Temptation

5th December, 2010

There is The Annual Day in my school today. I’m not participating in any particular program but I have dubbed my voice for a very important character in one of the plays. I’m looking forward to attend the program, especially because I want to talk to my girlfriend there. But at the same time I don’t think it’s important for me to be there instead I could spend time with my parents today who have their marriage anniversary today. So we finally decide that we shall not attend the program instead we shall go to a Temple of a prophet near the coast and afterwards will go for a movie.

       And there, I, my father, my mother and my sister went towards the coast towards the shrine of the prophet. After taking some rounds inside the temple observing but not praying I decided to go towards the coast.

       My family is still inside attending to the prophet, asking for every kind of favor from him because they think he has his communications with God and can propose to Him their requests.

       Outside the Temple lies a concrete compound in front of which lies a huge garden enclosed by crossed wires beyond which lies the beach. The beach is blocked by a constructed wall with a rusted gate-entrance followed by steps which ultimately lead to the beach. Beyond the compound lies a corridor which leads to the gate. This corridor is very narrow which is side-lined by the gardens enclosed in wires. I felt a strange urge to go to the beach.

       It is going dark very swiftly. In fact it had already grown dark pink and the sky was turning black. The moon was not noticeable. There was only one source of light in the corridor. Few people were strolling around the compound. I finally decided to go for the corridor and towards the beach. I slowly start walking looking towards the long corridor. The other end is not noticeable now due to the darkness and the limited light. But I know that there lies a gate which would lead me to my current temptation.

       There is a bolstering chill in the air. I stand in front of the entrance of the corridor and try to look far away towards the end but still see no end except the infinite obscurity. Going towards The Gate would mean I would plunge simply in a deep ocean of absolute darkness. Nevertheless I start walking.

       I know even in the darkness the straight, narrow corridor will lead me to The Gate. I keep walking deeper and deeper into the ocean. The darkness is so intense that vision even for a meters radius is impossible. I walk; I walk until I can’t see anything. And deeper that I go fainter the the sounds of the world are heard to me and more intense becomes the melody of the ocean waves crashing against the coast. I pause and hear the sound of the sea. There seems to be a message it wants to convey to me. I feel its calling me towards itself. I wonder whether it wants to tell me about some treasure that it hides within its depths or some old secret which some old pirate had told him ages ago.

       I start walking again. I have started feeling creepy and afraid in the blinding darkness. I only walk towards the distant sounds of the waves that call me. But soon I have been drained of all my courage. And then my Heart tells me that I have to revive my courage and keep walking. I start singing loudly. I sing as the song comes spontaneously from my heart.

       This act gives me great comfort in the dark. I keep walking. The rush of the waves are heard more distinctly now. I know they are calling me. I walk and walk neither knowing when the end to this Path will come nor caring about the world I had left behind.

       And then all of a sudden a faint light can be seen and at a foot’s distance I can see the end beyond which lies a border made up of dust and gravel beyond which lies The Gate. I run towards the end of the corridor and stop there. The voices of the waves are calling me from that rusting Gate. I can clearly hear them. I cannot see what lies beyond The Gate but I know there must be the descending steps and then the beach and then the sea-my Temptation.

       “Come, come to me…” the voice roars.

“But why, what do you want of me?” I ask, afraid.

“That shall I say when thee come to me”

“But I don’t think I should.” I said not knowing why I was denying my Temptation for going to the sea.

“Come and thou wilt be rewarded” the waves tempt me.

But I still have my doubts. What if this is a trick? What if the Evil was tricking me towards a trap? What if I find nothing, but Evil on descending towards my Temptation? But this could really be a secret concealed to me by God, Himself. Still I’m not so sure. I don’t think that God would have manifested Himself in that darkness. I stand there, unable to make a decision, staring at The Gate and trying to imagine what I would find if I go beyond it towards the Temptation. And then I remember a quote-

     “Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also”

What a wise quote! I think. And I ask my Heart, “Where do you think should I go?”

       My Heart considers the question and replies wisely, “Father, you live in the Visible and Exact. A point comes when you look towards the Invisible and Feeble, and are tempted by a strange urge to be there, you feel it calling you. And driven by this Temptation you go towards the Bridge which leads you to the Invisible. You walk on it. You walk in spite the fact that a constant darkness lies on The Bridge which conceals the Invisible from your vision.

       “And then finally you reach a point where The Bridge between the Visible and the Invisible ends ending a journey driven by Temptation. There lies a border which separates the Bridge and the Gate leading to the Invisible beyond which you think lays your heart. Coming nearer to the conclusion of the journey the Temptation grows faint and weak. And then you realize that maybe it was a useless journey. Well, I say that your Temptation is not bad. Nor it is good. But it has leaded you to a path where you have to re-think and re-consider your objectives. Well in this journey you have learnt many things; things which may later help you in the Path of your Calling. But this journey does end here. It is better that you now return to the Visible where your family is waiting for you. Go now and don’t look back as you go towards the other end, to the Visible because if you feel regret over your decision to go away and look back towards the Invisible your Soul will be destroyed in a manner which will be incurable. Go now, go!”

       I take a last look at the border and The Gate and The Invisible and turn my back towards them. I can already hear the anger in the voices from the invisible, angry that I did not enter their territory. The cry for me and wail me to come back. As I walk farther away my Temptation rises again and I feel an urge to look back but I remember the words of Heart and battle my inner temptation.

       “Come back for here is your real treasure!” cry the voices.

       I keep walking, ignoring the innumerable attempts of the voices to tempt me to look back. I keep walking towards the Visible, now the voices of the world once again becoming clearer and as the voices of the Invisible faint. I finally win the battle with my Temptation and crushing my regret. My Heart had really leaded me to the right path. I no longer feel regret for following my Heart as I had when I had turned my back towards the Invisible.

       And I reach the end of the Bridge between the Visible and the Invisible. I enter in the Visible. I walk on the compound in front of which lies the prophet’s Temple and my family waiting for me with worried looks on their faces. They will surely ask me if I was insane to walk in that lurking darkness!

       But they know not, what a fantastic battle I had won in that fantastic journey.

-Avi “The Father”

(Based on a personal experience)