| [the world of no lies]
Prologue
Bodisat lived a life of
happiness in a heavenly bird sanctuary within a great forest. This
isolated forest, named Nirani, lay within tropical clime, on some large
island just off a formidable mainland. The weather was always mild with
little variation throughout the year. The seasons changed with little
notice and this is why it was called the land of eternal spring.
Bodisat sported a fine plumage with bright colors of yellow and
red, and blackish eyes that accented his prominent beak. He lived in a
fine society of elegant birds who sang their time away and abided in a
most affluent lifestyle. From a tender age, he had learned the many arts
of singing in varied melodies and tunes, and dancing and flying in lofty
styles. His life seemed perfect and happy and carefree. Never a hint of
distress or worry … only a faint presence of some mysterious sorrow,
of which the elder birds wished not to speak.
Bodisat would grasp the faint presence of this taboo at odd
moments, but he could not understand enough to inquire, nor were any of
the elders willing to discuss. They simply taught the young birds that
life in their world was the best of all worlds, and never was there any
life more desirable than that to be had in their world, and that was
that. After all, they were the elders, and they were the wisest beings
in Nirani, and this was known beyond a doubt.
When the lord of the night waxed to a full white circle, it was
custom that all birds, both young and old, to stay up late into the
night and hear stories of the ancestors. The elders would speak tales of
the ancients of Nirani and their many exploits. Some young fledgling
would invariably ask what had happened to the ancients, and the elders
would retell the antiquated doctrine of Nirani, of the ancients and the
departed elders, of how they all traveled in great celestial aeroplanes,
up to the great forest in the stars, to that place in the cluster of
stars that circles about the one star - the one star that abides forever
in the middle of the night sky.
Although many birds had heard this tale many times, all birds
would enjoy how the young birds delighted in hearing it for the first
time. Yet it seemed that Bodisat noticed more and more that the older
birds exhibited less and less enthusiasm in the hearing of the tale. He
saw but faint hints of cynicism on their faces, when this tale was aired
about. Bodisat surmised intrigue. Was there something veiled from the
eyes of the young? Something too forbidding to be explained away by
tedious lectures and antiquated doctrines? What was this secrecy? He
wondered this on many a star filled night.
When the lord of the night waned to a thin sliver and then
disappeared, it was a time for the head elders to go alone to the sacred
hill. From the top of the sacred banyan tree, they would sit throughout
the night and gaze into the dark sky, as the great wheel of stars
circumambulated the one star. They fixed their vision upon the cluster
of seven stars that circled the one star and sang hymns to the departed
ancients for the length of the night. Others were forbidden to
participate in this ritual, especially the youth, who would never dream
of going to the sacred banyan tree on the night of the dark lord. Yet
Bodisat has always been a sort of maverick in the crowd, and he did
follow one night and hid nearby to hear the chanting of the hymns to the
forefathers.
Scene
1
World of lies
Bodisat crept up behind
a tree, to see a gathering of birds in a nearby copse, beneath this huge
Banyan tree. He stealthily approached the scene and hid behind a trunk
of the Banyan, expecting to see some of the elders boarding a celestial
airplane, and preparing to ascend to the heavens. That is what they
always said. This was his world - as was told.
But what he saw -
certainly bewildered him. There, an elder lay on the ground, unmoving.
Bodisat never knew or seen anything like this. He didn’t know what to
make of it.
‘Perhaps he’s
sleeping, and they will wake him soon,’ thought Bodisat. He watched as
they all gathered about the sleeping elder, trying to lift him from the
ground.
‘What is this I see?
What’s the pile of tree slag and braches doing there? What is this?
Now they lift the sleeping elder and … and they place him on top of
the timbers! What is this? They are igniting the pyre with flame!!’
The slag quickly ignites
into a huge bonfire and Bodisat watches in revulsion to see the elder
bird consumed in flame. Bodisat watched - as the body and timber turns
to ashes - and smoke gathers into the night sky, obscuring the stars.
Bodisat stood petrified,
his world suddenly devastated. “It’s all a lie, my whole world is a
lie … what is this place? And just … who are we?” Bodisat
whispered this into the air, as if imploring someone out there to please
tell him why.
