| 8 The colorful greenery of the newly grown

grass, the seasonal flowers, the frog’s umbrel-

las, the butterflies, and the other variegatedness of

| the rainy season perfectly represent a well-to-do
family absorbed in vanity over their personal

i assets.

;

{ A rich man displays his opulence in various colorful ways. He
has a good residential bungalow with sufficient property and a

| well-trimmed garden. The bungalow is decorated with up-to-date

furniture and carpets. There are motor cars with dazzling polish,

and a radio set receiving and broadcasting colorful news and
melodious songs. All these captivate their proprietor as though he
were in a dreamland of his own creation.

When the same man was as dry as fallow land and had none of
these opulences, he was plain in behavior, but since obtaining all
these material means of enjoyment he has forgotten the principle
that everything in the world comes and goes away like the chang-
ing seasons. The beautiful Red Fort and the Taj Mahal were built
by Shah Jahan, who left the place long ago, and many others
have also come and gone in the same place, like seasonal flow-
ers. Material assets are like seasonal flowers only. Either the

i flowers wither, or the gardener himself leaves. This is the law of
nature. Therefore, if we want permanent life, Knowledge and
bliss, we must seek them somewhere else, not in the change-
able, temporary rainy season, which is flooded with so many
varieties of pleasing sights that vanish when the season ends.

Material manifestations of things are but shadowy representa-
tions of reality. They are compared to mirages in the desert. In the
desert there is no water, but the foolish deer runs after illusory
water in the desert to quench his thirsty heart. Water is not unreal,
but the place where we seek it is misleading. The advancement of
materialistic civilization is just like a mirage in the desert. The deer
runs after water in the desert with full speed, and the illusion of
water moves ahead at the same speed as the foolish deer. Water
is not false, but we must not seek it in the desert. A living entity,

] by his past experience, remembers the real happiness of his
original spiritual existence, but since he has forgotten himself he
seeks spiritual or permanent happiness in matter, although this is
impossible to achieve.—=:

26
