The only time we have is now

Welcome to Mohanji speaks.

Hello, my friends. Today, a very deep thought came to me, I was experiencing that for a long time; so I thought I would share that with you.

I’m quoting an old story and a very relevant story for our times and all times. 

A very successful, rich, and generous king was cursed, or he went through misfortune, and he became the keeper of a graveyard. Sometimes, misfortune strikes people so bad that a king can become a pauper. This happened to him. And this particular incident, which I’m talking is from the place where he was the keeper of the graveyard, and he was walking around the cremation ground where they have burned many bodies over time. There are many bones, including skulls lying around.

So he picked up one skull.

And he looks at it, and he thinks to himself, “This graveyard is the real school. Look here now; this skull belonged to a head, which somebody would have taken care of with a lot of attention by applying pastes and ointments to keep itself beautiful; to preserve the face, to remove the wrinkles of the face. And this is the same skull which was talking various great things to the world, and this is the skull, which carried great hair/mane which was probably brushed, washed and kept beautifully. The skull belonged to a young person or an old man or an old woman, a young woman, it doesn’t matter; it’s just a skull lying around in the burial ground. The owner of that skull might have spent hours maintaining it and finally discarded.”

This was the skull, which once roamed the world, to conquer the world, using his skills and intelligence. It was on a winning spree, or probably trying to conquer many aspects of the world, foolishly believing that everything will belong to him one day. And he may not have waited to know that nothing can belong to him. So, the King says, “Oh, my dear skull, I don’t know who you were when you were alive. But I understand all your aspirations have become ashes and you just became a skull.” 

It’s a very relevant truth that we must ponder.

We only have this time on Earth, just this time; we do not have another time. We don’t know whether we will be alive. And instead of pursuing glories, accolades, appreciation, so many different things which you can probably put on the wall or shelves; if we think, “I know my life is limited. I don’t know how many more breaths I will have. So, why not I give something to this Earth at this time.” This is the only time that we have.

We have not seen the future, and we don’t have the past. It’s done. This thought should happen. We must make ourselves as beautiful, as handsome as possible so that we can communicate what we have to communicate to the world. Life is the message; life is the lesson. Life is the only expression possible. 

Whatever we do, or whatever we perform during our waking hours, defines us, that tells the world who we are. We all have our individuality, our presence, power, purpose while being alive. Once we become the skull, we become another skull. Numerous skulls have merged with the Earth; Earth is a huge graveyard. And once we are gone, nothing ever matters. 

So, we need to think now.

Is it worth criticizing, judging, comparing, gossiping, maligning the spaces, people’s reputations, all those things, is it really worth it?

Live and let live because it’s a short life anyway. Sooner or later, we will all become those skulls.

No glory, nothing, what will remain?

Just what we have done, or we have delivered to the world, which has consistent value over generations. That’s why we remember Shirdi Sai Baba, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira and people like Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and numerous other people who have given something new and original to this world, even years after they died. What they delivered to the world was something which was beyond time. Otherwise, whatever time has created, the time has also dissolved, time creates and uncreates in time.

So, where is the room for pride and ego, and ownership of action, craving and attachment for possessions and positions, ownership over people, me and mine? I hope you’re able to see the foolishness behind all these while being alive.

After death, it’s all gone.

You don’t have them; everything vanishes, we become completely nullified.

I leave you with this thought. And I would just utter the lines from this poem about this King called Harishchandra. You can read about Harishchandra, through Google, you can search and find, and that tells the story. How a king became a pauper, and then, later on, he regained everything. He was tested, very, very bad. But he survived his test because of his honesty and truth. He never complained when he had to serve in the graveyard. He served as he would have served in the palace. That’s a story, but that you can read, I’m not explaining.

I’m just explaining the foolishness of our daily life, where we are proud of our possessions and positions, our accolades, and our appreciations that we receive, disappointments when we don’t get it, all those things are absolutely silly. I just wanted to give you this thought.

We’ll talk further.  Let me know if you have a question connected to this and we discuss further. 

In Malayalam, this song was very popular at one time.

It’s many, many years ago, almost 80 years ago probably. 

Thilakam chaarthee – that means adorning vermillion or sandalwood paste on the forehead.

Cheekiyumaazhakaay – that means well combed and well-groomed hair. 

Palanaal pottiya punnya sirasse, – Oh sacred head, which was well kept and well cared for many days. 

Ulakam vellaaan uzhariyanee yo, vilapidiyathoru thalayodaaayi – that means, are you the same face which was at one-time running and trying to conquer this world? Oh, you have become just an unwanted skull now. Are you the same face, which was a world conqueror at one time? But now you have become a useless skull, which nobody wants. 

I leave this thought on your plate. 

Have a great day. This is Mohanji for you.

Listen to an excerpt of the podcast here

Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt

Proofread by Rekha Murali

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