‘They lied,’ Bodisat
thought, ‘The ancients don’t ascend to heaven. They become
motionless and are then fed to the flames … reduced to ashes. This is
the ‘real world,’ not the fables they tell us. Now I know why the
older birds become morose when they enter into the priesthood. That’s
when they are told the truth. And I remember that day a young bird
became motionless, and they hurriedly took him away, never to be seen
again. They told us some story of how he was called to the heavens
sooner than the others. Now I know - how the older birds become
motionless, they cease to exist. This is the truth of the world.’
“I must find the dream
world of my youth again,” he said out loud, as if expecting another to
hear. “A world of no bonfires and disappearance. There has to be a
world that stays forever. I shall leave this falsehood and search for
the place - that lasts. I won’t live here … here in the world of
lies.”
Right then he heard a
faint voice say, from somewhere off in the distance, “Yes, a lie …
ah, but you don’t know the half of it.”
Bodisat whirled around,
saying, “Who said that?” - but saw nothing, there was only silence.
He considered that perhaps his mind was playing tricks, and shrugged it
off, and then started to the west, not knowing where he was going …
but knowing he had to find a better world.
Once in a while he would
see something flickering - from the corner of his eye - a quick movement
… and since the anatomy of birds already gives a wide peripheral
vision - being that eyes are situated on both sides of the head - giving
a panorama view - still this phantom was on the edge of his vision, and
he would suddenly turn - but nothing was there. Bodisat scratched his
head, and thought, ‘seeing things, hearing things … who is playing
tricks with my mind?’
Then, he moved behind a
huge tree and quickly circled about the truck, and peered around the
edge, and caught the culprit flitting from one foliage hiding place to
another! Bodisat jumped out and surprised the trickster, by exclaiming,
“Ah-ha, caught you … you cheat!”
“Ok, the game is
up,” confessed the little bird, “You caught me.”
“Why are you following
me?” demanded Bodisat.
“Because you want
something.”
“How do you know?”
replied Bodisat. “Ok, you hear me talking to myself about living a
lie, and I got to find another world - where nobody disappears. They
told us lies. But, how can you give me truth … when, you’re just
another bird in the world of lies. And a small bird at that.”
“Yes, well, I just
know - let that suffice for now - and I was sent by those who KNOW.”
“Well, who is this -
whoever sent you?” pressed Bodisat.
“You will find out,
soon enough, it will give you happiness - and you will hear of the
crooked ways of the world - and the goal of all that exists.”
“The inner guide?”
put Bodisat.
“It is HE, the all
pervading - yet localized ONE.”
“This - I don’t
understand.”
“You won’t for a
long time - meanwhile come with me now - they sent me here for this
purpose - to bring you to the isles. Please come with me and meet the
outer guides - and hear of the world of lies and illusion. You will find
it quite entertaining … and it will make you laugh … and lament as
well.”
Bodisat looked at his
friend for a long contemplative moment - as trust gathered in his heart
- nodding his head … they abruptly flew to the west, small bird in the
lead.
Scene
2
[skipping some scenes -
such as Bodisat and Chitti, [the small bird] arrive at the main island,
and [description of isle] meet Bhatti, the head priest.]
Bhatti stood with a
pensive look, garbed in long robes, surrounded by many ministers and
servants. When he saw Bodisat and Chitti, his face beamed with
excitement.
"Welcome to the
isle of understanding. Here we discern truth by the age-old art of
storytelling. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion
for the welfare of all. Everywhere we look, sentient beings are
constantly endeavoring to separate those two elements which are always
diametrically opposed to each other - that which is real - and that
which is illusion. This is the primary pastime of everyone in the world
- here in the world of lies."
"Oh bard! Entertain
us with some relevant witticism."
Therein, the stork,
named Vipracitra, donned his scholarly hat.
Chitti whispers to
Bodisat, "Sometimes this bard wears a fool's hat, and plays the
part of a jester."
