S. P. Chockalingam - THE LIFE: Is it Mystical or Real & Painful or Magical?

Copyright 2014 by S.P. Chockalingam.

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4828-1896-3

Softcover 978-1-4828-1895-6

Ebook 978-1-4828-1894-9

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CONTENTS

D edication

Dedicated t o Ammani, my mother, Ponniah, my father, Sundaram, my maternal uncle, who showed the Way to think truthfully, to talk truthfully and do truthfully and laid the Path to travel and for what my family and I are today.

T he author had a unique privilege of meeting His Holiness Dalai Lama in J akarta in 1983. He shook hands with him and held his hands for sometime and con versed with him. This meeting had a transforming and everlasting influence on the author.

Introduction

T here was a saying. Madras was a village. The metropolitan city is now called Chennai, in India. It has changed its face in many ways. But the sea near the Marina Beach remains as beautiful as ever. The second longest beach in the world only next to the beach in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil continues to be the pride of Chennai.

It was early morning in December. The cool breeze from the sea was soothing to the body and the mind. The whispering of the tides of the sea was providing music to the steps of the walkers who were taking regular walk in the morning on the pathway near the beach. After taking my regular walk, I sat on a bench under a tree. An old gentleman was also sitting on the bench engrossed in looking at the beauty of the blue sea with its rising white waves. I had seen him in the beach quite often. But I never had the courage to talk to him.

He was tall and serene with a smiling face and always dressed in spotless white dress. He must have crossed seventy five. His smile was infectious and his laughter was instantaneous. He used to talk with a voice of music, filled with love and compassion. He was unique and stood out as a giant in the midst of the walkers crowd when he walked along with them. He was greeted by everyone with reverence. For every one who used to take a walk on the beach, he appeared to be a yogi. Although I used to see him very often on my regular walk and used to hear him whenever he talked to others, I never spoke to him. That day, I gathered courage and decided to talk to him.

Good Morning, Sir. I am Lingam. I come to the beach for a regular morning walk. I have been seeing you regul arly on the beach and wanting to talk to you . M ay I know your good name, Sir?

Name, I have no name. I am nobody. It was Tao Te Ching who wrote that the name that can be named is not the eternal name. This fits with humans so well. This is what ultimately happens.

Is it not strange? Without name how can one identify the other?

Identity; is it for useful purpose or for divisive purpose? Originally it was intended only for useful purpose. But over time identity is misused, abused, exploited, and used for purely personal gain resulting in humans problems and misery. For identification, divisions are made; boundaries are laid out; labels and titles are attached. It begins with the divisions of nations, states, cities, towns, villages, hamlets, color, race, creed, gender and religion. Then education, caste, community, muscle power, money power, political power, position and status, titles in work place, and political affiliations etc. are kept on added. The pyramidal system of life provides fertile field to keep on planting divisions and boundaries for selfish purposes. These divisions and boundaries are widening and growing endlessly causing conflicts, misery and suffering.

Is it not the way the human life is organized? What can you and I do about it?

You and I can do a lot. A simple good thought, good idea, good word, good deed, and correct action at correct time can bring change. A good thought can produce waves of goodness all round. A good idea can revolutionize the whole world. A good word can become code. A good sentence can become a quotable quote. A good deed can become a model of action. Some of them can become eternal. Human history is full of such events of change which helped humans to evolve themselves.

On the other hand, empires were established, palaces were built, and statues of kings, queens, and rulers were erected. At what cost? These were done at the cost of human lives and peoples money, only to perpetuate a few names and their titles. This happens even in the 21 st . Century, for the leaders, rulers, actors, and even for tom, dick and harry. But one after the other all of them had fallen and are falling at the footsteps of time when time marches on its own.

But, the words of Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Vyasa, Valmeehi, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Milton, Shakespeare, Confucius, Tao, many other sages and saints of India, and poets of Tamil Sangam Age of South India, although originally passed on by word of mouth for generations and also written in leather, silk, palm leaves, pop up even today and remain alive in spite of the ravages of time.

If everyone feels as you feel then there is no salvation. Everything starts from the individual . It is the action, not the fruit of the action that is important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there will be any fruit. But that does not mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. This is what Mahatma Gandhi said.

If one starts changing, the other will follow and the virus will catch up with everyone.

Richard Brodies Virus of the Mind is quite revealing. According to my understanding of this virus, imitating, copying, following will go hand in hand from one mind to anothers mind and spreads like virus.

One can say that if it is for good, the virus catches with many. The same is with the bad but the velocity of speed of this kind of virus is much more than the other. This keeps happening. But if you do not want to do anything good, then nothing happens and the opposite takes over everything.

Once a rich and powerful person started to feel at the height of his achievements that something was missing in his life. This feeling of missing grew day by day and made his life miserable. He wanted to find out the answer. He therefore went to meet a Zen Master in a monastery up the hill and waited for the call after he sent in his identity card with gifts. His card with his name boldly printed described a number of his qualifications and his positions in social, political and economic activities.

He waited for the whole day but he was not called in by the Master whereas all others who were less important without even having any identity card and looked very ordinary were called in and met by the Master. He was annoyed and went home dejected. He went back three times to the monastery and presented his different cards and different gifts but nothing worked. Fourth day he went and waited without sending in any card and gifts.