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A Drawing by Franz Kafka (The Thinker, 1913)
We are as forlorn as children lost in the woods.
When you stand in front of me and look at me,
what do you know of the griefs that are in me
and what do I know of yours?
And if I were to cast myself down before you
and weep and tell you,
what more would you know about me
than you know about Hell when someone tells you
it is hot and dreadful?
For that reason alone
we human beings ought to stand before one another
as reverently, as reflectively, as lovingly,
as we would before the entrance to Hell.
~ Franz Kafka
Kafka : 1883 ~ 1924
Lovingly we should stand. Not just before each other but before the animals as well as plants. Nay, the entire animated or inanimated creation. Other wise we are not human beings at all. But all good words fly away on the wings of time. And we are back to our own petty self which is greedy, competitive, jealous and what not. It has no beauty of its own nor it can fathom the beauty in the whole creation. Or in feeling itself and others as being an expression of whole only and therefore 'whole'. We are never tired of feeing that we are 'Part' and thus needing fulfillment. This urge will never pass. And again we would be talking of standing in love without an iota of love in our bosoms. Please do not misunderstand me. I am accusing myself and not anyone else.
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