Enjoy life's simple pleasures

With the advancement of civilisation we seem to be losing our capacity to enjoy simple pleasures of life. Today we want ready-made pleasures like films, teledramas and videos. Most of us waste a precious part of our lives talking nonsense on our mobile phones and playing video games.

As a child of six one of my pleasures was to dip my feet in the flowing water of a brook and to look at the tiny fish swimming by. On a moonlit night my mother and I used to look at the moon with wonder.

She used to say that God Sakra had drawn the picture of a rabbit on the surface of the moon. And I still see the rabbit's picture clearly! Meanwhile, my father used to take me to the nearest temple to show me the fine murals. I was amazed to see how wrongdoers suffered in hell, undergoing various types of punishment. On many occasions, I spent endless hours watching how a Sittara (an artist) mixed colours and brought life to still figures on the wall with dexterous brushstrokes.

Many years later, my grandson brought me a 'gift'. He had something in his cupped hands. When he uncupped his hands I saw a tiny butterfly struggling to fly away!

"Grandpa, isn't it beautiful?" he asked me in an innocent way.

"It's beautiful indeed. Let it fly away," I told him.

It occurred to me then that with our complicated civilisation, some of us have lost that sense of discovery and amazement with which children look at the world.

Be one with a waterfall

These simple pleasures of life are beginning to disappear fast. Today even a small child would ask for a mobile phone or a toy gun and the parents would buy them to "keep him occupied". At the same time we are beginning to lose our trust in ourselves. We think only electronic gadgets can give us pleasure.

While the developed West and some parts of the East are enjoying their fair share of electronic pleasures, the Japanese still treasure those simple pleasures money cannot buy. For instance, schoolchildren, young lovers, parents and grandparents flock into the country at cherry-blossom time to enjoy that unique pleasure nature has provided.

What is more, the Japanese hold a moon-viewing party at which nobody is allowed to talk. They sit patiently and watch the moon lighting up the world and their hearts. Inspired by the moon sometimes they write short poems called Haiku expressing their feelings.

We too can follow this important practice instead of watching silly teledramas when the moon is shining outside our own homes. However, it is a Herculean task to move children, parents and grandparents away from the idiot box. Watching the moon is inexpensive, environment-friendly and invigorating. The moon is no ordinary miracle to be ignored.

God or nature has given us a beautiful world to live in. But instead of enjoying its beauty, most of us neglect natural sounds, smells, and sights and go for poor duplicates. Instead of listening to a bird's song, we tune in to our favourite channel and listen to man-made music which is no match for nature's music. In fact, musicians are trying to reproduce the sounds of birds. The same can be said about natural scenes. Instead of going out to see the wonders of nature, we keep ourselves surrounded by paintings that depict twisted figures.

Having spent my formative years in a remote village, I used to listen to the birds singing in the trees. At night I listened to the endless music of crickets. With no radio or television I used to close my eyes and listen to nature's glorious sounds that were soothing to the ear.

To create music we spend quite a lot of time and energy. However, this kind of man-made music is inferior to the music you hear from a cascading waterfall. If you happen to watch the splendour of such a scene, remember to listen to its sound and to become one with it. For a moment, close your eyes and feel that you are one with the waterfall. When you do this, you too will start falling with the water, deep inside your system. Very soon you will realise that you are in tune with nature. This is the highest form of ecstasy you can ever think of.

From long training and habit in the village, I woke up very early in the morning. To me it was the most appealing time of the day. The cool spreading light of dawn gradually brought into focus the shady trees in our backyard. Soon the birds would join the morning glory with their beautiful songs. I used to see a few monkeys jumping from one branch to another. Even our domestic pets could be seen moving out of their places of sleeping to enjoy the beautiful day.

In the city where I spend the evening of my life, I am jolted from my sleep by the alarm clock. Then begin all the sounds of civilisation: the sound of moving trucks, lorries, buses and cars; the deafening sound of the radio and television. The civilised world is crazy to have invented such a plethora of sounds. Most of us do not listen to the radio but we switch it on to create some sound in our homes. As the day matures, sweep ticket sellers and street vendors make our lives miserable with their unbearable noise.

Nature has provided us with simple pleasures. It is high time that we realized their value.