The bard cleared his
throat and worked his beak and recited in beautiful meter;
"Go,
Soul, the body's guest,
Upon a thankless arrant:
Fear
not to touch the best;
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go,
since I needs must die,
And
give the world a lie,
Tell
zeal it wants devotion;
Tell love it is but lust;
Tell
time it is but motion;
Tell flesh it is but dust:
And
wish them not reply,
For
thou must give the lie."
Bhatti then gave a nod,
a signal to the bard, which meant that was enough for the time being,
and bard made his bow and melted back into the circle.
"Very nice,
bard," said Bhatti. "So, Bodisat, oh, would you mind if we
called you Bodi?"
Bodi nodded in
agreement.
"You search for a
world of truth," continued Bhatti, "well, you can count your
lucky stars, you've came to the right place."
"I'm looking for
that world where no one disappears into ashes," said Bodi.
"We will get to
that later," said Bhatti, "all in good time. First you should
calm your mind - take some fruit and fine edibles, and tune into the
beauty all around you - allow yourself to enjoy some entertainment,
relax and listen to some of our storytelling. The truth will unfold by
increments.
"First we must
understand whom "they" are, and then we will understand whom
"we" are, and what this "place" is, and the cosmic
forces of "time" which rules us all, down to the tiny ant.
"Our seven isles,
and your homeland of Nirani, are in a very small and tiny corner of the
universe ... we are so isolated, and there's a whole wide world out
there, much bigger than ours ... suta!"
Chitti whispered to
Bodi, "what the sutas are, well, - sutas are 'singers of exploits'
or storytellers, and here was the 1st of many stories.."
Gunabhadra, the suta,
told-
"There was once a
frog who had lived all his life in a well. One day a friend visited him
and informed him of the existence of the Atlantic Ocean.
"Oh, what is this Atlantic Ocean?" asked the
frog in the well.
"It is a vast body of water," his friend
replied.
"How vast? ls it double the size of this
well?"
"Oh, no, much larger," his friend replied.
"How much larger? Ten times the size?"
In this way the frog went on calculating. But due to
his small understanding of the far reaches of the great ocean and the
great world outside himself, he could not fathom the depths of the
ocean. The frog was always thinking in terms relative to his well."
"So,"
continued Bhatti, "as I was saying, who are they? Out there in the
wide world, there are these creatures - called 'human beings. 'bard!'
What is a man?"
Simhasana chanted....
"A man lives in the
city of nine gates, and these nine gates include two eyes, two ears, two
nostrils, one mouth, a genital and a rectum. When the nine gates are
clean, he is enlightened in spiritual life. He has got life - the soul
is there - similarly all other beings have souls ... plants, trees, then
insects, flying insects, then birds, then four-legged beasts, so many,
then two hands, two legs, the gorillas...," [develop more later?]
Bodi gets a blank look
on his face, and glassy look in his eyes.
... Meanwhile some
servants hold up a caricature picture showing the burgeoning bulk and
grotesque appendatures of legs and arms and pot belly and beard and so
on....
Bodi gawks at the crude
visage of the human man, and is astonished and shudders with feelings of
repulsion. "I never knew such animals exited!" he said.
"Bravo! Hear hear!
Thank you Simhasana," said Bhatti, "and now Bodi, yes, your
island of Nirvana is very much isolated, so you were not taught of the
humans. So, what is a man? Well, he's supposed to be the most
enlightened, more intelligent than birds and animals ... but ... in this
age of Kali, everything is topsy-turvy, it's all upside down. Bard!"
Simhasana chanted....
As the age of Kali
progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities
increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant,
replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway
bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and
all the social classes become just like sudras. All cows become like
goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and
family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of
marriage.
When the age of Kali has
almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will
appear in the village Sambhala, in the home of the exalted brahmana
Visnuyasa, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse
Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth
killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the
next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet
Brhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the
lunar mansion Puñyä, Satya-yuga will begin.
This all had Bodi's head
spinning.
"Thank you
Simhasana, and so - in Kali-yuga," Bhatti continued, "men are
two-legged animals - less than animals sometimes - despite the fact that
they have higher faculties for spiritual emancipation.
"Men don't care
about other humans - only less than 1% of men really care for other
humans, and they are known as saints.
