Are You ENLIGHTENED? - By Dr Udaylal Pai

"Have you ever heard about enlightenment?" he asked while running his fingers through his long beard.
          "I am already enlightened" I cracked a joke with serious face.
"What?" his shock was evident from his croaked voice. So far he had an artificial softness and slowness in voice. That act of being calm disappeared from his face. The real he was visible.
         "I said I am enlightened" I repeated.
He gave me a blank stare. Then, touched the turban that he uses to cover his bald head. And nodded his head as if I am totally gone nuts.
        "Do you have any problems with that?" I asked.
"No...No...But, you see..." again, the artificial tone came back to his voice: "Enlightenment is a very serious, big thing...you don't understand..."
        "Oh...come on...It is the simplest thing under the sun. You don't understand"
He nodded himself in disagreement. Only a close watch would make out the anger that splashed in his eyes.  "See brother, you don't look like an enlightened person."
       "Really? ...then, please tell to me, how an enlightened person should look like?"
"Hmm...Your dress..."
        "Oh...Is there a dress code for an enlighten person?  Is it casual, party wear or formal?"
"Are you serious or pulling my leg?"
          "I am very serious Sir. I am an enlightened person, you know.  But I didn't know that there was a dress code or uniform for enlightened people."
He didn't answer for a while. Sometime back, when I started talking to him during a trip to Bangalore in the train, he introduced himself as a high-grade assistant to a famous spiritual guru. He is among the privileged second-man-in-command. In due course, based upon his seniority and performance, he can even be a guru, he said. We both were sharing same coupe. There were no other passengers in the coupe that had four berths.
"It's not like that, you won't understand..."
           “You are a Guru-in-waiting. So could you please explain to me, so that I will learn?”
"You should dress like a detached person..."he said.
           "What do you mean by detached?"
"Aha...You don't even know about detachment...And talking big-big things about enlightenment...." he laughed loudly as if he won an argument. Abruptly, he stopped his laugh and put on a serious face.
          "Sir, what is detachment? And what is dress code for enlightenment?" I asked again.
"Detaching from the worldly pleasure...detaching from the family bondage...the freedom comes from detachment...happiness comes from detachment....then we will lead to enlightenment...you still have family and want to enjoy worldly pleasures, right?"
           "Of course, yes...worldly pleasures are important for me, but without exploiting others...Now you said, detachment means freedom from bondage, right?"
"Yes"
           "This means, your concept of freedom is limited to detachment.  Your concept of happiness is limited to detachment..." I said. "But as far as I am concerned, freedom and happiness have no fixed borderline...I am happy when I am attached. I am happy when I am detached too. Similarly I am free in detachment and free in attachment too..."............................................. Click here to read full article..........................http://udaypai.in/?p=133

By Udaylal Pai
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