Redeye to New York from San Francisco. Somewhere over the midwest, I pull the window shade down and stare at the constellations. A bright clear night, slight patch of clouds. Below, pockets of scattered lights.
The moon is just out of sight, ahead of the plane. I press my face into the glass, nose bending sideways, and squint until I can see it. It is a half moon. From this angle, it looks like the moon with a face, like you see in children’s books. He smiles at me.
“Beautiful, huh?”
I nod, then look out past the wing and up to the stars.
“It is,” I breathe out loudly. “It is.”
We stay that way for a while. The man on the moon, stars, earth, the hum of the jet engines, me. My mind wanders, thoughts upon thoughts. Things I wish weren’t so. Things I wish I could change.
I feel the moon watching me. I look at him again. He’s smiling. An ever knowing smile.
“It’s still beautiful,” he says.
I watch my thoughts disappear into wisps. Only the stars remain.
“Yeah,” I say silently in my head. “Yeah.”
I press my face harder into the glass until I can see him better. He glows bright, lighting up the sky.
“It’s not my light,” he says. “I’m just open to it. So I receive it. The brightness you see from me, it’s because of that.”
So I don’t need to create light, I think. It already exists. I just have to open to it. The rest happens naturally.
I can feel him smile.
“Like a Lotus,” he says. “Receive the light, you will bloom.”
A Lotus blooming. I love that image.
“Go to sleep,” he says gently. “You’ve learned enough for one night.”
I nod, whisper a thank you, pull up the shade, and lie back in my seat. The jet engines lull me to sleep.
“It’s not my light,” he says. “I’m just open to it. So I receive it. The brightness you see from me, it’s because of that.”
So I don’t need to create light, I think. It already exists. I just have to open to it. The rest happens naturally.
I can feel him smile.
“Like a Lotus,” he says. “Receive the light, you will bloom.”
A Lotus blooming. I love that image.”
Kamal I love your writing, you have made my heart sing again. The lotus is such a beautiful flower and a great metaphor for our journey in life, drawing nurturance through our muddy murky times, learning what we need to strengthen our spirit, to keep growing without attachment to the end results, just staying open in heart as we make our way blooming open as we let the sun’s rays nurture, kiss and warm our hearts.. Keep blooming come what may..
Namaste!
Margarita x
This is so lovely, and I feel it taught me something, about being open to the light. Thank you
Beautiful.
What a great experience for you. One I would hope to get to have one day.
Your words brought tears to my eyes, and an overwhelming feeling of abundance in my heart. Thank you, Kamal….
So happy to see your new post! Have been waiting 🙂
Hi Kamal, a few months back I sent you a message about your novel. I was wondering if the rest of the novel was available to read?
Kind regards, Sermed
Hi Sermed, it will be published in January 2017.
Stumbled upon this while looking for something else. What a happy stumble! This is what I needed to find, after all. Thank you.
I LOVE this!