"The other 99% of
men are always playing games of competition and domination - every human
tries to lord it over others - they see everything in nature, not for
it's beauty, but they calculate on how to exploit it for profit. It is
to our fortune that they cannot find our isles, or they would come with
big machines and build resorts and casinos here and capture us birds for
their zoos or pet stores or worse.
"But, as illusion
would have it, this area is like the devil's triangle, they can't read
their instruments and they get lost and turn away ... lucky for us, or
we'd be dead meat, or spectacles in some zoo."
Bodi interjected,
"Dead meat? What is this?"
Bhatti replied,
"Oh, men, they eat birds and animals."
Bodi's turned aghast,
"Why do they do that?"
"Because we taste
good," replied Bhatti.
Bodisat got a violent
surge of revulsion from that answer.
"The saints warned
them not to, but they care not for each other, what to speak of caring
for birds and animals, and deceit is king - in the world of lies, even
the deceit of changing scriptures and words of saints, that's prevalent
in the world of lies.
"Yes, it seems they
should think it out and realize that we also have feelings, and families
and lives, but they don't. If the tables were turned on them, then they
would think different - like if some aliens came from outer space and
found them tasty.
"Suppose some
aliens came here and abducted humans, just a few at first, but then
dozens and hundreds every day. What if the government and military could
do nothing about it. And the aliens emphasized this fact by occasionally
abducting the children and family of presidents and other world figures.
Nobody could stop them. Then they told the leaders that they would
increase such abductions. The leaders ask them why. They say that they
like to eat humans. When the leaders asked why, they only said because
humans taste good. That's the only reason. And they have made earth one
of their farms for which to grow humans and harvest them as they please.
"Well, they just
might understand how we feel. You know - they can dish it out ... but
can they take it?"
Scene
3
One
little mistake
Bhatti
said, "We mostly tend to talk about humans more, more than
birds or animals. That's because we are more human than
birds."
"Oh
... come again? How is that?" asked Bodisat.
"Because,"
continued Bhatti, "we were all human in our last life and
most likely we'll be human in the next life. Because we are always
talking of humans, remembering our human past, then our
consciousness will be human at the time of death. This bird life
is only a temporary gap between our human lives. Oh bards, can one
of you recite something luminous on this subject?"
"’Whatever
state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he
will attain without fail.’ This is the verse sung by Sri Krishna
to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita," chanted Thala.
"Here
on the isles, we have birds who remember their past life very
well. So we’ll let them tell their story, oh Taksaka, please
tell your past life to us."
Taksaka
nodded his head in agreement and narrated, "Yes, I was a
human, a man in my last life, and I performed many pious
activities in my human lifetime, and rendered devotional service
to Lord Hari, but … I made one fatal mistake however … just
one little mistake … somehow, I became attached to that bane of
spiritual advancement, my mind and senses became overwhelmed and
bewildered by the snares of sex life. That's why you see my
present body, a pigeon. But, the important thing is, that I
remember why I took this pigeon body, and thus by the mercy of the
saints, I will not make that mistake again, and I can return to a
human form and begin my progress again."
Bhatti
said, "Very well, we sometimes see that a man is so allured
by the sex impulse, that he risks his very life for such
gratification … and so our sutas can story-tell on this subject,
oh Vraja, can you please tell us a suitable story on this?"
Vraja
assented and then began his story;
"In
days of antiquity, in the land of India, there lived a danseuse by
the name of Kamalarekha. Here beauty was such, that even
napumsakas fel in love with her. But, every man upon visiting her
chamber at night, such potential lovers invariably came out as
corpses the next morning. Nobody knew how or why. Then some person
asked the great king Vikramaditya to come and ascertain this
baffling puzzle. Well over a thousand men had given their
lives to this mad desire, and the community was quite
disturbed.”
Bhatti
interceded, “The really bizarre thing was, they all knew
beforehand that death would follow such desire, but they did it
anyway! Even Kamalarekha could not fathom this death knell upon
her visitors.”
Vraja
went on, “King Vikrama made up his mind to ferret out the truth,
and set out for that particular providence. He sent word ahead to
Kamalarekha that he would call upon her that very night.
