The Ripple-less Pond | Short Story
Of the many ponds in the village, this one was the largest and the main source of water for the villagers. The main pond was worshipped by the villagers as they felt some benign presence when they went nearby to fetch water. Some said that ancient spirits inhabited the base of the pond. Unlike other ponds — This pond was peculiar in one respect. Throwing a stone would cause no ripples in the water. The stone simply sank. The wise ones in the village said that such was the steadiness of the inhabiting spirits that nothing could shake them or the pond they dwelled in.
Hundreds of years rolled by.. The sacredness of the pond slipped from people’s consciousness just like their awareness slipped into materialistic pursuits — The dawn of the Kali Yuga. As settlements increased near the main pond — The villagers polluted the pond and its surroundings with food waste, house waste and excreta. A few miles away from the village was a renowned ashram (a sacred place of rest and rejuvenation) that had a similar pond in its premises. It had been protected by the ashramites (ashram residents) from any evil influences generations after generations, and the daily worship at the pond continued unabated.
Once, one of the ashramites had to go to the village for some work.. As he got closer to his destination, he noticed strange thoughts and feelings welling up in his mind. Whose thoughts are these he mused ? Why is my mind getting cloudy ? Didn’t I do my sadhana (daily spiritual practice) today ? As this thought came to his mind, he heard some shouts in the distance with people surrounding a water body. He went closer and peered in. Two boys were throwing stones every minute causing massive ripples in the pond.. The pond almost overflowing its muddy banks. “This had never happened before. The ripples have gotten progressively worse. Soon they will swallow our hosues!!”, exclaimed a red turbaned elderly villager. Ah! This pond is the epicenter of the ripples happening in my mind, thought the ashramite… ‘I will have to get them to talk to our Guru’. He couldn’t stand being there another minute, his natural vibrations in obvious conflict with the vibrations emanating from the pond.
The village chief arrived at the ashram the next day, with all the paraphernalia and gifts that befit a meeting with the Guru. It had been a long time since he had met the Guru. The Guru of the Ashram, dressed in pure white, was expecting him and welcomed him with a warm smile. After exchanging pleasantries, the chief came right to the point. “The villagers are frightened. They don’t want to go near the pond any more. We don’t have any nearby source of water that can sustain us for long. I don’t understand what’s wrong with the pond either — It is scary to say the least. We hear strange noises in the night that keep us awake. I am at my wit’s end Gurudev!”
The Guru closed his eyes for a few minutes and came back to waking awareness with a smile:
“The heavy ripples and turbulence in the pond is a reflection of the turbulence in the minds of the villagers here. It is true that there are some evil spirits that have inhabited this once sacred pond of your village — However, you are collectively responsible for bringing this situation up over the last couple of hundred years. especially. In a way, it’s beautiful isn’t it — The pond reflects the condition of the minds of your people.”
“Wow, thanks for explaining Gurudev. How do we drive the evil spirits out of the pond ?”
“You don’t worry about it — That’s something I will pay attention to. Start by treating the pond as a sacred resource.. Stop polluting the surroundings with filth and waste. Have some of your villagers come by my ashram. I will initiate them into a mantra. Chant the mantra as a group every day morning at dawn, breathing deeply with every mantra while sitting 10 feet away from the bank of the pond. The pond will be restored to its previous glory within 2 months. And so will be your minds that are caught up in bickering and back-biting. Remember, your surroundings, esp. the sacred main pond, reflect the state of your mind, and is in your hands literally… This is the secret.” Shhh — He indicated with a mischievous smile and finger to his lips.
“Oh wow! That’s true Gurudev — Complaining has become a habit of ours. I remember our first meeting 500 years ago, when I was a kid — you had come to our village center and taught us the importance of gratitude. I will take personal responsibility to bring in this precious knowledge to our kids — So we can have our current and next generation be more conscious of their minds and its vibrations. I am getting old as it is and may only live another few hundred years. I would like to bring the villagers and the village back to the spiritual heights we had when I was young. Would need your blessings Gurudev!”
“I never hold back on my blessings. March forward, all will be well!”
As the village chief returned to his village, he pondered on how the pond had gotten to this state. The early warnings had been ignored — People falling sick more often, some villagers being quarantined for being harmful had been dismissed as the effect of the dawn of kali yuga. Time and age took the brunt of the blame. It’s only when the howls and growls in the night had gotten progressively worse that, they had realized something was wrong. And to think that the problem was in their own minds and not with the pond — That left the chief dumbstruck!