maya-1

THIS IS THE FIRST PART ........

Lokesh the pure sat at the steps of the temple contemplating.....he was there to oversee the distribution of alms to the everyday temple beggars...but his mind was elsewhere....being the devout temple priest he always knew that just the chanting of mantras mechanically will not lead to any salvation...all it will lead to is a simple life with no frills.....but he really wanted to experience the 'unspeakable bliss' that the books always refer to...the greatest experience that any human can ever have in his life...the point of no return........ where having attained that state...the greatest of thrills of the world appear to be partly child's play....he always knew he wanted that....even when he was a kid it was always the tallest tree,the farthest fruit that appealed to him.......ever since he was initiated to the brahmanic rituals through a ceremony...and was made to shave his head and tie the top-knot...he always knew his place was among the greatest of gurus...the stalwarts of spirituality..............

he was found to be sharp at the 'gurukul' ,the place where brahmins from poor families send their children in the hope that they would live a respectable life of culture and decent income
....had an uncanny ability to remember sanskrit shlokas....and great in interpretation and analysis of vedic scriptures....

but now there was a splinter in his mind...a single word which was giving him sleepless nights...he was amazed at the hold of that word over him...a word which symbolized a concept which was so subtle that if you blink you will miss it.
and Lokesh had blinked........

lokesh the pure set out.....bundled his clothes and a few meagre belongings .
"god bless his soul" said the head priest.
"he has finally realized that he is made for big things...he has finally reached the stage of vairagya- renunciation"
Was he really setting out for renunciation-lokesh didnt know..but he was sure that he could no longer face the daily grind of the temple puja and the day to day monotony of this life.he wanted to seek.he wanted freedom.he wanted peace......and of course there was that word...........


lokesh the pure roamed the forests of god knows which part of india..subsisting on wild berries and alms from the villages.....drinking water only from the rivers and the streams.....sleeping on the bare earth....and meditating under the shade of the trees......even though it was a hard life....it was not at all adventurous but he was satisfied...finally he was living a life he wanted to live...... but whenever he was eating or walking or doing anything other than meditating....the word bothered him.............................................

the definition was no headache really-it meant 'illusion'.what was not real.what was just a sham......but it still puzzled him.how can the world be unreal.how can it be just an illusion..................

it was a hot april afternoon...and his agony over the word reached a frenzy...probably accentuated by the hot lava of the blazing sun......his head started swirling...and he collapsed under a peepal tree...........