The Knots of Time
We go to bed and fall asleep every night without hesitation, expecting to wake up the following day. Why are we so confident that we'll ever wake up? And if we know that there's no certainty that we will, how would we live the remaining hours of the day now?
It could be a very morbid way of thinking about life: that sleep is no different from dying: we lose consciousness and we have absolutely no idea when or if we will wake up again. But yet, we do that willingly and even eagerly because the tired body yearns for rest.
While it is good to live today as if it is your last, such an intense way of looking at life could actually be very stressful. We come to think of time as an acutely limited resource and that infuses a sense of desperation into everything we do.
We can instead choose to see life as a fresh blessing which we receive every day. When we wake up in the morning, it is like being born anew. You have a chance to make good on things that you didn't do so well yesterday. To be able to breathe, walk and taste your morning coffee is already a miracle of existence--a privilege granted to you every morning when you wake up.
The human body is fragile and breaks down rapidly. What is worthwhile only lives on in memory and even that is ephemeral. Instead the real memory of your existence are your deeds--the karmic effect you have on the universe.
Everyone tries to make a mark in the world, in their own small way. But the best mark that one can make is one that doesn't leave any traces of oneself. That is the essence of karma yoga--selfless action. If you choose to hep someone, do not expect anything in return. Better still do it anonymously. That way, every action resolves itself without generating any fresh karma. Love is a continuous state of being, not an act of grandiosity.
Sounds like idealistic New Age mumbo jumbo? Perhaps. I write, I post, I move on. And hopefully, something gets resolved inside, Next week, there be other karmic knots to unravel, for life is a long thread with many knots. And living is but a process of untangling them. But let's take it one knot at a time.
