Friday, September 18, 2009

Monsoon Magic.

It was 31st August, I was walking toward my home, deeply lost in my thoughts, when I saw two men in the corner of a farm. “The clouds are here” said one farmer to another. Both of them looked toward the sky, one of them drew a fistful of mud from the ground below, raised his fist high above his head and released the mud. Both curiously studied the shape created by the falling mud, “it will start raining in 20 minutes” the second farmer said to the 1st. They smiled triumphantly, looked toward the ground and said a silent prayer of gratitude.

I always thought that prayers are said looking toward the sky, this deviation made me very curious. Acknowledging my presence and curiosity, the older one said “We all look toward the sky and believe that beyond all those beautiful clouds lies an all powerful intelligence that guides our lives and determines our fate. But why do we, especially the city bred people, prefer to believe in something that far away? Why not look at something that’s right before our eyes, the very manifestation of the miracle?”

Saying this, the wise old farmer walked away, and I was left wondering …“Why not look at something right before our eyes… what was he exactly referring to…?”

I recalled having read the Gaia Theory which postulates that the Earth is a self directing, self regulating living organism. I also recalled that a lot of Pagan societies are known to have worshipped the Earth as the Goddess of Life & Fertility. The Earth was revered as the Mother, a living throbbing deity who attracted all good things to her children – Rain, Water, Sun, Soil and life – a Miracle. Similarly, the Upanishads also place the Earth on the pedestal of a Goddess. It is remarked that time is a horizontal concept, and that all that has happened and will happen – has already occurred. The passage of time stands for nothing but our movement through the space. This movement is regulated and controlled by the Earth (more on this in the next article J). It is remarked that the Earth, like a true mother, guides her children through the cosmic soup called the universe.

“Mother Earth”, I mused even as it started to rain. I took out my umbrella (which in itself was a manifestation of a miracle that I had remembered to carry it!! J) … “Our mother bears us in her womb for 9 months…. There is another Mother – Mother Earth. Who never lets us out of her womb… she uses gravitation to keep all her children close to her warm heart. We were connected to our mother through our navel; we are connected to this mother through our feet. She gives energy to the very people walking right across her body, and gets them to sleep on her lap when they need rest. She attracts all good things to her children; she conspires with the universal intelligence to create the illusion of time lending meaning and substance to our life…”

“There is, beyond those big heavy clouds, the all powerful God. But, down here we are in physical contact with a magical reality… Earth, the manifestation of the Holy Mother…” . I become conscious of the sublime and silent presence of the Mother below my feet, and get overwhelmed… Looking down toward the Mother, I throw my umbrella away, close my eyes and bask in the warmth of the cold rain…




* Inspired, inter alia, by one of Paulo Coelho's books.