We Often Lose, Only To Gain

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 8 June 2023 A tale from the Bhagwat Puran: A crow once flew into the sky with a piece of meat in its beak. Twenty other crows set out in hot pursuit and began to attack it viciously. When the crow finally dropped the meat, its pursuers left it alone and flew off shrieking after the morsel. Said the crow, “I’ve lost the meat and gained this peaceful sky." Said a Zen monk: "When my house burnt down, I got an unobstructed view of the moon at night!” The so-called losses and gains are relative perceptions which are understood only in a context and often with hindsight wisdom. Sri Aurobindo cleared all six extremely difficult steps to becoming an ICS. But he failed in the last Equestrian Test and had to come back to India from England. An elderly relative in Bengal consoled him by suggesting that it was time for him to introspect and take the next step after meditative thinking. And that meditative thinking metamorphosed Sri Aurobindo's whole existence. Had he cleared the last hurdle to become an ICS, he would have had status and money but he would also have spent his whole life, licking the boots of the Brits just the way all ICS officers did during the British Raj. They remained spineless servants of the Brits and sang hymns and hosannas in praise of the English. Aurobindo's 'failure' in England paved the way for a far greater success. Though there's no definite method in the lives of humans and things often appear at random, it has been my personal experience that a loss provides a plethora of perspectives and options, whereas success restricts you to a limited space. Comforts in life don't jolt you but miseries stir you. It's all about how we perceive losses and miseries that visit our life in rotations. Sufis believe that when you've nothing, you've everything. "Faqat Ek Kashkool Haath Mein Tha/ Tamaam Kaainaat Uss Mein Utarti Chali Gayee” (I only had a bowl-mendicant's bowl- in my possession, the whole universe descended into it). The great mystic Nizami was a rich man who lost everything when fate turned its face. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the young Nizami, who thanked his (ostensibly dismal) fate and became a Darvesh who wrote, "Makhzan-al-Asraar" (A Treasure of Mysteries), "Khusrau wa Shirin," "Laila wa Majnu " "Iskandar Nama" and " Haft Paikar " (Seven Beauties; Haft: Seven in Persian; we say Hafta for a week). Ill-fate carries concealed blessings in its wake is an old Arabic proverb. But its relevance is eternal. This is the truth, clear and plain, we often lose only to gain. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/lose-gain/d/129946 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism