Theme: Leading an impeccable life.
Know this:
(1) Very few among those who hold an official position, a public office or are wealthy are honest.
(2) In most societies, dishonesty is accepted as a natural trait; the law of the land is lenient towards the dishonest;
(3) The honest among the people in a society, sometimes feel uncomfortable towards evil persons in the society.
(4) It requires a strong conviction and understanding of life fully to remain honest. Alternately, fear for god or law, in committing sins may also be a reason for some one to be honest.
(5) Those who lead a spotless lifedo not gang up with like minded. That makes them vulnerable to attacks by evil doers in that society.
(6) Those special people among us, whom we refer to as men of knowledge, gyanis, sadhus, sages and saints are honest, good and kind. They never become a victim of evil. Because, goodness teamed with knowledge is stronger than anything else.
(7) We understand that here is a “rule of the jungle”. This principle is also known as “the Survival of the fittest”. While we live no differently from animals, we pretend that we are different.
Theme: Leading an impeccable life.
Short Story 09
Snake in the town:
This story tells you that anyone can lead an impeccable life,yet be safe at the hands of their detractors. The story is based on a parable of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Now, read the story.
Deep into a forest, under a Banyan tree, a saint was teaching his disciples the benefits of leading an impeccable life.
The saint further said, practice at least one good principle in life For instance, practice non-violence. .Essentially this means,” do not bring grief to others”.
To reach the abode of God, you only need to practice this. There is no need for prayers. Thapas, (the penance) or any yoga asanas are redundant, the saint taught. We are unsure to what extent his disciples appreciated his advice or practiced what he taught. A deadly poisonous cobra living in a pit close by decided to follow the teachings of the saint.
It decided to give up the evil habits of a snake and live the life of the saint and took the saint’s blessings. The saint was happy that the snake was looking for salvation.The cobra thought that since the saint came from a city, living a life of good thoughts and deeds should be possible only in cities. It therefore, decided to migrate to the city.
The Cobra found, that unlike forests, the city’s environment was polluted. It took a few more days to find that even the minds of people were equally polluted.
During the initial few days, when the cobra went hunting for its prey, the people around were frightened and ran away. It took no time to realize that the snake was harmless. There after, the children watched the cobra hunting its food without fear.
Some of the school children stopped by and threw stones at the cobra for fun. The snake did not react since it was following the saint’s teachings in words and spirit.
The children became bolder day by day and one day caught the cobra by its tail and swung it around. This broke its bones and the cobra fell unconscious. The children went away thinking the cobra had died. The cobra somehow managed to get back to its pit. It took many days for its health to recover. Finally some day, it slowly wriggled its way and reached the forest.
Cobra narrated the hardships it had faced in the city to the saint. He appreciated the cobra for its determination against all odds.
But, the saint continued, “You need not hurt some one”. “Just to keep away those who troubleyou, you could have merely hissed at them”.
“That would have frightened them and they would not have come near you”, said the saint.
Post Script:* Every spiritual master known to mankind is a kind hearted person. Such people lead an impeccable life. They were never troubled by any one, anywhere. This is possible through appropriate posture in public.
* Both, Agori Baba in Himalayas (Reference : Swamy Rama, Living with Himalayan Masters), Seshadri swamigal of Tiruvannamalai, behaved as through they were insane people. Often, their behavior used to be unpredictable. That kept away people whom they did not want around.
* The unwritten law for people in the Spiritual path is that they should never come under spot light. Their yogic powers should not be displayed for public attention. They should maintain a low profile.
* While remaining a soft person internally, one can give an appearance of being tough externally.