The Lost Man
One day, a man, no one in particular (well, he could be you) took a wrong turn somewhere and found himself lost thick in the middle of nowhere. As there was no one he knew or anyway to contact anyone he knew, he found himself a stranger in a strange land.
He had to depend on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter to survive. It was pure compassion that kept him alive because he wasn't anyone very important to anyone. He was literally just a man on the street.
He could no longer relate to anyone the way he did. He wasn't particularly a friend or enemy to anyone, or a son, brother or husband of anyone... In fact, he wasn't anyone - he was nobody.
It made him panic... till he realised there was no need. In fact, this is his new life. He could be anyone. He could be the person he really wanted to be - without the burden of the past, without anyone's expectations of his future. In fact, he was forced to re-evaluate the worth of his own attachment to his past and his prior expectations, since there was no way he could return to his past life.
From the strangers that now became his friends, he learnt compassion. And he learnt to befriend other lost strangers. From realising the importance of being at home in the here and now, he learnt wisdom.
One day, he looked back and realised that he did not really take a wrong turn in the first place, to end up where he was. In fact, it was the "right-est" turn for the better he ever made. He realised that there is no such thing as a wrong turn, that all that matters is how he "turns" himself for the better. The man who lost his identity has no found himself. The man who thought he fell into a terrible trap discovered great freedom.
But that's him. What matters is, as mentioned in the beginning of the story, is that... "he could be you". You don't have to be lost physically. Just lose your "self" mentally now... let go of your self-definitions, for they are illusory anyway. Re-read this story and put yourself in the man's shoes. Who are you? Who will you be? Welcome to your new life. It begins from right here and now... as always.
He had to depend on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter to survive. It was pure compassion that kept him alive because he wasn't anyone very important to anyone. He was literally just a man on the street.
He could no longer relate to anyone the way he did. He wasn't particularly a friend or enemy to anyone, or a son, brother or husband of anyone... In fact, he wasn't anyone - he was nobody.
It made him panic... till he realised there was no need. In fact, this is his new life. He could be anyone. He could be the person he really wanted to be - without the burden of the past, without anyone's expectations of his future. In fact, he was forced to re-evaluate the worth of his own attachment to his past and his prior expectations, since there was no way he could return to his past life.
From the strangers that now became his friends, he learnt compassion. And he learnt to befriend other lost strangers. From realising the importance of being at home in the here and now, he learnt wisdom.
One day, he looked back and realised that he did not really take a wrong turn in the first place, to end up where he was. In fact, it was the "right-est" turn for the better he ever made. He realised that there is no such thing as a wrong turn, that all that matters is how he "turns" himself for the better. The man who lost his identity has no found himself. The man who thought he fell into a terrible trap discovered great freedom.
But that's him. What matters is, as mentioned in the beginning of the story, is that... "he could be you". You don't have to be lost physically. Just lose your "self" mentally now... let go of your self-definitions, for they are illusory anyway. Re-read this story and put yourself in the man's shoes. Who are you? Who will you be? Welcome to your new life. It begins from right here and now... as always.
posted by moonpointer at 8/17/2004 11:33:00 PM
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