Finding the Ultimate : The non transient SKY

The winter was coming to an end and the spring was all about to set blooming colors of life, on a cool Thursday evening I was sitting in my living room and watched the distant sky, I saw the floating clouds on clear blue sky. The rays of the setting sun threw a splash of gold on the smooth sailing packets of cloud. A question arose - 'why am I enjoying the little floats of cloud? What makes me smile as I see this little act of nature?'

        As I wondered, the answer came in a slightly philosophical assessment. There are two ways to look at it. I can be attached to the cloud passing by or I can take the sky as my point of reference. When I think the cloud to be mine, I will lament the loss as they pass by and slowly fade away. I will be in pain thinking I could have owned them and viewed them every single moment because they give me happiness. I felt sad.

And for a moment I paused and thought what if I was the sky, the sky be mine, how would I feel about the passing clouds? It was joy. It was the joy of having the presence of the clouds, the beauty of the clouds and the little play and dance they did on the sphere. I enjoyed the clouds. I could feel the little smile on my face. Suddenly, it amazed me because of the fact that the same situation can result in completely opposite emotions. The reason for the two different results was simple. It was the 'point of reference'. 

         If I refer to the clouds, I felt remorse because they were moving, going away, fading, never to come back. If I refer to the sky, the omnipresent, encompassing, infinite sky, the clouds are a transient but at the same time pleasant and beautiful. Their existence at that very moment has a reason. Out of many reasons, one definitely was making me joyous. That gave me happiness. I was not perturbed by the fact that they will go. I knew it.

Similar is the joy and happiness we get from attachment. Attachment to the right aspect of our existence and short life span on earth will result in happiness and sorrows. Attachment to physical objects that are transient in nature has always resulted in sorrow, even after the momentary pleasure we derive out of it. Attachment to   people and the surroundings, and the emotions generated out of our relationships are nothing but the beautiful clouds. They are generated for a reason and they exist in our lives for a reason. The good and the bad - memories, people, things, emotions are short lived. They will come and go. They too shall pass. If we refer to those and live by those, we will be sad once they go. Now, the same clouds of feelings, people, and objects can be enjoyed even when we refer to them from the SKY, the sky of permanence. The enduring and everlasting spheres where from the small clouds of life generate ultimate joy. We have to find our Sky, the permanent blue sky where in the transients can float and charm. That sky has been realized by the Siddhas or the accomplished Ones. Each has his own Akshaya sky, which eventually merges and is unified. They are defined in different cultures, different philosophies, over different ages of human civilization and addressed by different names. Every human takes that journey to find the Ultimate, sooner or later. The sooner one realizes, the longer happiness persists.

Go look for your SKY.

PS: I wrote this blog in June 2013. Six months later, in Dec 2013 while reading the 'The Tibetan book of Living and Dying', I found something similar mentioned by author Sogyal Rinpoche. Page 26 THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING-"Reflect on this: The realization of impermanence is paradoxically the only thing we can hold onto, perhaps our only lasting possession. It is like the sky, or the earth. No matter how much everything around us may change or collapse, they endure. Say we go through a shattering emotional crisis . .. our whole life seems to be disintegrating . . . our husband or wife suddenly leaves us without warning. The earth is still there; the sky is still there."