Nothing & Everything

I just finished reading "The Mastership Game" by Scott McBain It was the title which actually caught my attention in the first place. The back cover summary promised it to be a "compelling thriller - the race against the clock by the best players to achieve what they most desire". Seemed interesting and I hoped it would be.

It was a real catchy read and soon i was immersed in the pages as the story raced across countries and continents, a game to be played and won, to be the Master, man who holds the most powerful position in the World! As in a game, there were rules and contestants. The catch being, the rules are uncertain, just like who all are playing for the ultimate position of power!

Full credit to McBain for this awesome book! He includes quotes from Machiavelli, Sun Tzu & Lao Zi. At times though the book drags a bit when it reaches the thought processes of the contestants, the way the minds f men are shown is just genius.

It was a quote from the book which prompted me to name my blog.
NOTHING & EVERYTHING!
True Opposites, but undeniably interlinked.

Usually a novel hardly has any effect on me. I read it for fun and the pure thrill of knowing how the author weaves a spell to catch u unawares, to make u hold on till the very last page, to know how ultimately the good guys win or how the lovers are inevitably united! But this book, "The Mastership Game", made me turnpages, to learn more what prompted the the most powerful Chinese emperor to give up his kingdom to the ultimate truth about life he found out in the exquisite puzzle box, the most diofficult one ever made, at his special order, by a master craftsman - a man knowledgeable not only of art, but also of the true value of life. And how that guides the contestants who could see the truth

How can anyone who has nothing have everything?
Is it possible? even remotely??
In today's world, man tries very hard to get Everything. He is powerful, rich, successful, with a high paying job, a trophy wife, kids in international schools, villas in different places, the latest luxury cars... You name it.. he has it! But does he have Everything? Does he love his wife and kids and give them the attention they so desire? Is he happy with his job or is it just for the sake of money that he works? Is all the matters to him is money, power & prestige?

Can someone who wants nothing, gain all? Very much laughable!Each and everyone of us want something or the other. My last want was a mobile phone and after i got that, right now, its a pure white cut work Saree! :) material stuff aside, i want to be successful in my career, i want a good life, with a man who loves me, i want kids, i want their lives to be secure.... the list is endless. Wants and Needs is an unending list for any human! And at the crux of it all is the want to be richer and more powerful.

But, asking a very hypothetical question... is there a single person in this world, who wants nothing?A person, who has understood himself as a human being?

And that was what was the most difficult puzzle for the Emperor too! To Understand Himself as a Human Being!

Puzzle boxes are usually made with a puzzle on the top,and if solved correctly, the person who does it, can open the puzzle box and claim the precious gem kept inside as the prize. But when Chang gave the emperor an empty puzzle box, richly painted and beautifully decorated on the outside, he was trying to show the Emperor that
"To understand himself and his place in the universe, all his outward riches and power
would not help him but that if he looked within his own being, there he would
discover what he truly sought. Only there would he find real happiness and
fulfillment that wouldnt pass away, like his empire!"

Though the Emperor gave Chang all his Empire, Chang refused. For Chang "by giving him an empty puzzle box" had helped the Emperor have an "understanding of the Universe and an insight into his own being as a human soul". Thus "Chang, by wanting nothing, gained all".

As I read that, I asked myself, do i know who i am? Do i know what i truly want? A moment of contemplation occurred then (2nd time while reading a book, 1st being while reading Cohelo's Alchemist) and I looked at myself, as a human being! At my thoughts and dreams and ideas and imaginations. At what will make me happy and feel loved. At my desires and needs and wants. and trust me, never had I felt so ashamed as i was then, at that moment, when I found out to my utter dismay, as to how frivolous, materialistic, greedy and needy i was! All this, when i could easily find real happiness and fulfilment, in my daily life!
To be a better citizen, grand daughter, daughter, sister, cousin & niece.
To give without expecting.
To love without wanting back.
To care without reason.
To do things that make me happy - write, draw, cook - and which makes others happy too.
To be satisfied with what i have and to find the true joy in that.
To count my innumerable blessing and Thank God for that.
All those, by wanting Nothing!

That Dear Reader, is my New Year Resolution.
To find happiness and fulfilment in my daily life, as long as i shall live, by wanting Nothing!

By wanting Nothing to gain Everything!

NOTHING & EVERYTHING!


Adios .... !