Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Why thinkers always spoke of the power of mind?

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Lakshmi Kothaneth -


lakshmiobserver@gmail.com -


A bird which was feeding on seeds from the grass on a patch that was cooled by the shadow of a streetlight in broad daylight reminds us of the importance of shade and water in summer.


There is a corner at a window AC which always has a drop of water to spare, and the little birds know that. They come without fail with lot of cheer daily taking turns to snatch the drop before it hits the ground. There is a tree that has been a constant platform for birds’ nests. Silently a prayer is said that it remains in place and intact


for it has always been a source of comfort for birds.


Come summer, plants and birds will brave the temperatures.


It is nature’s cycle of seasons just like our lives when there are periods when everything seemed to be going tough only to be refreshed again with a ray of hope. I say ‘seemed’ because in reality it is quite different. That is why thinkers always spoke of the power of mind. Mind travels faster than light and wind. And what it goes through can be destructive or enriching.


It is this very place which nourishes ideas and inspires inventions, and it is this very site that churns out depressing thoughts that can break one. Even the powerful mind has a challenge — ‘Time’. Time can be a friend or an enemy depending on which side of the line one is standing.


A young life that is cut off makes you wonder why the journey was so abrupt, and the one who lived a full life still leaves you for wanting more. The pain is the same even though we can try to justify until time takes us to a shore where we learn to accept.


Acceptance is the only healing that allows us to move to a passage that continues to the next stage of life. Acceptance is very powerful too because the minute one accepts, the issue


ceases to be a problem and one begins to move on.


But water can still be rough and the sailing can be tough. But sailors of yesteryears followed monsoon to find their path. They depended on wind. We also have directions but lot of times we fail to detect. If birds have built-in compass we must have them too. But somewhere along we lost in touch with it. Is it what we call intuition?


Maybe that is why they ask us to look inward for insight and not be influenced by external forces. Just like the cooking pot first picks up the heat to cook the contents to prepare food, it is our experiences of life that builds our mind set, but sometimes we do not have control over temperature. Then we ought to become the matter that is hard to cook. Being thick skinned is not enough, because it is life’s experiences that can be the best lessons ever learnt more than any degree the best of universities can provide. Some of the best scientists and innovators in the world have proven this.


That is how gold is made they tell us — the heat removes the impurities.


So let the sea churn but calmness will prevail and we will get to see the clear water. The gold continues to be the precious metal.


A tree that tells us a similar story is the frankincense tree because it has to bear the scar and bleed before it leaves tears to dry for us to enjoy its fragrance and medicinal properties. The tell tales of the scars on the bark of the tree will prevail to show to the world how much of frankincense it has provided for us.


Even the sun and moon have to go through eclipses once in a while for them to come back out of the shadow to shine again. But the point is they shine eventually after eclipse. And gold will always retain its quality and the frankincense has its properties even if they are the first slot of resin of the season or the best variety known as, ‘Hogari.’


While the first layers of frankincense might come in with impurities of its surroundings, it is the sap that comes later that comes clear in the colour of the light, greenish to golden yellow.


We have to remember however that one wrong cut on the frankincense tree can kill it forever just like a human mind. So let us remind ourselves we are being molded and purified to be refined and clear.


So inhale and exhale slowly as we go through the process and wait for our turn to shine and add a twinkle to the world.


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