Not Every Wanderer Is Lost

Hello loved ones,

Do you experience that endless wandering going in your mind? No answer is satisfactory right?!! I know why! Because all those answers are someone else’s, they belong to their mind; they appeal to their soul, but you will have to find your own key to unlock doors within you. As a wanderer, your wandering from here to there, from one person to another in the hope of answer is useless, they might tell you direction, inspire you, but they can’t walk on your self-discovery path. Do you want to know what Bulleh Shah, a scholar has to say about this wandering.

You have become a scholar by reading books; but you have never read yourself.

You go to mosque and temples; but you have never visited your soul.

You are busy fighting with Satan everyday; but you never fight with your own ill intentions.

You are trying to reach for the ones who are above sky, you have failed to reach for the ones living in your heart. 

It is true that you will get over a thousand books covering the topic from religion to science, reality to fantasy; but there is not even a single book which will truly describe your personal existence. There will be a time when these worldly learnings will not hold any meaning. If you don’t know yourself, is there any use of knowing other things? Just analyse your simple want, have you ever thought why do you want, what you want? Are you getting something for yourself or just for public display? How many beliefs in your mind are there from your experience? If you believe in miracles, have you ever experienced one or just heard/read somewhere? Why do you think what you think? What is the base of your thoughts, is it your own observation or experience? If not, it should be!

Every day we talk about issues like corruption, global warming, terrorism, etc. We post different things on our Facebook status against these problems showing our protest. However, we are so busy in finding faults all around us that we forget our own role in these happenings. We never have time to work on our own ill-intentions or misdeeds. How many times we have put a status about our own faults or ill-thoughts? Honestly, I don’t remember writing anything about myself which will potentially hurt my pride. The real question is that Can you afford to waste your whole life on finding wrong issues around you? Isn’t it like spending your pocket money on others? Isn’t it like wasting your resources on others? Centuries ago Buddha told us, “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

For me, last verses from Bulleh Shah’s poem has an awakening message. These lines have clearly described me how a person (including me) for his entire life try to please and reach for the God. We go to pilgrimages, read holy books and worship idols to find a connection with God. His existence is beyond all existences, but still, we are trying in every possible way to find HIM. Many had abandoned their houses and went to jungles in HIS search, and they had come back empty-handed. Many wise scholars had read holy books to get a clue about HIS existence, but they had failed to put HIM into words.

We are looking everywhere for HIM, without knowing that we are his creation, and creator always stays within his creation. Just like a painter soul is in his painting, a poet’s in his poem and a singer’s in his voice. In the same way, a great artist who has created this world can be seen and felt in every bit his creation.  Wanderer, your journey for his search should be inwards not outwards.