One relaxed morning, while enjoying sips of my morning tea, I found a column in the newspaper headed with the title “MISSING”. Along with the detailed physical appearance, couple of photos were shown. Unfortunately, I could not recognize any of them so could not help them out. However, a sharp spike of thought stroked the mind and I started imagining around that thought. In that imaginary visualization, I was seeing my own photo under that column. It sounds very weird, doesn’t it?

But the fact is that it’s a reality of my life & most probably, in everyone’s life too. Do I know my real self? Am I the one who is carrying the name and (bit of) fame on my own shoulders? If not, then who am I really? If I’m not getting the answer of this three-words-question (Who am I?) then, I’ve lost myself in real sense, which directly means that I’m “MISSING”. Shockingly, my imagination has become the reality now.
I quickly realize that I am alone in this process of reunion with the self. So, now I badly need a break to find my real self. Although, not sure how much distance I need to travel in search of the self, even not sure how long this journey will be, I’ve started this most adventurous & possibly, the most beautiful tour of my life called ‘inner journey’ from the source (i.e. starting point) called ‘introspection’.
During this journey, I saw very beautiful fragrant garden full of colorful flowers of different sizes and shapes. These flowers are my own virtues, my specialties, my unique qualities. I enjoyed thoroughly the scene-sceneries of this amazing garden.

Moving forward, I saw jungle of thorns. It’s a very painful experience while passing through it. These thorns are my own weaknesses. Bitter fruits are my old bad habits. Bad odors are of my wrong beliefs.
I felt like I’m in hell crying & praying for escape. To my surprise, a divine light came before me & guided me to come out of this donjon by empowering me with spiritual powers to overcome all the negativities.
Now, He led me towards the loveliest scene: a stunning colorful rainbow portrayed in the sky. This is my original self. Each of these 7 colors are nothing but my 7 innate qualities viz. peace, bliss, joy, love, purity, power & knowledge.

This is me. I’m a spiritual being. I’m a peaceful being, I’m a blissful being, I’m a joyful being, I’m a loveful being, I’m pure being, I’m a powerful being, I’m a knowledgeful being. I’m a celestial point of light & might emitting these 7 colors all over.
Multi-billion thanks, oh my most beloved God. You made my journey. You made reunion of mine with my real self.
This is a real break everyone needs called ‘spiritual vacation’. Surprisingly, the budget is absolutely zero. Hope, in this summer (only?), you’ll definitely go on this mesmerizing vacation.

BK Abhijit Patil,
Jagdamba Bhawan, Pune.