THE IDOL WORSHIP





The idol
Does not become sacred
Even if I pour the choicest of the milk –
And barrels of it -
Yes, even if I do it
From dawn to dusk...
And, for years.
Nor will my mantras,
Even if I chant them
Without taking a solitary breath,
Make me a holy man...
Yes, even for a solitary moment.


Last night, I suddenly realized
That I was telling someone –
“I love you, I love you”,
For too long a time
Without even breathing…
And suddenly,
I felt I must stop chanting my mantras,
I must stop pouring the milk…
I must breathe!


And when I did,
The idol looked so majestic, so sacred…
Yes, for the first time -
After a million desperate attempts
To express my reverence to it.
I gathered my courage and told the idol:
“I have no milk to pour on you, today…
I have no mantras to chant for you…
I want to breathe…
After a long, long time.”


“Fool,” I heard the voice behind the idol:
“Pouring milk was your idea
Of making me sacred;
I am sacred, any way,
Even without your barrels of milk.”
Before I could allow that to soak me,
I heard the voice telling me more:
“Chanting mantras was your belief
That you would turn holy;
I can see your holiness
Only when your heart is still…
No, not when you are lost in a daze.”


“I love you” -
Are not just three words…
They are three ‘Worlds’ –
Mine, Yours and God’s!


I can feel my heart beating…
Beating as I breathe…
As your image fades…
As the ‘Idol Worship’ ends…
And , as I really learn to love you.




GERALD D’CUNHA

THANKS:
The image used in this Post is by Ashok Ahuja. He is a professional Photographer and a very dear friend of mine. He is also one of the founder members of The Dawn Club, and, along with his gifted-artist wife, Sudha, has been helping me, and the Club, right from its inception.





Comments

Anonymous said…
Brilliantly moving... Full of life, throbbing with it!

Hats off, Gerald!

- Nimita
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Nimita,

Glad u liked it so much...

And yes, even I liked it immensely!!

Keep reading and commenting.

Love,

Gerald
VIMMI said…
Love is what when we drop what is not!

I like this post as it is a big eye-opener!!!

Thanks a ton.

Vimmi
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Vimmi.
Yes, when we drop what is not love... Love is what there!

Love,

GERRY
Niranjan said…
Beautiful!!! The Sufi-kind!!!

Thank you, Gerry.

Niranjan
sonal said…
True to every word...we keep on pleasing God in different ways...We forget that he is divine....purity and not materialistic is magic mantra here....how many of us really pray...we go to temples to far off places but seeing the queue, we too get in mad rush to touch his feet...how many of us really see Deity..the real test is when we can visualize the idol from head to toe and vice versa....if we can...then surely we have touched idols feet and gained his blessings.....
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Yes Niranjan, it has a Sufi-touch!

Life has a Sufi-touch!

Life is beautiful!!

Thanks,

Love,

GERRY
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Hey Sonal, the comment is a real commentary on how we worship and pray!

Excellent, full of depth. Do keep writing. And I am not just flattering!

Did u miss the point, by the way, Sonal?

"How do I love another?"

Love,

GERRY
sonal said…
thank you for your kind words....I am sorry but kindly put a little more depth into "how do I love another"
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Sonal, pl read today's post - "The School Of Love".

I have, sure, touched upon this subject.

Love,

Sir

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