“For the first time in my life, I was able to think. I do not mean
to think objectively or analytically, but rather to surrender thoughts to my
surroundings……It is then that the Eternal speaks, that the mutations of the
universe are apparent; the very atmosphere is filled with life and songs; the hills
are resolved from mere masses of snow, ice and rocks into something living…..”
Frank Smythe and five other mountaineers coming down from the ascent
of Kamet, had stumbled upon Nandan Kanan or Valley of Flowers in 1931. Later Frank
Symthe had returned alone to stay in the valley for six to seven months and
document the flowering species, a long enough time for him to be completely
overwhelmed by nature and its beauty.
I envy the likes of him, of explorers, of yogis, of travelers of
yore, who have seen and experienced nature like none of us will ever know now. For now we can catch just mere glimpses of a
deep sacredness or snatch moments of being completely alone – with yourself,
with nature, with the divinity. That deep sacredness in marred and in a few
decades will be forever gone. You may say that my soul has perhaps known this
very sacredness through the millennia that I have lived, so why the envy.
Yes, perhaps it was me, a warrior, standing on top of a craggy cliff
with the angry waves dashing below, looking longingly at the horizon wondering
where the horizon will lead him.
Perhaps it was me, a young prince with a restless soul riding hard
on his favourite horse, eastwards to the mountains, to quench an unknown
thirst.
Perhaps it was me, a yogi, walking alone in a field of grass feeling
the warmth of a golden sun; a feeling of happiness he had never known before.
So perhaps it is this sacredness, this connect with the eternal that
has been the thread connecting all my lives, what my soul seeks, and what makes
it worthwhile to even come back to again and again.
And that’s why it hurts the most when I see the elements desecrated.
I will perhaps come back, more out of
necessity than desire. But by then, the
eternal will stop speaking; life will be filled with the here and now
stretching on meaninglessly. And in
those every moments, there will always be that search for eternity. The sacredness of life will be forgotten and
the Soul will ultimately die.
Oneness – or Nirvana – either ways it will be.
