Essence

 
Amma
could explain
a natural phenomenon
and its deeper meaning
in life, with ease,
to an ever-curious
teenager like me.

Amma would say:

“Watch a river
enter the ocean.

Tell me—
where exactly
does the river end
and the ocean begin?”

I would look
for the boundary.

There was none.

She would smile and say:

“We give them
different names
while they are apart—

river,
ocean.

But essentially,
both are water.

When they meet,
nothing is lost.

Only the boundary
disappears.”

Then, pausing,
she would say:

“That is Union.

Not becoming
someone else—

but discovering
there was never
an other.”

Image courtesy: rajGuru Notes