‘Listen with your heart’

Ludwig Van Beethoven, one of the icons of classical music, ironically became deaf. In spite of his deafness, he would walk through the nearby woods and “listen” to the trees swaying in the wind and he would instantly compose a melody. He would watch the incandescent moon playing hide and seek behind thin clouds and would compose an evening sonata without thinking. The music just oozed out of his soul. This was how he wrote one of his most famous masterpieces, Moonlight Sonata.

It is the heart that composes, not the mind, not the ears. What Ludwig could not hear, he could see and would transform into music. His photographic memory enabled him to instantly write his new songs into a musical score format directly, immediately after his walk in the woods. Or it could wait until morning, as it was etched in his heart.

In the name of spiritual survival, he was forced to let his heart turn into his eyes when his ears began failing. His impairment closed a window in his soul, but a new irresistible window opened wide. It was the energy of the soul to survive and surmount great hurdles, like physical ailments. Rather than suppress him, deafness made Ludwig more resolved and more creative in composing his greatest works.

The soul has many windows. When one is shut, one or two more open in the name of survival. The soul’s spiritual energy cannot be suppressed. It oozes out of the cracks, much like a volcano erupting from tremendous pressure.

Blindness can make us see 

Maria, at 78 years old, became blind because of degenerative cataracts on both eyes. She was in protracted depression. She prayed to the Lord for strength.

She realized that she could see with her hands, so she continued to sew and garden  by groping, the only things she could do in her old age. If she failed to open a new window of her soul, she would perhaps think of suicide.

Her granddaughter asked her to stop and rest, and she would reply, “I am resting, my dear.” She was happier blind than when she could still see. If you turn deaf, you can hear. If you turn blind you can see. It is up to you; your soul yearns for light. Maria turned her deep darkness to blinding light through the help of the Lord.

‘Walls do not a prison make’

If they jail you, you can let your soul wander endlessly in the woods or in the books you read. To fight madness, an inmate at Alcatraz, the infamous island prison, memorized dozens of books on Grand Master chess games. He had a photographic memory. He remembered every move of every game Grand Masters played against each other. Yet, he never played a single game in his life.

A visiting journalist heard about his feat, interviewed him, and wrote a story in a chess magazine. When a Grand Master read the article, he visited the Alcatraz denizen and challenged him to a game of chess. The Alcatraz inmate hesitated. The Grand Master said, “It is only a game. You have nothing to lose except your pride.” He replied, “I have no pride. Ok, let us play.”

The Alcatraz inmate played the very first ever  chess game in his life against a Grand Master, and won. From memory, he based his moves on particular Grand Master chess games from his books without having the skill to play, just pure memory. The grandmaster hugged him from sheer admiration.

Another inmate, an environmentalist who was in protracted depression for two years, on hearing this story  suddenly realized he could do the same, open new windows in his soul. One night, he “left” his cell and roamed the rainforests in his mind. He could clearly hear the birds and monkeys calling out to him. Then he remembered the days he roamed the tropical rainforests in the Philippines, and started writing a book.

The book was on how monocrop tree plantations, propagated to make paper from its soft pulp, triggered massive infestations by deadly worm borers that could destroy thousands of hectares of trees in a matter of weeks. Monocropping triggered a forest epidemic. The only solution was to burn the entire plantation.

Writing instantly healed his deep depression — from total darkness to blinding light. His book was cited in a scientific journal, which made him famous. He was labeled “The Green Filipino Inmate.” 

No one can stop a prisoner from roaming the earth if he wants to, or an astronaut from visiting galaxies.