Maharaj Kaul
If I were to begin my life again
I would spend more time playing in my childhood,
I would spend more time dreaming,
I would think less about myself and more on the world beyond.
If I were to begin my life again
I would try to be less shy and tell people more what was on my mind,
I would support the idealists and the sensitive and debunk the crass and the selfish,
I would bring in my life things that are beautiful and push out the things that are ugly.
If I were to begin my life again
I would read more philosophy and poetry,
I would spend more time in mountains and lakes,
I would look more often at trees and flowers.
If I were to begin my life again I would go in teaching children,
I would focus more on physics and less on applied sciences,
I would try to find out what were God’s thoughts when He created the universe –
Rest of the knowledge is details.
If I were to begin my life again
I would live in a village with not more than 50 people in it,
It would have streamlets and hills,
I would have a hut with a deck and backyard.
If I were to begin my life again
I would have no more than five friends –
In spiritual bond and universal brotherhood –
Sharing with them travails and triumphs on the journey of life.
If I were to begin my life again
I would worry less about money and material possessions
And what others thought about me,
And think more about beauty, truth, and God.
If I were to begin my life again
I would spend more time in writing and reading
And listening to music and going to museums,
I would gather less things and give away and discard more.
If I were to begin my life again
I would think more on eternity,
I would spend more time helping the unfortunate people than on myself,
I would meditate more and waste less time on life’s insanities and inane things.
If I were to begin my life again
I would think less of world and more of God,
I would think of myself more a part of the universe
And less of being a denizen of a planet called Earth.
If I were to begin my life again
I would try to spend every day as the first day of life,
With verve, wonder, gratitude, and love
And yet feel to be a handful of dust on horizon ready to dissolve in eternity any moment.
Suffern, New York, 8.26.10
