The mother sings a lullaby and rocks her child to sleep. Yes, she does not merely sing, she rocks her child too. Is it that rocking movement that leaves its imprint on our minds, making us long for movement all the time, ceaselessly? Or is it because the earth on which we are born is in ceaseless movement around itself and around the sun too, all the time? Or is it because this movement gives rise to the illusion of time, the illusion of the sun rising and setting and creating days and nights and weeks and months and years and birth and death, and time is movement? Or is it because we are for ever occupied with the rising and setting thoughts that keep carrying our attention in waves towards one object after another in quick succession? Whatever be the reason, we are in love with movement.

We do not know the beauty of stillness, of silence, of that which does not move. And we do not seem to care to know either. We are quite satisfied to be caught in the whirl of movement, of action that takes us round, round and round and before we know it, drags us into its deadly centre. While we are going in circles, the same circles of wanting and seeking and finding and losing and wanting and seeking all over again, we do not realise the deadly nature of this movement. We are blissfully (or perhaps sorrowfully!) unaware that this is a fatal trap.

In fact we never realise that all our movement are cyclical. To us they seem progressive. We feel we are going forward, getting somewhere in life, achieving goals. Do we recognise that all our so called progress is merely the vicious cycle of getting and spending? Nothing more at all. We are busy getting something which we are then buy spending in one way or the other. The greatest irony is that in this eternal commerce, we forget the real business of life and never make any real profit whatsoever! ‘do we recognise that even when we are ‘getting’, let alone when were spending, we are actually losing, we are actually being robbed our own natural bliss?’ asks Sri A.R.Natarajan.

Dr Sarada
President, RMCL