Repost: A Teacher to His Student

originally published on 02/22/2017

True, we met.

But know that the mountain you are climbing, I am descending from it. I know the heights of it, the steepness of it. So when I tell you about it, you laugh. I smile a modest smile. For someone also did the same when I was you, when I was climbing and when I was learning, yet I boasted of being nothing. Now when we part and move in our ways, and you will face those arduous slopes where a single step up becomes tough to take, then you will remember my smile and that will move you.

If ever I had forced you to accept, though truth, you would have refused then and forgotten me the moment we parted.

But the truth came to you and you remembered me, remembered that someone has stepped there before and moved to a height where your heart spaces fear and freedom, skies and the earth, hate and love all in one place. That kept you going.

Soon the time will come that you will have to descend from the heights to smile at everyone who comes in your way back, to tell them about the path they are heading, though they won't accept it, just like you didn't.

But they too will remember you at those difficult times which no one can skip, for they are the attributes of the mountain, not the path.

No matter which way you climb it, you have to face the slope to reach a height.

The cost of freedom

Everywhere in debates, you hear 'humans are born free' as a justification to libertarian arguments. But nobody asks about how we live after we are born. Humans may be born free but they can't live free-at least not in its ideal sense. We have to fit in the society, learn the regional language and get accustomed to the prevailing culture. It is a great sacrifice to the major part of that freedom-as-a-birthright we make even before we are capable of making conscious decisions. 

The fact that we see followers of religions, ideologies, cults so invested in them that they will do anything the leader says also speaks of the innate desire of humans.

Ok, that is just a rant. There exists the freedom in decision making for an individual as he grows up. The society has the roles set and it is up to us which role we accept. I guess that's the freedom most of us wish for and enjoy-to make that decision on our own. Once we choose a role for ourselves another part of freedom is lost. Now you have to perform as society expects from that role. If you lag behind you can only blame yourself because it was your decision in the first place. If you want to switch the role to suit yourself you have to take the blame of being a failure because it was you who chose that.

That my friend is the cost of freedom. 

It is a lifetime burden if things don't work out or a lifetime joy if everything works fine. It is in the truest sense a coin flip. 

Are you willing to take the risk? 

Apparently few do. I guess that's why you see a few leaders and many followers. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

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A SCHOLAR AND A MARTYR

The prophet (s.a.w) once said that the scholar’s ink is holier than the martyr’s blood. There is a reason why?

For a martyr, the only pain to go through is the blood oozing out of his body that ends with death. For a scholar or the one looking for knowledge, there comes an even tougher stage of ‘perseverance’ after pain. There is yet another amazing thing about the knowledge that no matter how sophisticated our tools and machines became, the ‘pursuit of knowledge’ has never been less challenging. It is only ‘information’ that is flooding on the web, on our mobile phones or any e-devices. If piling that information is what this is all about then what a luck computers have got to be bloodless!!!

And we have got an edge over computers in a way to say ‘no’ to the commands sent by the brain by something we like to call a heart.

And that’s where all that pain lies. Saying ‘no’ to your desires.

That’s what it takes to be a scholar or an e-scholar!!!

Scholars and E-scholars

The prophet(s.a.w) once said that the scholar's ink is holier than the martyr's blood.
There is a reason why?
For a martyr the only pain to go through is the blood oozing out of his body that ends with death.
For a scholar or the one looking for knowledge there comes even tougher stage of 'perseverance' after pain.
There is yet another amazing thing about knowledge that no matter how sophisticated our tools and machines became, the 'pursuit of knowledge' has never been less challenging.
Its only 'information' that is flooding on web, on our mobile phones or any e-devices.
If piling that information is what this is all about then what a luck computers have got to be bloodless!!!

And we have got an edge over computers in a way to say 'no' to the commands sent by brain by something we like to call heart.
And that's where all that pain lies. Saying 'no' to your desires.
That’s what it takes to be a scholar or an e-scholar!!!!!

A teacher to his student

True, we met.

But know that the mountain you are climbing, I am descending from it. I know the heights of it, the steepness of it. So when I tell you about it, you laugh. I smile a modest smile. For someone also did the same when I was you, when I was climbing and when I was learning, yet I boasted of being nothing. Now when we part and move in our ways, and you will face those arduous slopes where a single step up becomes tough to take, then you will remember my smile and that will move you.

If ever I had forced you to accept, though truth, you would have refused then and forgotten me the moment we parted.

But the truth came to you and you remembered me, remembered that someone has stepped there before and moved to a height where your heart spaces fear and freedom, skies and the earth, hate and love all in one place. That kept you going.

Soon the time will come that you will have to descend from the heights to smile at everyone who comes in your way back, to tell them about the path they are heading, though they won't accept it, just like you didn't.

But they too will remember you at those difficult times which no one can skip, for they are the attributes of the mountain, not the path.

No matter which way you climb it, you have to face the slope to reach a height.