Materialism
The first day they took away all his money and burned away his home. He was furious. All the time he had spent to accumulate them. Years and years of it. All gone in a blink of an eye. Taken from him. It may be a meagre sum to most people but wealth is a measure of the owner's eye. Only the owner knows the value behind every penny... For it was his blood and sweat that earned it. He felt wasted and cheated at the same time.
The second day, they took away his clothes. And with it went his dignity and his pride. Stark naked, he felt insecure. All he could do was keep his eyes closed. Perhaps if he could not see them, they could not see him. But he could feel the stares of Men on him. And so too their whispers. He wanted to run away. But they never let him. By robbing his clothes, they had robbed away his voice and his strength.
The third day, they took away his son. His daughters. His pregnant wife. His father and lastly his mother. Right in front him, they took his family away. Some with a knife to the throat. Some much, much more slowly. But this time they kept his eyes open, unblinking. Red, hot tears of grief and agony swept across his face as he stood on his knees facing a sight he never in his life thought he could handle. Disbelief and madness overtook him for a moment as with each passing, part of his soul left him.
The fourth day, they took away his hands and then lobbed away his feet. By then, he could feel no pain. Take it all he said. He could not care less. He was an empty man with nothing left in the world to his name. An empty man who looks on helplessly with absolutely no desires, no ambitions and no future. And yet, he lived for some reason. It was not his time yet.
The last day, they took away his heart. And so he died. And thus ends the tragic tale of a man who had lost everything dear to him.
In this temporary world for that matter.
Of course such a tale may seem as unlikely as having a tortoise to fly. But the essence of the story is simply our unending struggle with our worldly attachments. Nothing in this life was ever ours in the first place. We came into the world as a gift and as a gift too should we leave. In our noble pursuits for material wealth, many of us forget that all of these will someday be taken away from us. Be it when we die or by someone else. When a person places too high a value on his material wealth, he tends to lose more than just his money. Sometimes he loses himself all together.
Clothes in this tale is a figurative symbolism of all our status and title that we hold dear. Often as we grow, we built our castle walls big and strong and adorn it with medals and achievements. Fame. Recognition. But beneath these walls, many of us are truly empty inside. Strip away the title and we stand naked. Many are blessed with a reputation to their name but very few are blessed with gratitude for it. The less we seek, the less there are to mourn. Accumulating needless wants is a symptom of excessive greed.
Just like wealth and status, family is also a worldly attachment that serves as a double edged sword. It can bring out the best in Men but also their worst. When they are taken away from us, part of us often leaves with them because our lives are so strongly intertwined with them. The truth that we have to accept however is that we all leave at different times. Some earlier than you expect and even forcibly. That doesn't mean we have to throw away our lives too in our grief.
At the end of the day, ask ourselves what is the reason for us to live? For wealth? For family? For fame? All of these can be taken away from us at any point of time in our lives. The materialistic attachments that we have in this world is but temporary so seek my friends in what can never be taken from you.
The second day, they took away his clothes. And with it went his dignity and his pride. Stark naked, he felt insecure. All he could do was keep his eyes closed. Perhaps if he could not see them, they could not see him. But he could feel the stares of Men on him. And so too their whispers. He wanted to run away. But they never let him. By robbing his clothes, they had robbed away his voice and his strength.
The third day, they took away his son. His daughters. His pregnant wife. His father and lastly his mother. Right in front him, they took his family away. Some with a knife to the throat. Some much, much more slowly. But this time they kept his eyes open, unblinking. Red, hot tears of grief and agony swept across his face as he stood on his knees facing a sight he never in his life thought he could handle. Disbelief and madness overtook him for a moment as with each passing, part of his soul left him.
The fourth day, they took away his hands and then lobbed away his feet. By then, he could feel no pain. Take it all he said. He could not care less. He was an empty man with nothing left in the world to his name. An empty man who looks on helplessly with absolutely no desires, no ambitions and no future. And yet, he lived for some reason. It was not his time yet.
The last day, they took away his heart. And so he died. And thus ends the tragic tale of a man who had lost everything dear to him.
In this temporary world for that matter.
Of course such a tale may seem as unlikely as having a tortoise to fly. But the essence of the story is simply our unending struggle with our worldly attachments. Nothing in this life was ever ours in the first place. We came into the world as a gift and as a gift too should we leave. In our noble pursuits for material wealth, many of us forget that all of these will someday be taken away from us. Be it when we die or by someone else. When a person places too high a value on his material wealth, he tends to lose more than just his money. Sometimes he loses himself all together.
Clothes in this tale is a figurative symbolism of all our status and title that we hold dear. Often as we grow, we built our castle walls big and strong and adorn it with medals and achievements. Fame. Recognition. But beneath these walls, many of us are truly empty inside. Strip away the title and we stand naked. Many are blessed with a reputation to their name but very few are blessed with gratitude for it. The less we seek, the less there are to mourn. Accumulating needless wants is a symptom of excessive greed.
Just like wealth and status, family is also a worldly attachment that serves as a double edged sword. It can bring out the best in Men but also their worst. When they are taken away from us, part of us often leaves with them because our lives are so strongly intertwined with them. The truth that we have to accept however is that we all leave at different times. Some earlier than you expect and even forcibly. That doesn't mean we have to throw away our lives too in our grief.
At the end of the day, ask ourselves what is the reason for us to live? For wealth? For family? For fame? All of these can be taken away from us at any point of time in our lives. The materialistic attachments that we have in this world is but temporary so seek my friends in what can never be taken from you.
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