“One
would wonder why these men had so willingly walked into their
death, knowing full well the plight of all prior visitors, why
would they do it anyway? It seems that the infatuation for her
beauty was so overpowering, that it prevailed over the fear of
death. Thus we see that besotted men lose all good reason and
sense of shame. Such is the nature of the powerful illusory
energy.
“When
Kamalarekha received the news of the visit of King Vikrama, she
felt very happy. She arranged her bedroom in such a way that even
angels could be charmed. On one side of the table were spread a
hundred varieties of delicious dishes; on the other, were kept
ornate vessels of attar and rose-water which made the entire room
smell fragrant. Every corner of the room was brilliantly lit.
“As
the time drew near for his majesty to visit, Kamalarekha became
quite anxious and kept peering out the balcony.
“At
the fated hour, King Vikrama made his appearance and mounted the
steps. Upon entering the chamber, Kamalarekha fell at the king’s
feet in the traditional manner and led him by the hand on to a cot
spread out with exquisite mattresses. But Vikramaditya said,
"My dear beautiful one, I do not lie upon on cots, as I’m
not used to them. If I were to do such a thing, Perhaps, I may
lose consciousness and possibly lose my life. Please, therefore,
spread a mat upon the floor so I may sleep comfortably.
“Upon
this request, Kamalarekha let forth a sparkle of muffled laughter
from her red rosy lips, which flashed an alluring portion of her
pearl-like teeth. King Vikrama caught the meaning of her laughter
but kept quiet, as he sat on the matted floor.
“Bhatti
interjected at this point, “The laughter which issued from her
lips mocks the amusement of a butcher who offers lush morsels of
grass to a goat before slicing the animal’s throat, as he knows
the goat will roll to the ground in a moment.”
So
Vraja continued, “Till midnight Kamalarekha entertained him with
beguiling attentiveness. She bathed him in warm water made
fragrant with attar. She made him to wear exquisite clothing and
jewels. She smeared aromatic sandalwood paste and unguents on him
and sitting beside him, offered him pan.”
Being
pleased, King Vikrama gave her fee of a thousand gold coins into
her hands. Kamalarekha tried to lay a kiss on his cheek, but he
pulled away from her and eluded her ploy to charm him to bed.
As
they were larking about the night in a game of wits, the people
outside had brought the usual trappings for funeral rites. A
barber and priest appeared,
and others held utensils, wooden poles, so on. They were
sure that the paramour’s dead body would emerge in the morning,
fit for burning in the crematory.
Time
wore thin in Kamalarekha’s chamber, as night labored long, and
the danseuse entertained the King with sweet melodies on different
musical instruments and with exotic dance. Fatigued by such
performances, she made way for her bed to sleep, as her finger
beckoned the King to follow her, and he complied, that is … he
pretended to follow her, by placing his pillow next to hers. When
she feel to sleep, the King gingerly hopped out of bed, and moved
the pillow by her side and clandestinely hid himself in the shadow
of a pillar nearby.
Only
a few moments past, and lo and behold, a hissing sound issued from
the depths of her nostrils, and came rushing out in the form of a
fierce serpent with a golden hood expanded, and then struck with
lighting speed to her left side and brutally struck the pillow
with it's fangs, thinking it was King Vikrama who lay next to her.
King
Vikrama was too stunned from such a fantastic vision, to do
anything for a split second. He witnessed what could have been his
fate - if he had succumbed to that irresistible lure of sex
desire.
However,
after this second of indecision, within moment’s notice, King
Vikrama whipped out a magic sword and hacked the treacherous snake
in two, before it could slink back into it’s lair.
After
the` fracas, the danseuse woke up and when she saw King Vikrama
sword in hand and a severed snake on his pillow, she lay there
dumbfounded and mystified as to what it was all about. She rubbed
her eyes in disbelief, looking plaintively at the King, who stood
silent by the bed.
to be
continued [not in next scene though].
Scene 4
Bodisat inquired, “Tell me
again about the world of lies … I still don’t know what you
mean … not exactly.”
Bhatti said, “This world is
about lies. For instance, whenever we hear some story, what’s
the first reaction?”
