The Veil of Maya

 

I found myself at the crossroads, surrounded by a sea of vehicles, their headlights piercing the night like restless fireflies. The air was thick with fumes and the restless impatience of drivers honking their way forward. Neon billboards flickered overhead, bright and fluorescent—each one screaming promises of success, love, power, money, and pleasure. The roads stretched out in every direction, each one inviting, each one demanding a choice.

The signs glowed temptingly:

 

Luxury Lane – Where Happiness is Bought. Wow! Should I take this? Possessions I had dreamt of, were displayed enticingly. Everything seemed so accessible.

Ambition Avenue – Rise Above the Rest. Hoardings clearly explained what I had been desiring for so long—the growth in my career, achievements beyond compare.

Romance Boulevard – Love That Lasts Forever. That road seemed to lead to places that my innermost, deepest and darkest desires wanted to be.

Fame Freeway – Be Remembered Always. With fast-moving and heavy traffic leading away, each road had its pilgrims, jostling around me with a dazed look, unsmiling, heading toward these roads with single-pointed determination, least bothered about anyone else, oblivious to everything but the promise of what lay beyond.

But I hesitated. Which way was the right one? Which road would take me where I truly wanted to go? The weight of indecision pressed down on me.

 

A memory stirred, like a whisper carried by the wind. A wise old traveller had once walked beside me, his steps slow but steady, his eyes seeing beyond what mine could perceive. He had spoken in a voice both gentle and firm, a voice that now returned to me across the corridors of time.

 

“You will come to a place where roads diverge, each offering you illusions of fulfillment,” he had said. “Wealth, romance, status, and ambition—they will dazzle you like desert mirages, but the farther you walk toward them, the farther they recede. Beware, for these paths lead not to what you seek, but to more desires and heartaches.”

 

At the time, I had nodded, half-listening, half-eager to move forward. The old man was boring me while my eyes glittered with the thoughts of fantasy that lay ahead. But now, standing here at the crossroads, I felt the truth of his words settle into my bones. I tried to remember his face. I couldn’t—or could I? It felt as if I was looking at an older me. And he had not walked beside me. He was always in my shadows. He had never left my side. I was so tired of his voice that I forgot about him and just walked ahead. And now here I was, at the crossroads.

 

Then, amidst the chaos, the voice—soft yet insistent—rose within me. It was the same voice.

 

“Take the road less traveled.”

 

I looked around. There it was. A narrow lane, barely visible, shrouded in mist, unmarked by signs or flashing lights. Not many were venturing there. It didn’t promise anything. It simply was.

 

I crossed with firm steps, reached the innocuous entrance to the lane, and took a step forward. The noise of the world behind me began to fade. Another step, and the air became clearer. Another, and the neon lights dimmed, replaced by the gentle glow of something more real. The burdens I had carried—the weight of expectations, the hunger for more—began to lift.

 

Then, a bright light.

 

I woke up.

 

The sun spilled gold between the curtains onto my face. Birds sang in the trees across from the balcony of my flat. The world was still, yet alive. 

 

No rush. No race. No chase.

 

Just me. Here. Now.

 

I smiled. The veil of Maya had lifted. And for the first time in a long while, I was truly present.

A Moment of Reflection

 

As I sit with this experience, questions rise within me—whispers from the road I have travelled:

• How many times have I stood at the crossroads, mistaking illusions for truth? 
• Which roads have I taken in the past, and did they truly lead me where I wanted to go? 
• Have I ignored the voice within, only to realize later that it was guiding me all along? 
• What burdens am I still carrying that I can choose to set down?

Am I awake now, or am I still chasing another mirage?

 

Perhaps, in seeking these answers, the road ahead will become clearer.