Tsunami dilemmas

BY VASANTHA RAJA

1

On a clear sunny morning, on a quiet Boxing Day
A tropical sandy beach where children happily play;
Disaster suddenly came, when giant Tsunami waves
Mercilessly gobbled up everything along their way;

A helpless single mother, grabbing two kids in one hand
Fighting losing battles with vengeful waves gone mad;
To save at least one kid, only one thing she could do:
She dropped one from her loosening grip of hand

The drowning little boy's dreaded stare fixed on hers
Heartbreaking memories, to haunt her like a curse;
Once the waves are gone, her delicate faith in ruins,
Defied God in anger, for her unanswered prayers

She said: "Either He's not almighty, in which case He's not God
Or He's not compassionate, in which case He's not God
And without both, God isn't God; has Tsunami killed God too?
Someone help me reach sanity, and make sense of my Lord."

2

An aging Guru with a beard so white
In his kindness saw her plight
Thought of coming to shed some light
And drive her torment out of sight

Be a little patient, O' young lady
Purpose of Universe not so crazy
Once you grasp its meaning clearly
All your worries would melt away gently

Causally determined 'general plan';
Particular events though not so planned;
Wandering souls that learn and scan;
A journey through lives - a Karmic plan

Imperfect, contradictory universe of ours
Meant to be in flux with opposing powers
For the needs of self-evolving souls to hover,
Universe is a temporary material cover

Universe is a school where souls freely learn;
Conflicting values for Reason to discern;
Good, evil, beauty, ugly, pleasure and pain
Confronting souls on personal/social plane;


Constant breakdowns tearing our lives
Smashing the routine that goes on for a while
Dramatic changes - often blessings in disguise
Opening unseen paths for souls to learn and thrive

A training ground for souls - that are meant to care
Slowly, but surely become self-less and fare
Beauty of a place beyond - they'd qualify to share
That's the task the universe is destined to bear

Conscious turn to the real goal,
Not so easy for many a soul
Life to life, through birth to birth,
A learning process towards mirth

Stopgap selfhoods of interim lifespan
Seeing as substantial - the delusion of man
Burden of self-centred egos of lifespan
Defeat that to grasp soul's universal plan

Ignorance of the goal - greed, envy, jealousy
Root-cause of suffering - ego-centric fallacy
Caring just for one's own - training sessions only
The unswerving aim should be universal mercy

Make no robots, make no golems - that's the designer's wish;
With their conscience creative minds should always act as they wish
Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - that's the source of free-will;
Producing souls - souls of the saints - that's the designer's wish

Death is just a comma, my lady, not a terminal end
A temporary break from one life to another - new setup to befriend;
A screen to hide old structures from the burgeoning new trends
Presenting fresh chances for the nomadic souls on the mend

Events and people once plagued your mind may now seem rather futile
Ever-changing bonds and links, without substance, will end up futile;
But the mind you cultivate, by means of your bonds - a task really worthwhile
For, the knowledge and wisdom, stemming from them, will always be fertile

A finite Universe designed to plan,
Fifteen billion years ago it sprang
A unique beginning with a Big Bang;
Hurling matter and energy to a plan

Systemic rising of finely balanced forces;
Biological information, causing life's courses
Appropriately unleashing DNA doses
Determining evolution's neatly chosen sources


DNA, while configuring the general type of species,
Individuals having for themselves unique DNA theses
Harmonising Universals with Particulars in synthesis;
Not the blind outcome of Matter-in-motion's service

Call it Nature call it God - that is not the main question;
Role of Intelligence in the Universe is the central question
'What about other Big Bangs - before and along with ours?'
A lot there must've been for sure; but that is not the main question

True, matter-in-motion dominate the Childhood of Evolution
But, soon life and Reason rise to outshine matter-in-motion
Dogmatic axiom: Matter as the Absolute; that's the Materialist version
What came second must be the image of the First: the purpose of the Creation

Universal energy appearing forming different modes of mind
Modelling modifying refining life-forms - like in a 'production-line';
Performing different deeds triggering feelings of pleasure and pain;
Constantly changing mind's vision by changing its bonds and kin


3


Era of the great big reptiles is The Age of the Self-Centred Mind
Solitary eggs that hatched and survived; a mind of different kind
Self-care, a necessary step for the next step: The Age of Caring Mind
When mammals of milk-suckling offspring, began the caring kind

Man on the earth marked a leap in the mindsets
A new kind of setup for compassionate mindsets
Social beings born to socio-political life-nets
All that in addition to the migrating mindsets

Re-born mind of the travelling soul - not a 'tabula-rasa'
It's a spiritual 'DNA' that brings-in past like a visa
Each of life's chapter-potential determined like a drama
Mind with free-will enrich new acts accumulating karma

Road to perfection, road to liberation, souls have different pace
Set to reach an identical goal for the ending of a very long race;
Society's eventual righteous equality will fit souls' maturing grace
Making it easy for the souls to attain the stage they're supposed to trace

4


Conscious grasp of the main Goal - that's the crucial call
Here occurs a paradigm shift, transcending all other goals;
The souls metamorphose into saints - that's the Bodhisatva's role
The conscious journey to enlightenment - that's the ultimate pole

Souls on The Path have an important duty
Help those who suffer see The Path firmly
'Social/personal struggles' have one purpose only
Guiding souls to qualify for a place so saintly

Nirvana or heaven - misty glimpses from the earth;
Probably not like anything we experience on earth;
Perhaps opposites of aging, decease pain and death
Love, Beauty and Creativity - the gist of its wealth

The single mother listening to the Guru patiently
Holding her little child, stood up so firmly
Passing stilly mountains with serene beauty calmly
They followed Guru's steps to an Ashram so heavenly

v.raja@btinternet.com



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