Bodisat shrugged.
“We first ask ourselves, is
this a lie? Or is it the truth? Well … I know from experience,
that since I’m usually lied to, well … then I have to assume
it’s a lie … until it’s really proven beyond a shadow of a
doubt. This is how we think in the world of lies.”
“True,” said Bodisat. “How
well do I know. I grew up with faith in their stories, but in the
end, it was all a lie.”
“Can you imagine for a moment?”
said Bhatti, “Just think for a moment … imagine a world where
every person knows everything? No schools, no deceptions, no
scandals, no cover-ups, no need for delusion, because everyone
knows everything. No need to lie or cheat. Sounds pretty
impossible, doesn’t it?”
“You might say that,” said
Bodisat.
“Well, that’s the whole
point of life … on this planet … to evolve to the state of
knowing-everything … and then going to that place where everyone
is full of bliss and knowledge and eternity.”
“You mean ... the world where
no one disappears into ashes and smoke?”
“Yes.”
“I want to go there.”
“Don’t we all? Heh, heh.”
“Well ok, then let’s all go.”
“I wish it was so easy,”
sighed Bhatti. “Oh … how I wish it was all that easy. But
alas, it’s not. First of all, men do not believe it, because …
this just happens to be the world of lies … and therefore a man
thinks that this ‘world of no ashes’ is just another tall tale
on the long list of lies. There is no trust in this world. So,
when the saints tell men of the ‘world of no ashes,’ such men
think it’s another fabrication … for the purpose of getting
money. They think God is a myth, and such an eternal world is
another lie … because they cannot see it with their eyes.”
“Well then … all you have to
do, is just believe?” said Bodisat.
“Yes, that certainly must be
there, but then again … do you see all these birds on this
island?”
Bodisat nodded yes.
“Most of us were on that path
… the path of faith in God … in our last human birth. Some of
us were chanting the holy name of Krishna, and doing bhakti yoga,
But alas, we had our failings. This world is like a prison, and to
escape is very difficult. Maya makes sure it’s extremely hard.
It’s more than just signing your name on the dotted line, and
thinking it’s a done deal.
“We use the example of a
mountain. On top of the mountain, there’s the path of love to Krishna, the goal.
This is our ticket to the world beyond all ashes and smoke. There
are 4 paths leading to the path of love. They are the path of
truth … the path of austerity … the path of cleanliness …
and the path of mercy. To climb these paths, and stay on them …
is difficult. We tried in our last life, and since we’re here in
bird bodies … we know we didn’t make it all the way. There are
lessons to learn, which are like stepping stones by which we
gradually climb up the mountain … to the path of freedom.”
“Yeah, but we can just fly,”
said Bodisat, “we have wings.”
“The mountain is a material
example, so wings won’t help. I’m talking about the world of
men, who we were … and who we usually are in the next life. They
are bound by the gravity of maya … or illusion. Often the case
is … that they need more practice, more stepping stones to the
paths of freedom. They need the perfect teacher, the perfect guru
to guide them. If we sincerely desire, God will give it all to us.
But we have to work the steps.
“So, on this isle, we teach
the paths, the stepping stones to the paths, to truth, mercy,
austerity and cleanliness. Oh sutas, can you tell us a story on
this?”
Pariyatra began to recite:
“Far away, in the distant
east, in the magical land of India, there sits a man, right now,
as we speak, and he’s laughing to himself with hilarity.
“And also, at this very
minute, somewhere in the western hemisphere, there is also a man
sitting and hysterically laughing to himself, to the air … to
the only one Who will listen.”
Bhatti interjected, “They are
both laughing, but for very different reasons. This amusement is
due to the ‘world of lies.’ One man is laughing out of awe of
the divine magnitude of the whole illusion, while the other is
laughing from defeat of the illusion. One praises the divinity of
the lie, and the other succumbs to it.”
Bodisat said, “Tell me more of
this odd story.”
Pariyatra continued, “The man
in the west, he sits in an dingy alley amongst refuse, keeps
company with his pet rat, all the while yelling at the invisible
entities to cease their torment.”
Cont’d later
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