Dearest Darling friends,

This guy Mandbuddhi was in a tearing hurry. He was inside the jungle. There were thorny bushes, uneven jagged ground, bulging rocks, unsuspecting turns, dense plants, low hanging branches, all acting as impediments in his way.

He was walking fast. Every now and then he was increasing his speed. As he was increasing his speed, he was stumbling and falling. He was getting hurt. He was already bruised. Some more new bruises would appear. He believed the jungle was conspiring to hurt him, to hunt him. With every obstacle his anger and frustration was increasing.

Without waiting to heal or tend to his wounds, he just carelessly moved ahead. Sometimes he heard a small voice inside his head telling him, ‘What’s the hurry? Slow down. Be careful’

He would pause for a few moments. Suddenly fear would permeate every cell of his being. He would be scared. Will he be left behind in the race? He did not want to lose as he hated and feared losing. He would increase his pace and stumble again, hurt himself again. Once again he would be bruised.

He would curse the menaces in his path. He would curse the forces that have put these menaces in his path. He would curse the people who have walked this path but haven’t removed the menaces.

He had imagined riches at the end of this journey. His ambition and greed drove him. His fear and common sense both did their best to stop him but could never succeed for long. As he continued in his journey, he was not understanding if he was making genuine progress or not. Sometimes he felt he was lost, he was meandering. But, since he had already come a long way, he decided to plod ahead anyway.

There was blood oozing from his palms. However, he did not heed. Maybe he did not even know he was bleeding. His clothes were torn. Still he did not heed. Maybe, he did not know his clothes were torn. His face had multiple scratches. Still he did not heed. Maybe, he did not know his face was so scratched.

There was actually a simple solution by which he could have spared himself this agony. People around him, people who crossed his path, his well-wishers who were on their own destination but who could see him…all of them shouted out the simple solution too. He still paid no heed. He knew what they were saying made a lot of sense but he still did not pay any heed.

Arre…..I think I have forgotten to mention to my darling readers that Mandbuddhi was blindfolded. Mind you, he was not blind, merely blindfolded. If he had taken off the blindfold, he could have actually SEEN the way things were. He could have actually avoided so many hurts, bumps, scratches, wounds and loss of precious blood too.

Why did he not do it? I mean, why did he not take off the blindfold? Actually the answer is stupid. The answer however is true.

According to Mandbuddhi, the reason was…..since he was in a hurry….he had no time to remove the blindfold !!! Since removing the blindfold would definitely take a few minutes, since he wanted to reach before others, he thought the time taken to remove the blindfold would have been such a waste.

Everybody was indeed telling him to remove it. Everybody could see his pain and discomfort. Even Mandbuddhi felt and understood the path was so tough and rough with the blindfold. Sometimes even he felt it will be wise to remove the blindfold. He even paused a few times to remove it. But then laziness crept in and without moving it, he started to move again.

It was such a tragedy.

So is our case. We do not exercise saying we do not have time. We do not stand to enjoy the beauty around us saying we do not have time. It is such a phenomenal saying, “Only those who know how to appreciate the beauty of life, are educated.”

We do not share enough precious thoughtful moments with our loved ones delaying it out of laziness saying we will do it when we have appropriate or enough time. We do not clean our emotional baggage with meditation, we do not heal ourselves with natural remedies saying we do not have enough time. I know of enough people who do not go for a holiday for they do not have enough time. We do not meet and cuddle our parents, yes indeed cuddle our parents for we do not have enough time. We do not indulge in spiritual practices for we say we do not have time. Some people do not maintain proper accounts nor submit it to the Income Tax department on time for they do not have enough time. I can go on and on and on citing various reasons and various ways by which we avoid time for the most necessary things and people.

The world belongs to those who can confidently say I have all the time required for ALL the important things in my life. The world indeed belongs to those who do not postpone the necessary things of work and joy, out of mismanagement and/or laziness.

Have you removed your blindfold yet? Did you have the time? Or are you too struggling in the jungle of life bruised, hurt, angry and frustrated and enough other negative thoughts and emotions as company, just like Mandbuddhi or…

Let me know your thoughts…

With love, prayers and best wishes,