A traveler once asked an old teacher:
“What does it mean to live well?”
The teacher didn’t answer directly. Instead, he told a story.
“There was once a musician who carried two instruments. One was for playing, the other for listening. Both led him to the same song.
He had two powers: the strength to push forward and the gift to give back. Wisdom was knowing which one to use.
He had one great virtue: choice. When he ignored it, others chose for him, and he became a shadow.
He was blessed twice: once when he was right, and once when he was wrong. For in his mistakes, he found the road back to truth.
He carried his own passions without shame, so long as he never forced them on another.
He guarded a small flame of madness but lived in the world as if ordinary.
He learned to speak two languages: the one society understood, and the one the universe whispered.
He fought his adversaries with respect, never hating them, for they sharpened his sword.
And he knew that every action in the present stitched the past and the future together.”
The teacher paused.
“So what does it mean to live well?” asked the traveler.
The teacher smiled:
“It means to carry your own legend with courage, to honor the joy that is yours—not another’s—and to walk lightly, knowing that all is sacred.”
#DhandheKaFunda: Your life is both the instrument and the song. Play it with presence.
