By the dam..

I was in Lonavala just yesterday.

I was sitting on the steps at Bhushi Dam.

It was high tide... another wave slapped the rocks beneath my feet unleashing a spray of moist air which snapped me out of my thought.

I have been reading a few inspiring books lately.

And I think I got myself an answer, I think I’m there.

It’s that tiny window, between being self centered and feeling mixed emotions of regret and envy for not having things others do; between being selfish and being a pushover; between overconfidence and low self esteem; between evil and evil; negative and negative.

It’s that tiny window, leading to neutrality or "Samaiek" as they call it.

It’s that tiny window that takes you to a place where your actions have no limitations, where your imagination is reality, where no external powers can subdue your feelings.

And there are bass beats constantly changing in the background, they speak to you of impermanence and non self.

You learn that everyone around you shares the same powers as do you.

They are a mere reflection of you. You are a reflection of them.

This 'non self' helps you to let go of all the things we have been running after every moment of everyday of our lives.

Feelings, emotions, experiences, they're all impermanent. Moments go by. Time is fleeting. Even your existence doesn't have a permanent tag.

'Practicing Mindfulness is your only way out', says Thich Naht Hanh in his book, "The Art of Power".

He says that the past is already gone the future is yet not here, you have only one moment you can live, and that’s your present moment.

But that’s so easy to say, I thought to myself as I snapped out of this thought one more time with the moist breeze soothing this disturbance.

But then it struck me like the lightning reaching out to its genie in purple waters.

I was already in the moment. But it keeps vanishing. Just like the sea fills up all the spaces between the rocks one moment and the next, the tide recedes leaving those spaces empty.

But then again the waves swim back ashore and thus the cycle goes on.

Happiness and peace is there in every moment, but you need to keep coming back to it to feel it. YOU WON’T FIND IT ANYWHERE OUTSIDE.

And I observed that my breath helped me get back every time. The waves, the breeze, the sensation of touch as my fingers rested on my greater toe, it all helped me get back to the moment.

It broke the grip that my phone had on me, the noise from the chattering of families and  friends in the background had on me, the random people running around had on me, and all the other countless distractions around me which stopped me from living in the that moment.

And then, I fell in that cycle.

I still remember how it felt,

To live in the moment for the first time,

Touching the wonders of life with every breath I took,

And that’s when I learnt what it is like to come alive.                           

It’s all about MINDFULNESS. It's all that matters.

This post is written as a part of 'All that Matters' contest at BlogAdda.com in association with INK Talks 2013.