Escaping from the Self!

Two old Jewish men were sitting on a park bench.

“Well, what do you do now that you are retired?” asked one.

“I have a hobby … I raise pigeons,” replied the other.

“Pigeons? Where do you keep them? You live in a condominium!”

“I keep them in a closet.”

“In your closet? Don’t they shit on your shoes and on your clothes?”

“No,” said the man. “I keep them in a box.”

“In a box? How do they breathe?”

“Breathe? They don’t breathe,” said the man, “they are all dead.”

“Dead?” exclaimed the friend, shocked, “You keep dead pigeons?”

“What the hell, it is only a hobby!”

Moral of the Story ….

Friends, if we watch carefully, all our hobbies are basically ways and means to keep escaping from ourselves.

One should learn to be utterly blissful with oneself. To be alone, to be without doing anything is such a profound experience that once we develop a taste for it, it surely helps us to drop all the stupid activities called hobbies. Friends, all our hobbies are basically pseudo occupations and when there is no real occupation, most of us get into pseudo occupations.

Rather than searching for hobbies, one should learn to use these opportunities. Whenever one has some time, when one is utterly unoccupied, one should remain with oneself without moving out of it and a great miracle starts happening!

Have a Meaningful Day Friends!