The Graceful Art of Allowing / Milostiva umjetnost dopuštanja

 The Graceful Art of Allowing

(Serbian Version below)

One fine day an ancient sage sat beside a pathway, waiting.

Every so often people would pass by, entertained towards their own destinations, always heading somewhere. And the old man just stayed, waiting.

His wrinkled face sparkled with vivacious eyes and a serene smile, a peaceful certainty of something.

Whoever took notice of his presence would feel drawn to stop for a few instants, such was the strength of his fragile presence.

Something about him caused time to halt, as if all chores became silent and the whisper of stillness extended a warm invitation to contemplate. For seconds, even the constant hum of thoughts would disappear. Precious seconds of something more.

Then, as if by the snap of one’s fingers, the passer-by remembered what had brought him to this moment and perplexed but peaceful, he would keep on pursuing his path towards his regular daily occupations.

And the wise old man just stayed. Waiting.

Some days had gone by when one of the most frequent travellers on that road, overcome by his curiosity, decided to approach the old man and ask him what he was doing there.

With a sweet smile the ancient one replied: “I am waiting for nothing”.

The young man had never heard of such a strange thing to do. After all, no one waits for nothing! There is always something enticing our waiting, our wanting to achieve.

But no. This old man was sitting in his own diaphanous presence, waiting for NO-THING. And with a smile.

Seeing how perplexed the young man looked, the sage clarified: “I seek nothing, now I AM the pathway and in my waiting everything I need finds me. May you wish to stop travelling, fighting, having to understand and you will then know yourself, in a breath of Beingness, dissolving in the flow of the journey itself”.

The young one could not grasp what this meant. But he could feel it. Staying here, in the Presence of this ancient wise and tranquil man was like receiving a thousand blessings from God and gradually nothing seemed more relevant than stopping and staying, day after day, just here, beside the pathway, keeping him company in his waiting for nothing and gradually discovering that he also was all he had ever sought for.

Text by T. C. Aeelah

Photo by Dhivakaran S (Pexels)

Milostiva umjetnost dopuštanja

Jednog lijepog dana stari mudrac sjedio je kraj puta i čekao.

Svako malo ljudi bi prolazili pored njega, zabavljeni ka nekim svojim odredištima, uvijek zapućeni negdje. A starac je ostajao da čeka.

Njegovo naborano lice sijalo je živahnim očima i spokojnim osmijehom, mirnom sigurnošću u nešto.

Ko god bi primijetio njegovo prisustvo osjetio bi potrebu da se zaustavi na trenutak, jer takva je bila snaga njegovog krhkog prisustva.

Nešto u vezi njega činilo je da vrijeme stane, kao da su sve obaveze utihnule i šapat tišine uputio topli poziv na razmišljanje. Na nekoliko sekundi bi nestalo čak i stalno brujanje misli. Dragocjene sekunde koje pružaju nešto više.

A onda, kao da bi neko pucnuo prstima i prolaznik bi sjetio šta ga je dovelo do ovog trenutka i zbunjen, ali miran, nastavio bi svoj put ka svojim svakodnevnim obavezama.

A mudri starac je nastavljao da sjedi. Da čeka.

Nakon nekoliko dana jedan od prolaznika koji su najčešće išli ovim putem, obuzet radoznalošću, odlučio da priđe starcu i pita ga šta to radi.

Sa dražesnim osmijehom mudrac je odgovorio: „Čekam ništa“.

Mladić nikada nije čuo za tako čudnu stvar. Uostalom, niko ne čeka ništa! Uvijek postoji nešto što mami naše čekanje, našu želju za postizanjem.

Ali ne. Ovaj starac je sjedio u svom prozračnom prisustvu čekajući NIŠTA. I sa osmijehom.

Vidjevši kako je zbunjeno izgledao mladić, mudrac je pojasnio: „Ne tražim ništa, jer sada sam JA put i u mom čekanju pronalazi me sve što mi treba. Ako poželiš da prestaneš da putuješ, da se boriš, da se trudiš da sve razumiješ, tada ćeš spoznati sebe, u dahu Bitisanja, rastvarajući se u tok samog putovanja “.

Mladić nije mogao shvatiti šta ovo znači. Ali mogao je da osjeti. Ostavši ovdje, u prisustvu ovog starog, mudrog i spokojnog čovjeka kao da je primio hiljadu blagoslova od Boga i malo po malo, maldiću se ništa nije činilo bitnijim od toga da se zaustavi i ostane, dan za danom, upravo ovdje, pored puta, da pravi društvo mudracu u njegovom čekanju ničega i postepeno otkriva da je on sam sve ono što je ikada tražio.

Autor teksta: T. C. Aeelah

Prevod: Ranka Mirić