Jesus Christ may not be the son of God in the sense of conception; in fact, that has never mattered much to me. What truly matters is that he was an enlightened person.
Preaching love amidst so much human misery and pettiness is not for everyone.
Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, abandoned family and wealth to beg and seek enlightenment at the age of 29. He is said to have achieved his goal at 35 after meditating for 49 consecutive days. I think that's all I must have read about Buddha.
I must have watched a movie about him too, but now I don't remember anything.
No, it was a movie about the Dalai Lama. Now I remember.
The creator of aikido also seems to have found enlightenment. I remember a video where the old man could push a bunch of men with a force that seemed to come from nowhere. It was impressive to watch.
There's a song by the Rollins Band about this too:
"At times I wish that I didn't know what I know now
Thought and thought until I lost my mind
Looked and looked until I went near blind
The path is fair but so unkind
Illumination" *
Enlightenment can come simply from contemplating the world, understanding how everything is tangled in an immense invisible web. Whether God exists or not hardly matters. The truly important questions no one asks, and I still don't know what they are.
Maybe if I had more time...
Enlightened people always appear happy; I don't think I've ever seen a picture of the Dalai Lama where he wasn't smiling.
How can one always smile in a world like this?
What's the secret?
They must know something we are very, very far from discovering.
Life is short, and I must have spent most of it without smiling. I try to smile now, but it comes out fake, forced, and silly.
How do you smile spontaneously?
I try to remember happy moments: My finger poking a birthday cake, playing with water guns with my brothers, getting my first puppy, finding a coin under my pillow after losing my tooth the day before, first-time sex, my brother teaching me to drive, spending my first paycheck on a David Bowie CD, completing my first sticker album, my sister telling bedtime stories, second-time sex, my grandfather's hug, picnic with Silvana, family trip with my parents and siblings, playing with my father in the hallway, my mother cutting my nails... And I smile.
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The italicized text is a passage from the song "Illumination" by Rollins Band.
YOU ARE READING
Drifting in the Space of Ramblings
Science FictionAn astronaut lost in space. Dying. Drifting. What will be the last things to pass through his mind before death?
