The Black Sheep & The Shepherd

So, you were born to feel “nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands? – Marcus Aurelius We are always stuck and are reluctant to do things just because we find them uncomfortable. We fear angering someone, or losing someone, or someone’s uncomfortable opinion about us and the like. Yet, we need to do things. For action is life, decisions bring harmony to the world. Indecisiveness causes suffering. There is something called Lagrange Point in space. It is a point where the gravity of the earth, the sun and the moon are in a proportion where none of them wins and the object parked at the point doesn’t move. The universe is moving. The universe is expanding. It is changing. Galaxies are drifting away from one another ...

Don’t believe your situation is genuinely bad – no one can make you do that. Is there smoke in the house? If it’s not suffocating, I will stay indoors; if it proves too much, I’ll leave. Always remember – the door is open. – Marcus Aurelius We go around blaming situations, people, our inabilities and the like for the misfortune or the uncomfortable conditions that we find ourselves in. However, we conveniently forget the fact that it is only a temporary situation or condition and it is not going to last forever. Time will eventually reconcile it for you, and you will regain your posture for sure. It is just a matter of time and we must give time some time. I, however, agree that the traces or scars that these mishaps or misfortunes will leave behind will remain there. But it is up to you whether you want to allow the wound to heal or keep on scratching it time and again and keep it paining forever. What happens, generally in our lives is that we find ourselves in a condition...

“Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What’s closer to nature’s heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood as it was? Eat food without transforming it? Can any vital process take place without something being changed? Can’t you see? It’s just the same with you—and just as vital to nature.” – Marcus Aurelius Last time, we talked about how we may be wrong, what wrong our priorities may be, how the magnitude of our deeds differs and how it changes the course of the universe at the end. The reason why I am too much into astronomy is that I perceive the night sky as the shroud that the creator has covered me with. I look at the sun and I find it like a father watching over his son in the playground. In short, I find astronomy as my connection with the creator. Technically, I am an atheist. Which means that I do not believe in a god. However, that is not the whole story. I don’t believe in a god that can be painted or can be represented as an idol. I bel...

“If anyone can refute me, show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective, I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after”.  – Marcus Aurelius The last of the five good emperors of the Roman Empire – Marcus Antonius Aurelius – goes on to accept the bitter fact that even when he has attained certain age, he has fought wars, has read a lot of things and the like, he still is not perfect and he never will be perfect. However, he certainly can be better than what he was yesterday. All he has to do is to listen to the people around him and accept the criticism with an open heart. The amazing thing about Marcus Aurelius is that he always appears as if he is talking to you as if he is a close friend of yours and you both are hanging out in the balcony of your home in a rainy afternoon with a cup of coffee in your hands. He has visited you after a year and he is talking about whatever happened in the last year. The way he perceives himself is like...