A GOD PLAYING THE FOOL


















Pic.: Natrajan Ramsubramani

“Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is there something called a ‘conscience’ in all of us?

Gandhi called it ‘the shrill voice within us’.

 I choose to believe, that each one of us is endowed with a conscience which helps us align ourselves to our ‘True North’ – the right path - every time we stray or falter along our way in life.

In my own case, I see that happening every day… and many, many times…

I see myself doing and saying things which heart of my heart would not like to do or say… but, I do, I say…

I argue and, in my anger, abuse others… sometimes, say ‘cheap’ things…

I see myself operating from insecurity and jealousy… try to demean others… pass judgments on them… try to portray them as villains…

I see myself driven by my ego…

I see myself being caustic and mean…

Though I do not take my hatred to extreme ends, I do experience hatred in my heart…

I do experience hurt and isolation, too.


“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience,” said Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Whenever I am overpowered by my lower self and behave in a way which my conscience does not approve – or later regrets – I console myself reminding that it is okay to falter in life as long as, I, guided by my conscience – the shrill voice or the inner compass –  realign myself on the course of True North…

If I can falter, others around me, too, can…

If, as Emerson pointed, I am a divinity in disguise, a god playing fool – yes, then, I must believe that my fellow being, too, is!


GERLAD D’CUNHA

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