I lost my mobile phone in a journey. I was very worried and upset for exactly one hour. I was worried that someone might use my mobile phone to call and I would have to pay for the bill. I was worried about this and about that, thinking of what was happening with my new phone. After exactly one hour, I was very happy, because now it gave me an excuse to buy iPhone5.
I went to google to find out where I could buy iPhone5. It was disappointing for me because It was not yet available, the online shops say that maybe it will come in September, or October or maybe November. Who knows? So I was very restless because I lost my new mobile phone and iPhone5 was still not available. Then I thought to myself: Why do I need a mobile phone? I am working for all sentient beings and I definitely cannot deal with all sentient beings if they call me all the time on the mobile phone. I have only 24 hours, one mouth to talk and two ears to listen. Even if I use 2 mobile phones at the same time, I will not be able to create one more mouth to have each speak to a phone. Even if I don’t sleep and I speak with one being for 30 seconds, saying “Hello” and “Bye”, I will only be able to speak with a few thousand human beings a day. So mobile phone is of no use for me, actually. Why am I running after a mobile phone?
This is a great teaching for me. All my beloved Gurus’ teaching is very clear. This is samsara. We are endlessly running after something, for example in my case from one generation of mobile phone to the next. Is this really meaningful or not? I am hardly using mobile phone, sometimes I can’t even remember where I leave it, maybe in the kitchen, maybe in the toilet or maybe in the bag.
The same with many things we have in life. During the Pad Yatra, we can only bring those things that we can carry. Our life journey is the same like our Pad Yatra. We can only take what we can carry, the things we carry should be good things and not the bad things that will continue to add to the weight, life after life. One day when the load of karma is too heavy, we drop, maybe to the animal realm, or to hell realm. This is why I often ask my friends and students to join us in Pad Yatra, that would give them a sense of appreciating their own lives and a sense of genuine contentment and satisfaction.
Today, I have no news to share, except this loss of my mobile phone and not being able to buy iPhone5. It’s a great reminder of my Gurus’ teaching of cyclic existence.