THE NIGHTMARE TURNS INTO A REVELATION

[Guest guest]

THE NIGHTMARE TURNS INTO A REVELATION

 

For this Sunday, we have an article by Sri B Arvind, a former

student of Sri Sathya Sai University.

 

The long day finally came to an end and with all eagerness I looked

forward to hitting the sack as soon as possible. The bed seemed to

be beckoning me and I felt that we were made for each other. With

the softness of the pillow below my head and the warmth of the

blanket over me, I snuggled inside and then was lost to the world.

 

Soon another world opened up to me. I was somewhere in the deep

woods walking all alone. The heavy overhanging creepers gave me the

creeps and the dense interlocked branches barely allowed a few beams

of light to percolate to the ground level. It was by the yellowish

colour of the light beams that filtered down that I realized it was

day and not night. The only sound I could hear was the soft

crunching of the moss and ferns under my own feet as I walked. I

knew not where I had come from and had not the slightest idea where

I was headed to. Uncertainty and fear haunted me as I was unsure of

what I would meet on the road ahead.

 

Out of the blue, there were loud howls from the treetops above. A

fierce group of some primates seemed to have found sudden interest

in me and they were charging down towards me. I broke into a run.

Dashing wildly along an imaginary path, among the thorny bushes and

slippery ferns, I moved with a speed that amazed me. But that is the

way anyone would run when in mortal danger. A roar now echoed from

my left. To my horror, I saw that it was a black panther - a mother

guarding her cubs. Not exactly pleased with the intruder, she

decided that I would make a good meal for her family. She joined the

chase that was getting worse every moment for me. I was now

palpitating - more out of fear than exhaustion. And then the worst

happened. A tiny slip followed by a huge fall. It was sickening to

hear the cracking of my own bones. I rolled over the mossy yet stony

forest floor and felt as though my right leg did not exist. As I

tried to get up an excruciating pain shot up from my

knee and traveled the length of my body. It was a hopeless

condition. Automatically tears coursed down my cheeks and I just lay

there waiting for the inevitable end. The apes above and the panther

below - what a gruesome exit it would be! I closed my eyes and for

the first time in my life, I seemed totally blank.

 

I woke up gasping in my bed. Beads of perspiration rolled down my

fear stricken face. I sat with my mind in the same state of

blankness. A few moments later, I was gulping down a glass of water.

The last week had been terrible. Every night scary dreams haunted

me. Every night, I woke up in the middle of my sleep feeling

helpless. What should I do? Who would help me? I decided that the

dreams had gone too far this time. I would put an end to them before

they ended me. What an irony! I create the dream and it tries to

destroy me? I walked up to the mirror and looked at mySelf. The

image there seemed to speak to me:

 

" You are the one who has created that dream. You can change anything

that you want. You need not feel helpless because everything there

is just a manifestation of your mind and your will. You are the

creator and so create whatever you like. Do not suffer the

limitations that you create for others. Nothing can limit you.

Whatever your mind can think of, you can do because you are the

creator. But remember, you must Know who you are. Otherwise you will

again get overwhelmed by your own creation. "

 

I walked up to my walkman now. I recorded whatever MySelf had spoken

to myself. I plugged in the earphones and played the tape. I heard

it over and over again till once more, I was lost to this world. I

was again in the deep woods walking all alone...........

 

Fast forward to where I lay on the floor awaiting the panther and

the apes. All of a sudden, there I found a walkman next to me. I put

on the earphones and heard what MySelf spoke to myself. I Knew. It

is a dream and I am just creating it. Then as the panther lunged at

my throat, I willed it to be transformed into a sweet kitten. It sat

in my arms mewing. I looked at my right leg and willed. It was as

healthy and wholesome as never before. Another will later, the apes

brought me food and water and seemed to massage my feet. Then I

realized that I had stopped thinking. I just seemed to know

everything. I knew I was in New York and I was walking barefoot on

the streets there. Everyone around thought that I was mad and it

just did not matter for me. I once again Knew that they appreciate

me a lot and at that instant there was a huge gathering waiting to

hear me speak. I didn't want to speak for I was lost in the bliss of

my new found Identity- my true one in fact. I knew that

I would fill everyone with the same bliss and the next minute, all

seemed so ecstatic.

 

I then knew that I was gone and the next moment I was on the slopes

of the Himalayas . I knew that the cold would never be able to touch

me and sure enough, it didn't. I came to understand that the New

York Times carried my picture on the front page with the

headlines, " Miracle Man vanishes into thin air! " I felt

that....sorry I knew that humanity had been misguided. By now, I had

stopped thinking and feeling. I just knew everything, for I was and

am the creator!

 

As I walked the great Gangetic plains, I knew a wave of kindness and

with a wave of my hand, I healed all the sick there. I created a

world just as I wanted. Years passed this way. It was so simple.

Since I was in charge, I traversed through time too. Time travel was

not a myth. I knew it and so could do it. Then I knew I was back in

New York . People rushed to me from everywhere and then I was facing

a mammoth gathering in a super-dome. Everyone addressed me as God!

Oh my God! This was crazy. Didn't they realize that this was all a

dream. If I was God, then they too were God equally.

 

It was only out of supreme compassion that I spoke. I said, " There

is only one thing that you need to know. You are all God too. You

can do all that I do only if you know this Truth. The difference

between me and you is that I know the Truth while you do not! " Well,

the people adored me but they were not ready to understand what I

said. They felt that I was muttering the impossible. Bound in their

own narrow realms, they refused to see the Truth. I told them, " You

do not have to achieve anything. Just Know. That's all. " This simple

statement for them seemed the most complicated. But I just knew that

wherever I go, I would just speak the same thing - that alone was

the Truth, everything else an illusion.

 

I woke up in the morning, gently this time. I felt in supreme

control of myself. The time was 5:30am . I washed and dressed and

flicked on the digital radio set and tuned into RadioSai. Swami's

sweet voice floated into my room. The Youth Conference Valedictory

discourse was on.

 

" You are all God. Everything you see is God. You spend hours in

meditation and spiritual activity. 11 seconds are enough. Keep

yourself steady and Know, `I am I'. That's all there is to be

done................... "

 

My ears were deaf to any more words. I was lost in a trance like

state. Deja vu? A sudden flash of realization? I don't know what

exactly I felt. I fell on my knees and hoped that once again myself

would listen to MySelf.

 

Dear reader, though this story is a fiction, the point it conveys is

profound. In short, we can create our own world, the exact world

that we want to live in, ourselves. We have that power in us!

 

Jai Sai Ram.

 

With Love and Regards,

" Heart2Heart " Team.

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

rgcjp