Namaste,
The day I was born, I jumped off a cliff. I've been falling to my death now for 47 years. Someday, I will hit bottom. Everything and everyone around me is also falling from the cliff. For a while, I looked at how most of the people around me would throw ropes around different things and pull what they roped in and tie it to themselves so that all would fall together. I did it too, for a while. Heck, I didn't even know that everything was falling to their deaths, I was just doing like I had been taught: toss the lasso and reel it in, tie it off so that I could use it while I fell.
I think, on some level, I knew that we were all falling o our deaths and was scared of it. I made up stories to explain why, if I let of of a rope holding something close it would immediately float away. I didn't realize that the wind of the fall would cause it to fall at a different speed. I just noticed that as soon as the rope slipped, POOF, it was gone. As I was falling, I noticed one guy who was playing with the air passing him. He'd float, and then dive, turn summersaults, then kind of glide back and forth. It looked like fun, but something was different about him; he didn't have stuff tied to him. There was nothing there but his body and whatever happened to be around at the time, falling at the same speed for a while.
I asked him how he fell so gracefully and in such a joyous fashion when we were both headed toward the rocks below. He said, "Well, there's no way I can stop the fall, so I decided I'd rather fly and enjoy the view as I come in for a landing. Having never landed before that I recall, I'll give it my best shot. By practicing all these things up here, I figure I'll stand a better chance of making a landing when the time comes. Besides, it's fun!" So, he taught me that by crossing my legs on a passing pillow, I was able to release some of what I had spent years tying to me--to stabilize the fall. Silly me.
In time, I had released enough of the ropes that I was able to do some of the fun acrobatics that I once saw him do. I had cleared the space around me so that I had the room to glide and play on the wind that was flowing past my ears. Like him, I began practicing my landing. Hey! Even if I don't survive the landing, it'll be fun trying!
As I continue to fall, I look around at other people also falling to their deaths. They grab this and that, hoping that it will somehow help them stop the fall that they do their best to ignore. Sometimes, they get so good at tricking themselves that they forget, for a moment, that they're plunging downward at a fatal speed because they've tied so much to themselves that everything SEEMS to be still, not falling at all. But if you've watched the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, you'll know that they're is always something to remind us that the ground is fast approaching. What I think is silly is when people FIGHT and kill each other just for the right to tie something else to themselves. Isn't that just silly?
Was thinking about war today; a great way to win it is just be patient. In 100-125 years, everyone who knows first-hand why there's a fight will have hit the ground.
So, I guess one might say that the reason I keep coming back is, why not? It's a good way to make sure all the landing gear is working. Hey! I wonder if I'll bounce!
Enjoy the flight! Oh! Here's a tip: I heard that the view at the end of this flight is KILLER! Make sure you have your eyes open, we only "land" this particular plane once!
Om Shanti
