and others would willingly join this unity.
I thought love of pleasures and fondness for comfort would never take hold of this community, and that they would always remain pure and humble. That they would never be seized by the luxury and extravagance which have eaten up previous civilizations.
I thought that the members of our community would be content with the friendship of the One, to whom they have given their hearts. I thought that they would always seek His approval without desiring to satisfy the wishes of others, that, saying 'God is enough, the rest is empty desire', they would carry on.
They think they can gain the approval of those who are their permanent enemies by changing in thought and in behaviour. Alas, they do not realize how they mortgage their spirits and blind their hearts by doing so.
They believe that they can gain weight for their words and opinions by sympathizing with their opponents. They seek to gain favour with their enemies by having painted and decorated ceilings, tablecloths with silk threads, satin bed-linen, and polished floors. They do not realize that they will only expose themselves to ridicule thereby.
They believe that lightness in their behaviour, and triviality in their thoughts and their aspirations, will cause others to love them and that they will therefore attract others to their way of thought. They do not realize that they themselves unconsciously join their enemies and lose their own identity thereby.
We are about to live a new spring. The earth is pregnant with trickles of water, seeds move with germinating life, as also do snakes with poison. We shall see who is on the side of the spring and who of winter. Who will go after bargains and who will dive deep to search for coral. Who will boast about their easy-to-lose possessions and who will go beyond themselves and the world, attaining to eternity. We all shall see. We shall see who will melt away like wax in the face of the transforming power of the world, and who can change the turning of this pitiless wheel....
Time will show which of us shall be victorious in his struggle.... Apr 1982, Vol 4, Issue 39
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