I come with clean feet.

Once upon a time, there was a Zen Master addressing his disciples. In a perfectly manicured  garden, with a setting as serene as serene can be, there was one novice who was carrying on a verbal tirade about all the wonderful things he knew, about all the books he had studied and all the wonderful techniques he had mastered. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Master - an epitome of non-violence, turned around and slapped the novice, smack across the face and said, ‘don’t run around in my mind with your dirty feet’.

Trust me, I have washed my feet clean, and I do not have any intentions of running around in your head.

In this very first piece, I’d like to talk about death; not in the intellectual or philosophical manner but as a practical tool that can be used to improve our lives. Let me explain.

I was at a meditation retreat, and the teacher in his first session decided to give us the ‘shock and awe’ treatment. What would you do if I tell you that you are not going to live for more than a few months? A few hundred rants of disbelief and another few hundred sighs of despair later, we all sat down to make our ‘lists’. Mine, probably the longest, read something like this: spend time with children, tell wife I love her, take mom for a holiday, tie-up the  financial statements and IT returns, go bungy jumping,  spend time with children, tell wife I love her, look for and say sorry to Jasmeet for kicking him so hard in Class VII, learn singing, pray, learn dancing, spend more time with children....

So when everyone was done reading out their list in front of the entire gathering, the teacher asks, ‘So why aren’t you doing all these things now.....?’

Reminder of ‘ultimate reality’ is a wonderful tool to keep us on track. Every morning when you plan out your day, you ask yourself, would I do this if I were to live for only a few months. And if your answer is ‘no’ for a few consecutive days, you know you need to change something.

Ajay Mehta is a print designer, an Advanced Pranic Healer and a ‘spiritual’ seeker. He can be reached at ajaxmehta@gmail.com