God Loves Fun - Enlightenment from a child on a beach...

Very often, the most profound truths seem to come in one sudden flash. It is akin to putting on a light in a dark room. Just because the room has been dark for years does not mean that it will not get lit in a moment. This moment of truth can happen anywhere and at any time. And yes, it can happen to anyone. Strangely, you have to make that effort to realize that you are in the dark and then make efforts to grope around to find the switch. When you will find the switch is anybody’s guess, but once you find it, en’light’enment is not far!

I found a the switch to a tiny little bulb on one fine morning at the beach.

As I lazily sat on the warm and deserted sands of the beach, my gaze fell upon the little child playing with the sand. He was all alone and though a huge expanse of golden sand separated him from me, the silence was so deep that I could hear his feet crunching on the dry sands. The swishing of the waves seemed to provide some sort of a background melody to his little play. He had a spring in his step and a cherubic smile on his face. I wondered what on earth made him so happy. I got up from my place and went a bit closer. I settled in this new spot from where I could observe him better.

He was kneeling down and gleefully throwing the sand up in the air. I thought that maybe he was digging for something - a clam or a shell maybe? But then, why was he throwing the sand up in the air? Maybe he was crazy. But why was he digging so furiously at that spot? Questions swarmed my mind but I was too lazy to think. I just allowed the thoughts a free flow as I observed the antics of the lad.

He presently began to pile up the sand into a little mound in front of him. The mound slowly grew in size till a dune formed and almost threatened to block my view of him. And all of a sudden, an intense concentration swept across his face. He seemed to be shaping and making something. What was he making? And why?

Time passed and the outlines of a castle began to emerge in the dune. A central dome came up and he built two neat peripheral towers. But then, he did not seem to care much about the other two towers which he made in haste with the least care. It seemed so strange and I wondered as to how someone who had made two towers so perfectly could suddenly become so carefree and careless?

He was now giving the gateway-like structure all his attention.

I was no longer lazing now. I was actively thinking what was the child up to. Bits and pieces of the puzzle that I had set for myself began to fall in place. I thought that if I kept observing for some more time, I would be able to comprehend his whole idea.

The boy suddenly stopped working and began to giggle. I wondered what made him laugh. He began to walk away from his half complete castle. And there he stood, watching his creation in joy and wonder. The castle was not complete and felt imperfect. But one look at his face and you knew that there could be nothing more satisfying, wholesome and perfect that what he had created.

And then, it happened...

He came tearing down towards the castle and in one dreadful moment razed the entire structure down to earth, making it bite the dust literally and figuratively. I was shocked at this terrible act of indiscretion.

Why did he do that? For what purpose was all his efforts if he only wanted to pull it down in the end? How could he … … ...My mind was a whirlpool of questions. When I just seemed to understand what he was doing, everything had gone haywire! Everything now seemed incomprehensible and chaotic.

The child stood triumphantly on the ruins of what was a decent castle. He had a huge smile plastered on his face and he said aloud, “Gee! That was fun!”

“No! That was stupidity and rubbish...”, I screamed within myself.

And then, I found the switch.

The Divine Child we call God, plays on the sands of time - building, chiseling and destroying - all for fun. Yes! (G)eneration, (O)rganization and (D)estruction is what GOD stands for and they are all done for fun! It is not simply that it is said, “Doing anything is child’s play for God!”

It is indeed a child’s play...

The best I can do is simply watch and be grateful for the opportunity that I have got to watch the Divine Child playing...

1. A dialogue with a kid.

2. There is someone above to love me - a child's experience with Sri Sathya Sai.

3. The God in a child and the child in God.

4. God through the eyes of a child - Childhood experiences with Swami.