Waste of Time

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There was a doctor in Benares who spent 5 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening for meditation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at the idiosyncrasy. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied: "Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, what if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the ten-minutes-joy that I derive therefrom? I am not robbing you of your joy; why should you rob me of mine?" he asked. The cynics were silenced.

Man people do not realize that by wasting a few seconds everyday, those few seconds add up and eventually become a minute, an hour, a day, etc. We should at least dedicate a few minutes for God every day. It is better to start now than never. this man only spent 10 minutes a day, which was much better than this friends, who wasted thier whole life on worldly matters and not God.

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Excess wealth can change one's quality

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There is a small story, which tells us how the possession of wealth will change the qualities of some people. A mother had only one son and a lot of money. The boy had lost his father early in his life. As the boy grew older and older, he got into bad company. If the tank is full, frogs gather but once the tank has dried up, all the frogs disappear. Many friends will gather round you so long as you have wealth and the moment wealth disappears, the friends will also disappear without telling you. The son of that wealthy person accumulated a large number of bad friends. He used to go to the mother day after day and demand large sums of money, with the result that the mother's affection towards the boy began diminishing and she developed positive hatred towards the boy. As days went on, the boy lost all attachment to the mother. She thought that it's much better that such a son who brings down the honor and reputation of the parents dies rather than lives and therefore she worked out a plan one day. At the same time, the son had its own plan as he thought that it is better that such a mother dies rather than lives. One day the son was to kill his mother with an iron rod as the mother came to serve him food. The mother also decided to kill the son the same day by poisoning his food. When the mother came to serve him food, the son hit her with the iron rod and killed her. A few minutes later, the boy also died after eating the poisoned food.

We should be careful of what we think, and do. Worldly things can destroy family and friends. In this story, the mother wanted to kill the son, and the son wanted to kill the mother. This shows distortion in between family members because of wealth and other vices. We should not let a vice, or the 7 deadly sins become a part of our natural being.

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How to deal with a bad habit

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One got into the habit of eating opium. It was not possible for him to control this habit. He was always in a kind of coma. A saintly person visited his city and was offering advice and comfort to many. The opium-eater also sought the advice of the saint. The saint said that his health was deteriorating and that he should give up eating opium. At this, the opium addict said that it was not possible for him to give it up. He requested the saint to give him some advice. The saint asked him how much of opium he used to take every day and was shown a certain lump as the quantity being taken every day. The saint got a piece of chalk, equal to the lump of opium and told him that he may continue eating opium but should not take more than the weight of the chalk each day. The opium eater was quite happy but he was also told that every day he should write 'OM' three times on a blackboard with that chalk. In this manner, the chalk was reduced in size every day and so the amount of opium which the person was eating also got reduced gradually and ultimately this habit was removed.

Many feel have bad habits that feel impossible to change. Change does not happen overnight but rather it is a slow day-by-day process. If we want change, we should be determined to work every day to get rid of that habit.

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Put into practice

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One day, an old lady came to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa with her 10 year old grandson. She prostrated before him and said: "Master! I have come to seek your advice. This boy is my grandson. He lost his father and mother when he was just a child of five. I have been taking care of him. He is very fond of sweets. He eats so much that his health is deteriorating day by day. The doctors have advised him not to eat sweets but this fellow does not pay any heed to their advice. However, he has great respect and admiration for you. So I have come to request you to stop the boy from eating sweets. I am sure, you alone can do this". Ramakrishna said: "Mother, don't worry, come with your grandson after a month. In the meanwhile I shall think of a plan to convince the boy that one's health is very important, more important even than wealth". The old woman thanked him and took leave of him.

She came with her grandson exactly after a month. Both of them paid their salutations to the master. Ramakrishna made the boy sit beside him and said: "My dear boy! Remember, one's real wealth is health. Unless you take proper care of your health, you will not be able to grow into a strong and healthy young man. You will not be able to do anything great in life if you are weak. When something that we eat does not suit our constitution, we should give up eating that item. From tomorrow you should not eat sweets. After some time you may eat moderately. You are a nice boy and will listen to me, will you not?". The boy nodded his head and promised that he would not eat sweets.

The old woman sent the boy on some errand just to have confidential talk with the master. "Master! May I ask you a question?" said the old woman. "Certainly mother", replied Ramakrishna. "Master! This advice which you have given today to my grandson, you could have given last month itself. Why did you ask me to come again after a month? I don't understand". Ramakrishna replied with an understanding smile: "Mother! I myself eat lot of sweets. How can I advise the boy to do something that I am not doing myself? One has no right to preach anything to others before practising it himself. So I asked for some time. This one month I did not eat sweets. So I have earned the right to advise your grandson." The old woman marvelled at the righteous conduct of Ramakrishna. She fell at his feet and took leave of him. We should never advise anyone about anything which we ourselves have not put into practice.

Thoughts: Many people preach without practicing. By preaching, and by giving someone advice, we become role models. When we fail to act on what we preach, many people will look down on us because we are practicing hypocrisy.

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Feeling behind the act

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Abdullah was sleeping in a corner of a mosque in Mecca, when he was awakened by the conversation of two angels above his head. They were preparing a list of the Blessed and one angel was telling the other that a certain Mahbub of Sikandar City deserved to be ranked first, even though he has not come on pilgrimage to the Holy City.

Hearing this, Abdullah went to Sikandar City and found out that he was a cobbler, repairing the shoes of people. He was famished and poor; for, his earnings barely sufficed to keep flesh and bone together. He had by severe sacrifice piled up a few coppers during the course of years; one day, he spent the entire treasure to prepare a special dish which he proposed to place before his enceinte wife as a surprise gift.
When he was proceeding home with the gift he heard the cry of a starving beggar who seemed to be in the throes of extreme hunger. Mahbub could not proceed further; he gave the pot containing the costly delicacy to the man and sat by his side, enjoying the blossoming of satisfaction on his haggard face.

The act gave him a place of honour in the register of the Blessed, a place which pilgrims to Mecca who had spent millions of Dinars in charity could not secure. The lord cares for the feeling behind the act, not the fanfare and the fuss.

Thoughts: I thought that this china katha was interesting because many people, including myself, do things for fame, and for praises. God sees everything, and he knows everything, even the intention behind our actions. From this story, I can learn that Abdulla was a hard worker, and even though he spent time making a surprise pot for his wife, he gave it to a beggar. When Abdulla gave the pot, he did it whole-heartedly which pleased the Lord. I learned that it doesn’t matter about the fame, praise and comments you get from your actions, but when the thoughts are pure God will be pleased.

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