Tales from the Ancients: The Musician that achieved Divinity
There was once a musician who wanted to be the best of the best.
Let’s call him Narada.
Narada wanted to make music that was so divine, he wanted to appease the Gods themselves.
His ambition was so great, that he would go to great lengths to learn the arts of different schools of music.
His teachers saw this Ambition and instantly took him under their wing.
The teachers had their own agenda. They wanted their schools of music to live through Narada.
Narada was their ticket to immortality.
After a lifetime of studying, Narada finally played his Veena to a crowd,
But discordant music that came out of his instrument hurt everyone around him.
The angels themselves found themselves disfigured and distorted by the music they were hearing.
Ambitious as he was, Narada did not give up.
He tried different chords and different embelishment. Different styles that he learnt from all the different schools of music.
All the while, desperately wanting the crowd to love him and love his music.
But the more he tried, the more he failed.
Finally, God herself, came down from the heavens.
She was sympathetic to Narada’s plight. After all, she did create him.
She whispered kindly to Narada.
“Look Narada, at what you are doing to my angels.
The music that you paint, are discoloring them. Distorting them. And disfiguring them.
Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know my Lord. I’m doing my best to please the crowd that I play to. But it feels like it’s not working.” Narada said in a sad and somber voice.
“That’s exactly it my child. You are playing for them. Not for yourself.
Therefore your melody is corrupt. It doesn’t portray who you are. Or how you see the world.
Don’t play for the crowd. Play for yourself.”
And so Narada did. His music finally sang true. The angels transformed back to their original selves.
The crowd, finally realizing who Narada was, bestowed him with the status of the divine.
What most of us don’t know is that Narada’s incarnations still play out their divine songs to this day.
Whether you’re an aritist, musician, creator or even a social media influencer.
Consider the possibility of that Narada who lives in you.
Consider what you could do to set him free.
Even if don’t pursue the arts, your life is filled with instances where the approval of others might seem like the most important thing in the world.
Maybe it’s your parents, maybe it’s your teacher or someone you respect.
Maybe it’s your partner or even your children. Or maybe it’s your church, community or society in general.
Living a good life isn’t always about appeasing these factions or people.
It’s about being true to yourself and finding the divine in the music that you want to play for your life.
But wait, there’s more to Narada’s story
Narada’s sins were not entirely his own.
Yes, he did want to appease the crowds.
And yes he was not being true to himself.
But some of that blame falls upon the teachers that taught Narada.
They wanted Narada to be the vessel they lived through.
Instead of encourging originality, they reinforced the values that they thought Narada ought to live by.
How much our values do we impose on others?
Sometimes we forget that the friends that we cherish, the lovers that we hold, and the children that we care for, are their own individuals.
They don’t always need to conform to our ideals.
In fact allowing them to be who they are,
Is the path to achieving divinity according to the Ancients.