THE FOUR SIGHTS

 




“Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except yourself.”

Gautama Buddha


 

It is difficult to believe, that Siddhartha, the prince, had not stepped out of his palace till he was 29. His father, the king, did not want Siddhartha to chuck everything and become an ascetic… So, the young prince was confined to the dreamlike opulent-life inside the palace – for every luxury the palace could offer.

But, then, what was feared came true… One day, the prince quietly went out to see what was going on in the real world… He first saw an old person, then a sick person, then a dead person, and, finally, an ascetic. As I said, at the outset, it is difficult to believe, that a 29-year-old married man, had not seen an old, a sick, a dead and an ascetic!

And, when he did, the life of prince Siddhartha was destined to become the life of the Buddha, an enlightened one!

You and I are not shielded inside any palaces… We have been ‘seeing’ the real world since the day we were born. We see the old, the sick, the dead and the ascetic at every step we take. Yet, we come home without allowing these ‘sights’ to affect us… We don’t worry about old age, sickness, death – and leave alone being ascetics. “Life is full of sorrow… The cause for this sorrow is our desire… The freedom from desire is detachment”… Come on, who want such an enlightenment?

The palace life is eternity. Heaven!





Some days ago, I had been to my hometown to see my Mom. After her fall in September 2021, her health kept deteriorating rapidly. Presently, she is totally helpless – unable to move, eat, talk, recognize and do any of her personal work. Franky, my elder brother, and Merlyn, his wife, take good care of Mom. When I saw this sight, I turned speechless… I remembered, how, as a young mother, Mom gave the same love and care for all her five sons… Every morsel of food, every sip of water, every lullaby, every story – and every trick in the book to tempt her babies to eat, drink, sleep – flashed before my mind… “Baba, havn kaun?” – “Baby, who am I?” …  When the baby  said, “Mai”, Mom danced with joy. Now, when I asked my 88-year-old Mom, “Mai, havn kaun?” – “Mom, who am I?” – there was just a blank stare, and my heart broke! When I saw how my elder brother and his wife tricked her to open the mouth to feed, I remembered how Mom tricked her five babies… Vivek, my younger brother, tried to tease Mom (even though she wouldn’t understand it), saying, “Mai, tuka manga karthat”… “Mom, they are monkeying you (tricking you)”!

That’s how the babies grow to become the adults… That’s how the princes become the kings… the princesses become the queens. But, all babies, princes and princesses do not see the ‘four sights’ which Siddhartha had seen, the day he had ‘slipped’ out of his palace…






The palace life is eternity, you see. Heaven.

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic's.: Pixabay

 

Video: Colors TV

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