A second Chance

There lived a very talented musician called Hasan in the city of Mecca. He used to play harp and sing in a very beautiful soul touching voice- A voice that could bring people to tears and also make them ecstatic at will..His music was said to be more effective that the highest quality alcohol in intoxicating people and filling them with amazement and joy.

Hasan was very popular in Mecca and used to wine and dine with the aristocracy of the city. Wherever he went, people came to see him and bestow their admiration on him. Whenever he performed, huge crowds cheered for him.

Hasan was living the good life. Years passed. Hasan's voice began to loose its golden touch. He fingers lost their magic with the harp. As he aged, his voice became like the shrill sound of the crow. People soon lost interest in his singing. Hasan had never thought about retirement and had been living a lavish lifestyle with little savings. He never thought that his magical voice would ever loose its touch. Slowly he lost all his wealth. There came a time when he did not have enough money to even buy harp strings. And there was no food to eat.

Shocked at the reversal of his fortune, one day Hasan came out of his house with the broken harp in his hands. 'How could you, Allah, make me suffer like this? You took away my wealth, my harp and now even my magical voice? How could you be so harsh? There is no justice in this world', thought Hasan as he walked towards the graveyard at the far end of the city.

As he walked by, no one came forward to greet him. Hasan reached the graveyard and sat down on a tomb. It seemed whatever honors and awards were bestowed on him in his youth were just a lie. The fame and the riches was just an illusion. Now, all of that was gone. Only pain, destitution and suffering remained. Maybe, he thought, he was being punished for his arrogance and pride in his skill. Now, his talent had gone and he was a broken man. Looking at the graves around him, he suddenly felt a sense of relief. At least, his life and along with it, his pain would soon end.

'Let me say a prayer before I die', thought Hasan. He had never really prayed before as there had been no need for it. He got everything even before he asked. He was always the chosen one. But now his end was near. His body would soon become the food for worms in a small grave.

Suddenly, he felt an urge to cry. ' Allah', he said, ' you have taken away my song, which was my wings to fly in this world; my life, my bread, my breath. I can't live without it. You have given me everything without my even asking for it and now you have taken it all away. Take it all away than. It was anyway yours. I am now naked and helpless at your door. I am now yours. If you choose to keep my alive, I will now play my harp only for you. But please send me money to repair my harp for you are always merciful and you will forgive me even though I forgot you when the times were good.'

After his tears dried up, He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stretched his arms and legs and lay down on the grave. Soon, the bird of his souls escaped from the prison of his body and flew away to a mystical garden.

Soon, his soul immersed in a sea of honey and got purged of all its afflictions..Hasan, felt a sea of happiness and contentment engulfing him..

Suddenly, he heard a voice say 'don't get attached to this. It is another experience. Leave now!'

Meanwhile, at his palace, Omar the caliph, had a dream. A strange voice said, ' take seven hundred dinars and give it to my favorite servant who lies at the graveyard of Mecca. Ask him to buy harp strings.'

Omar suddenly woke up. He must do what he has been ordered. He took the money in a pouch and left for the graveyard immediately.

There, lying on a grave , was a decrepit old man with torn clothes. ' Can he really be the chosen one?' Thought Omar. And than he laughed at himself. Again, he had been fooled by appearances. ' I keep forgetting and than relearn the same lesson again and again', thought Omar.

Omar went and sat close to the tomb where Hasan lied. Startled by the sound of footsteps, Hasan sat up And looked at Omar. Hasan , saw the royal clothes and thought he was going to be arrested for evading taxes.

' Do not fear, Hasan. I have been ordered to give

this seven hundred dinars to you. Spend it on whatever you need and do buy strings for your harp.'

Hasan was bewildered but slowly accepted the money. He stared at the money and than suddenly got up, broke his harp against the tomb and started tearing his clothes.

Omar was shocked to see this. As he was about to speak, Hasan started shaking and screaming in a loud voice. ' I curse my voice and this harp from keeping me away from Allah. It is my success and fame which kept me away from my creator. I wasted my life chasing ephemeral things. It was my ego which made me chase the praise from others and kept me away from Him who is the real one.'

Omar seeing this tried to calm Hasan down. ' this is also created by your ego. Your repentance only keeps you away from him longer. '

' But the harp is the source of all problems. This harp has kept me away from him.' I should give it up, retire and seek God', said Hasan

Omar replied,' You fool, it is God's gift to you. How does earning a livelihood keep you away from God? God himself sings through your song. '

Hasan looked directly at Omar's eyes and understood what was being said. He collected the money, bowed and left. He got his harp repaired. He would now only play and sing for God and not for the audience

The END

Discussion points

1. When Hasan received the money, he broke his Harp. Hassan felt that his harp and his singing was coming in the way his of meeting the God, but that is not the case. It is his attachment to the praise and money received from playing Harp and Song which was coming in the way. He needs to keep doing his work and having his attachment to the God rather than attachment to his riches. This is the essence of karma yoga. We do not need to change the work we are doing but we have to change the reason for which the work has been done. There is no reason for leaving the family life or the work that has to be done. But, we need to understand that everything is being done as an offering to the God. In this way, we can earn a decent living and still be with God. It is through continuous contemplation on the God that the reality is revealed to us.

2. Most of us develop enhanced ego because we believe that it is our effort that got us all the results . Unfortunately, we could end up losing all the things as the time flies-by and realize that all that we thought we created has just vanished. At this point, we can do two things: Either we die cribbing about our life or introspect to see where we have been wrong and turn back to God. Hasan does the latter and gets a second chance

3. When Hasan seemed to reach the end of his life, he realized his mistakes and prayed to God. At that point, he thought his end was near and that gave him relief. Until and unless we realize the ephemeral nature of our 'possessions' , we won’t be able to get to the reality of the life. To come to this realization, we need to first see why we have been born and what we are doing in the life and what is the aim of this life. Let us not wait till the end of our lives to realize that everything good or bad is given by GOD.

4. Until and unless we realize that what is being given to us is only by God and he could take it back any time, we won’t come to this final realization. Hassan in his moment of poverty realizes that everything was given by God and has been taken away by the God. At that moment, he became content and from that place he got a second chance.

5. One needs to realize that everything, whether it is family, riches, praises, loathing which have come to us, can leave us one day. Let us all Search for what is it that will stay forever.

STORY CREDIT: This story is based on the story "Pilgrimage to Paradise", from the book "Rumi, Tales to live By", by Kamla K. Kapur