[Coelho's] Two Stories About Mountains: Contemplating The Desert

Contemplating the desert

Three people who were passing in a small caravan saw a man contemplating the sunset in the Sahara desert from the top of a mountain.

“It must be a shepherd who has lost a sheep and is trying to find it,” said the first.

“No, I don’t think he is looking for something, especially not at sunset - that confuses your vision. I think he is waiting for a friend.”

“I bet he’s a holy man looking for enlightenment,” commented the third.

They began to discuss what the man was doing, and got so involved in the discussion that they nearly ended up fighting with one another. Finally, to find out who was right, they decided to climb the mountain and ask the man.

“Are you looking for your sheep?” asked the first.

“No, I don’t have a flock.”

The Circle of Life: What is Acceptable and What is Not?

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I received an email containing a file with pictures of the sacred Tibetan burial ritual, the Celestial Burial.

Celestial burial refers to the Tibetan tradition of feeding the dead to vultures and other birds of prey on mountaintops. The body is first ripped open, mutilated, and then squashed with a large hammer to ‘soften’ – I forgot the exact term for this – the bones, before it was finally devoured by vultures.

It is closely related to the Buddhist practice in the Himalayan region. Buddhists believe in the recycling of life. The dead person's spirit is believed to leave the body upon death. His body is fed to the birds of prey as a final token of charity. (Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2006)

(SFX: ‘The Circle of Life’ - Elton John)

Some people may see this ritual as savage. Brutal. Primitive. Mean. Inexplicable. Someone told me that, even though he thinks the value/thought behind the ritual is good, the act’s still unacceptable.

I wonder.. Is it?

Interesting Facts

Here’s some random interesting facts I’ve gotten to know quite recently, over a few course of conversations with a few interesting characters.. =)

Indonesia’s spy agency is actually listed as one of the top 10 best spy agencies in the world. I forgot the exact rank. But if I’m not mistaken, we’re on the top 5 (Number one is of course Mossad). Wow.. I was really surprised when my friend – who’s a military freak – told me that. I mean, who would’ve thought?

‘Tara’ means star (from Sanskrit I think, or maybe Hindi, not sure..). Beautiful option for a name, which a friend of mine used for his pretty little daughter.

History crash-course! Islam was actually brought into our country by Chinese (via The Silk Road). And the Wali Songo are Chinese (well, at least half of them). Wow.. turned out we brought in something more than just noodles and wontons, huh?

Lessons and Reasons

It’s amazing how a painful experience could actually heal. Ever since I got that slap in the face, I felt my days are sunnier and my steps lighter. I can feel the fog lifting up slowly from above me and I’m not as gloomy as before.

I am accepting.

Now I can truly dance with joy as I walk through this path, stop to absorb the beauty of my surroundings, to smell the flowers, and to feel the warmth of the sun in my face.

Sure I may feel a little grief and sadness swept over me at times but it’s not as strong as it used to be. I know that I can truly feel happy for him if he had found his happiness – well, maybe slightly envious to the lucky queen -- but I will smile from my heart.

I’ve grown up a bit in a few days. All thanks to him.

Thank you for being the wind that brought the comforting breeze to my heart. Thank you for being the river that flowed through my dried heart. And thank you for being my butterfly. You rested briefly here in my heart, but your short sweet visit had opened up my eyes n taught me how to feel once again.

And I thank the universe for letting us cross each other’s path.

Nothing in this world is a coincidence. Everything that happened is simply inevitable. All things, good or bad, happen for a reason. And I think I’ve found my reason.

Slap!

I always thought I would be ready to hear it. But I guess I'm not. Im not strong. And these tears just refused to stop flowing. And this pain just refused to go away. I'm not ready. I guess I'll never be ready.

Slap me in the face. Wake me up with the pain. After that I'll walk away from this dream. After that I'll let go of the memories.

And so, when that day comes. Pray my tears for you have dried out. Pray I'll be strong enough to smile at you. Pray I'll truly feel happy for you.