I may have started
Looking old from outside
But from inside
I am still a child
My physical body
May have seem to have matured
But from inside my mind
Is still that of a child

When I was a small kid
I wanted toys all the time
Not this one
I want that one
I used to cry

Then I grew up little bit
Became a bigger kid
I wanted bigger toys
Not the small toys from before
When I grew up more
I wanted toys with buttons
Toys with motors and guns

A day came when I entered
The age of youth
The physical body blossomed
Other desires replaced
The ones for motorcars and guns

One day someone said that kid
Is taking your toys
Won't you stop him
No I won't I said
Let him take
All that he wants
Now I have realized
One should not cry over toys

Really is that true?
Something inside me asked

Now the mind has developed
The desire for some other
Kinds of toys
I spend my entire time
Trying to get hold of them

I am spending my entire life
Trying to be happy
Seeing my big house
My beautiful car
My lovely family

I don't realize that the time
Is not far when
These will be taken away from me
And then I will be crying again
Like I used to when I was a small kid

I am still a child
For I still cry for my toys
Only the type of toys has changed
My desire for them has not changed

Something inside me asks me this again
When will I finally mature
And not remain a child
Any more from inside?

I want to be happy
A happiness that never ends
I want an end to the sadness
An end to the troubles
So that I have to never
Face them again

I have tried infinite things
I have tried wealth
I have tried sex
I have tried family
I have tried fame
I have tried almost everything
Still I am incomplete
Still I am unhappy

Since I separated from You
O Lord!
I have had more bodies
Than I can count
I have been a slave of
Each one of them
Taking care of their
Wants and desires
Forgetting to feed the
Real me inside all of them

Sometimes I became
An atheist
Other times I was
A theist
In the form of a
Christian, Jew, Buddhist,
Hindu, Muslim,Sikh, Parsi or Jain
Always remained busy in
Practicing the rituals of religion
Thinking them to be
The source of happiness
But I still remained incomplete
I still remained unhappy

I forgot the real religion
That You had taught me
The real religion of
Worshipping You O Lord!
The real religion of liberation
From the cycle of
Birth and death
The end result of which
Is merging back into You
O Lord!
The source of unending
True happiness and blessedness

I said:
"I stayed in a hotel
Albeit for a few days
I drove a rental car
For a few days
I stayed in a beautiful city
For a few days
Then time came to leave all of the above
And head back home"

He asked:
"Did you get attached to any of them?"

"No of course not!"
I replied feeling a bit surprised

"Why not?"
He asked

"Because I knew all of them
Were temporary
I was there only on a short visit
Making the best use of
The little time I had there"
I replied

He said:
"Well then how about your family?
Do you feel attached to your wife
And your kids?
How about your wealth, house and friends?"

I replied:
"Of course, because my family is forever
My wife and kid are mine forever
We love each other a lot
My house will be there for a while
And I don't think my hard-earned
Money is going to go anywhere
As for friends I have real good friends"

"Forever???"
He replied sounding shocked
"You really think so?
You really think 'forever'?
Only for a few years maximum, my friend!
Do you realize
How many wives, husbands, kids,
Friends, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters
You have changed over the centuries?

As for wealth and material things
They are here today
Who knows they will be here tomorrow?"

"You know very well
What is the only permanent
Thing in the world
If you really want to get attached
To somebody
Get attached to Him!
Make full use of the little time
You have as a human
In this birth"

"This life is a journey
Just like the one you
recently undertook
Don't waste any time
Or else you will have
To keep on coming back
Again and again
With stopovers elsewhere
In between
At places you won't like!"

O Lord!
If you want to send
Somebody in my life
Please make sure that
This person brings me
Nearer to You than before

Otherwise please don't send
Anybody new
As I don't want to go
Further away from You
I don't want anybody to come
In between You and me

O Lord!
If you want to send
Something new to me
Please make sure that
This thing brings me
Nearer to You than before

Otherwise I don't want it
You can give to somebody else
Who desires this more than me
I don't want anything to
Come in between You and me

O Lord!
If you want to send
Me somewhere
Send me to a place
Where I am nearer to You
From inside my heart

Otherwise I don't want
To go anywhere
Where I can't remember You
I don't want to goto any place
That takes me away from You

O Lord!
If you want to give me happiness
Please make sure that
With it You send me some sadness
To test my state of equanimity

Otherwise I don't want only joy
As it might make me
Forget You
I don't want any state to come
In between You and me

Have you noticed how many times we "want" something everyday?

If you like, do this exercise one day...

Count the number of times in a day that your mind "wants" something, somebody - basically anything that you don't have at that moment.

You will be surprised at the results.

Can we pass one day - just one day - without "wanting" anything?

We have been "wanting" for ages now... it's time to reduce the "wanting" and increase the acceptance of whatever He gives Himself without asking...

Try it and you will be much happier... I "want" to try too