Lake of Tears
A spiritual story
“Why do you keep breaking mirrors?” the girl asked.
“Because I don’t like what I see. I hate my reflection,” Eli replied.
A week later, he renounced all the luxuries of life and comforts of the world and started living in the forest in a wooden cabin. In nature’s silence and melody, Eli felt connected with life. His heart was happy.
One day while he was collecting the wood for the fire, the bright glare of something almost blinded him. He blinked a few times and saw the diamonds, not too far from where he stood, scattered far and wide. He took a few steps closer, and it turned out the glittering diamonds were nothing but a lake glistening in the evening sun. It came as a surprise to Eli as he had never seen it there before.
Even though its water was clear, it looked sad to Eli. Besides its sudden appearance, one more thing was bothering him. Everything around seemed to be full of life except that shiny thing.
“Even though the lake, judging from its outer appearance, looks beautiful to me, somehow, feels like the saddest part of the forest,” his heart whispered to him.
The Goddess of the forest appeared before him while his eyes were wandering, looking for the answers.
He asked her, “Why does this lake look sad?”
“That is because it is not nature’s part. It’s not supposed to exist.” The Goddess answered.
“What do you mean?”
“This is the lake of tears.” The Goddess said. “Those who don’t accept as they are and hesitate to appreciate themselves for who they are, break the heart of the creator of the universe. The creator sheds tears whenever his creations doubt his unconditional love for them. This lake is made of those tears.”
She continued, “I wish people could understand that the reflection in a mirror represents not just one’s physical appearance, but also one’s soul.” and the Goddess disappeared.
While Eli was thinking of what the Goddess had said, he heard someone’s voice. He turned around and realized it was coming from the lake.
The lake said to Eli, “You are right. I am sad, and there are two reasons for my sadness. First, like all other lakes, I was supposed to be a part of nature, but I cannot, as I am made of tears.”
“What is the other reason?” Eli asked.
“Negligence,” the lake answered in a more saddened voice. “I used to think that those who are the reasons for my existence would be happy to see me shining, like the creator of the universe who loves his creation unconditionally. But all I can see are the faces of people cursing their own reflection.”
It continued, “I weep all the time because when people kneel beside my banks, I can see my own sadness reflecting back at me in the depths of their eyes. Not only it breaks my heart, but it also makes me hate myself. I want myself to cease to exist, but that is also not possible because people keep shedding tears of sadness. They don’t learn to appreciate what they have and rather cry over what they could not have.”
Eli stood there, still. He had never felt as miserable in life before as he did at that moment. He had sought refuge in the beauty of the universe but never realized that his entire life, he had been part of something that was taking it all away by rejecting the beautiful reflection of its souls.
©️ K A Simran 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this , explore a few of my other poems / haiku /stories.