EVERY HEART BEAT IS A TEMPLE BELL

           EVERY HEART BEAT IS A TEMPLE BELL

For the last four decades or so  I have not visited any temple. But I love them. I appreciate their majestic structures and their inner and  outer holiness.

During my childhood my mother took me to a famous temple almost every day. What enchanted me there were the reverently dressed devotees and their melodious chanting of numerous hymns. Another attraction was a host of fruit vendors and sellers of child-friendly articles outside the temple.

Later when I started thinking about the origin of the world, I got extremely puzzled.  The whole process was an intolerable  brain-teaser and each time I felt that I had entered into a deeply disturbing abstraction and in order to retrieve my mental equilibrium, I should immediately hold something solid in my hands.  I actually did so and resolved that I would never again attempt to know about the origin of the world and the chronology of its creator.

Today I am absolutely convinced that there is only one Supreme Creator whose laws are immutable and, if violated, inevitably punishable.  

Now it is also my firm conviction that everything that exists in the  universe bears His unmistakable signature and every heart beat in all the beings is a grateful temple bell.

I don’t want to elaborate this viewpoint. However, quote here one  of my favourite poems written by an Irish poet ALEXANDER CECIL FRANCES (1818-1895).

Its title is:   

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

ALL THINGS bright and beautiful.

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful.

The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each  little bird that sings.

He made their glowing colours

He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset, and the morning

That brightens up the sky,

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water,

We gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

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27^th July 2020                                 G. R. KANWAL