Infinite Learnings (contd..) - 3/3

PRELUDE :: Well, when Little Madhoo pestered me to tell a story today, I thought it is better to rely on Paulo's shoulders to give her a true classic learning about....about what a story is capable of and how much of learning can one get from just a page...

Alas....It was me who eventually learned !! Read through....

Dear All

I took lot of precaution to impart a quality time during this story telling expedition; Took care to just read the story aloud first asking her to listen it and then asked her if she understood it. She nodded and to my great relief and satisfaction reproduced the physical part of the story with minimum distortion which I could correct as and when she stumbled a bit....!!

Then to my question on what is the "message" of the story (please note it...it becomes MESSAGES when we learn after reaching adulthood; no more MORALS), she looked blank as I had expected....!!

Then with all my eloquence I tried to explain her that one sees him/herself thru' others.

To add further strength, I also reminded her the story some where in Mahabharath where Dharmaputra sees all good people around him while Dhuriyodhana could only identify them as evils.

My proud idea was to teach her by "connecting" - you know ??

Then came the first bouncer....

She started telling an incident at her school - on the prior day.
With some pride that she is beginning to connect a story with some real life aspect, I was dumb found to see how it eventually turned out to be....

It appears that when they were discussing names of flowers , one of her friend had used the word "Narcissus" but none in the group (including this particular friend) could explain what this word meant....!! Madhoo had mentally made a point to check the dictionary / google to understand it but just missed to see it thru'.
She was quite happy that the story was about "Narcissus" by coincidence....!!!

As Madhoo was excitedly telling this, my heart was breaking at the whole thing....
What should have been a "classic" learning is petering out to be a mere coincidence....
But then, I got a flash how things find its place - if we allow them to....!!

YES, it was a wonderful demonstration of the story - by itself....!!
Unable to see through the story and the add on explanations offered freely by me, Madhoo had seen only herself and what she wanted to know.....!!

Well, it was an Alchemy - in action - to me and perhaps.... to you too ??

Love // Suren

Ps:- Just to add that she understood the whole story much better when I explained the whole thing to her including how she unconsciously was behaving like a lake...!!

Infinite Learnings ....Contd.... (2/3)

The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had bought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.

The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. he was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which is called the narcassus.

But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.

He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

"Why do you weep ?" the goddesses asked.

"I week for Narcissus," the lake replied.

"Ah, it is no surprise that  you weep for Narcissus," they said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."

"But...was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked.

"Who better than you to know that ?" the goddesses said in wonder. "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself?"

The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said :
"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."

"What a lovely story," the alchemist thought.

from The Alchemist written by Paulo Coelho & translated by Clifford E.Landers

Infinite learnings......

The physical part of learning could be sequential but wise people clearly see that it essentially merges with infinite. There is a poetic justice in this ..... since any thing (including knowledge) which emerges from a timeless infinity is destined to merge back to the same source...isn't it ?

Well, I am sure you would have observed this - when we become adults, any new learning always become truly blissful because it becomes a pattern of connections in our brains - with unknown things getting connected with things that we know already. I used the adjective "blissful" because we become capable of enjoying even this process of learning too which we never would have appreciated those days when we "studied" in our earlier part of our life. (YES, Studies is a different world altogether....Learning starts much later)

As I ponder on this subject (I mean, the "learning" process), I can clearly understand there are more dimensions to it... An important aspect of learning is about enjoying the depth of it which of course is about the time element which is inseparable to our lives.
I mean, we seemingly understand some thing which takes a U turn with turn of some events that might happen ....and (hold your breath...) in course of further time, give us the realization that our original understanding was picture perfect.....!!

But then, there are two aspects to this clarity -

• We should not have solidified our earlier learning and be willing to re-look the past; 
• The first and the final learning - though might be similar - will never be the same...

 Well, As I had a glimpse of the date of the earlier posting made by me (which was Feb 2012) and today's date - it makes me wonder if it is really a healthy sign to start off with such an abstract (isn't it so clear still ??) musings after a space of one year....!!

With the turn of events around my earlier posting (marriage of niece) in this past 300 & so days, I am fully appreciative of the fact that silence is pregnant with more meaning and learnings - much more than and thru' the words spelled out....

But then, with my everlasting and craving need to speak and to share ("Vaarthai Thavam"), here I am trying to do the best with the finite words that we pick up from this vast AGANDAM....

Well, this was just  a prelude for my next two postings. Perhaps if you have not made out any thing from this one, I am sure you will understand it clearly after going thru' the next two postings.
In case you are patient enough, I would beg you to re-read this posting once again...Perhaps I might make sense !!

Yeah, Silence might be Gold....
but then
Speech is still Silver; Need not be scrapped altogether...

Warm Regards // Suren