Oops!  I am in the wrong train again!

I heard the following story from Swami Adiswarananda, the Spiritual Head (1973 – 2007), Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center, New York.

Story:

A person in New York was frustrated with many problems in his life.  He had problems in his job as well as in his family.  He thought he could not handle them.  To run away from these problems and worries, he turned to drinking.

One Friday, he spent the whole night drinking in a bar.  The next day, he thought he would go to see his friend in Boston.  Since he was not sober enough to drive, he decided to take a train.  He was so used to drinking that while going to the train station he took a couple of shots of vodka.

He had a ticket to Boston.  But the drinks had gone to his head and he could not think straight.  He was embarrassed to ask anyone for the train track and platform.  He got into a train and found out that it was the wrong train.  He got off and sat in another train.  But that was also the wrong train.

After getting on and off the wrong train five times, finally, someone helped him to get in a train that was going to Boston.  He saw a well-dressed gentleman sitting on a berth.  The gentleman was annoyed by the smell and appearance of the drunkard.  The drunkard sat a little bit away from this gentleman.

By this time, the drunkard was becoming somewhat sober.  To make sure he was in the right train, the drunkard asked this gentleman, “Sir! Where this train is going?”

The gentleman felt pity for the drunkard.  He looked at the drunkard from head to toe and said, “Do you know with your drinking habit you are heading towards hell?”  The gentleman was a religious preacher.

The drunkard immediately got up and said, “Oops! I am in the wrong train again.” J

Note:  I am not promoting drinking.

Lesson Learned:  I learned never to judge a person by his/her behavior. Never write off a person.  Each person is inherently divine.  Negative and wrong thoughts make a person behave badly.   In anyone’s life, bitter and painful consequences help replace wrong ideas with the right ideas.  Swami Vivekananda said that the role of nature is to make realize each person his/her inner divinity.

We all make mistakes.  Swami Vivekananda said, “If a man with an ideal (of realizing one’s inner divinity) makes a thousand mistakes, I am sure that the man without an ideal makes fifty thousand.” When we realize our mistakes, we have to correct them and try not to repeat the same mistakes again.

How do we know if we have wrong ideas?  Swami Adiswarananda said that if everyone comes in your way, then you are heading in the wrong direction.  We blame other people for our wrong ideas and improper behavior.

Hell and heaven are here on this earth.  If we live a selfish life based only on the pleasures of body and mind, then we will be living in hell.  If we live life with the goal of realizing and manifesting our inner divinity, then we will be living in heaven.  Living a spiritual life or Soul-oriented, unselfish life brings bliss that is beyond heaven.

(Thanks to Sonali Tatapudi for editing and Sneha Shah for illustration .)

Where are we?

I heard the following story from Swami Adiswarananda , the Spiritual Head (1973 – 2007), Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center, New York.

Story:

Two people decided to travel around the world in a hot-air balloon.  They were enjoying their journey, looking at mountains, rivers, fields, cities, villages and various other points of scenery.

In one part of the world, they unexpectedly hit a big storm. Their maps, cell phones, and all other belongings were blown off the balloon.  Their balloon being caught in the heavy wind was tossed all around.  They thought they would definitely die.

By God’s grace, however, the storm passed on without harming them.  As they struggled to bring the balloon under their control, they noticed the beautiful landscape.   Lush green meadows stretching for miles lay beneath them. The greenery was eye-catching and soothing to the mind.  They tried to guess where they were, but having been tossed around in all directions, they had no clue.

Bringing their balloon down, they tried to look for any signs of life, but found none.  Suddenly, their eyes caught something moving.  As they came closer, they found that it was a man walking back and forth.

He was dressed nicely, had a white beard and was supporting himself with a cane . One of the travelers asked him, “Sir, can you tell us where we are?”

The person stopped walking.  He looked up at the balloon, and then looked around, engrossed in deep thought for a while.

The traveler in the balloon thought that the man either did not hear him clearly or did not understand English.  The traveler had no choice but to try again.  This time, she asked more loudly, “Sir, can you tell us where we are?”

The person on the ground seemed as though he was coming out of his thoughts.  With emphasis and with full conviction he said, “You are in a balloon.” 🙂

The first traveler told the second traveler, “He must be a philosopher.”

The second traveler asked her, “How do you know that he is a philosopher?”

The first traveler said, “I know for sure that he is a philosopher because (1) What he said is absolutely true, and (2) What he said is also absolutely useless.” 🙂

(This is NOT meant to put down philosophers. So, no philosopher should take this personally.)

Lesson Learned:

From this story, I learned that many times, philosophical discussions are nothing more than intellectual entertainment.  They do not help us to live better lives in any way, nor do they answer any fundamental questions of life, such as:(i) Is there any meaning to life? (ii)  What is my true identity?  Am I just this body and mind, or something more?  (iii) Does this universe have any meaning? (iv) Am I connected with other individuals?  If yes, , then in what way am I connected? (v) What is the goal of my life?

If there exists a philosophy which can answer these questions in a sensible and logical way, and if it can also improve my life, then that philosophy is good.  Also, such a philosophy must be practical.  I should be able to realize the truths presented by the philosophy.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that “Granthas” (books of philosophy) are “Granthis” (knots).  In other words, mere book-learning without discrimination and non-attachment serves only to increase one’s arrogance and vanity. That means, it multiplies the knots (confusion) in one’s mind.

Sri Ramakrishna said, “The “Para-Vidya” or Highest Learning is that by which God is known” (In other words, highest learning is that through which the Ultimate Truth is realized.) All else, the scriptures, philosophy, logic, grammar etc.- only load and puzzle the mind. They are good only when they lead to the Highest Learning.

(Thanks to Jahnavi Vyas and Sunita Dhar for editing this post and Ishani Trivedi for illustration.)

Future Prospect

The following is a story I heard from Swami Adiswarananda (1973 – 2007), Spiritual Head of Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center, New York.

In India, one circus was traveling from one city to another for its shows.

The circus was not making much money, so it adopted a cheaper way of transportation.  It loaded heavy materials, like poles and tents, on the back of donkeys.

To make sure that the donkeys did not run away, logs of wood were tied from their front left foot to their hind right foot.  With the logs of wood, the donkeys could walk slowly but could not run away.

During the shows, the donkeys were free of their load, but the logs of wood always remained tied to their feet.  In the daytime, the donkeys were allowed to walk around to graze.  At night, they came back to the circus for more food and shelter.

One day, one donkey slowly walked far away from the circus and neared a forest.

There, he met a wild donkey who was freely running around.  They started a conversation.  The circus donkey said, “At the end of the day, I do not have to worry if I do not get enough food to eat while roaming around because I am sure to get food at the circus.”

The forest donkey said, “It is true that I have slept without food for many nights, but I am happy that my feet are not tied up by a log of wood. I can walk, run, and dance freely without that bondage.  Also, I can wander around wherever I want to go and enjoy the beautiful nature.  If you want to enjoy freedom, you should come with me and we will find a way to remove your log of wood.

After listening to the forest donkey, the circus donkey felt that he should join him, but was hesitant to let go of the opportunities that could arise if he stayed with the circus.

The forest donkey asked, “What is the future prospect that is stopping you from your own freedom?”

The circus donkey said, “It is a long story.  The circus manager has a beautiful young daughter.  She is very good in the swing part of the circus.  One day, she was practicing various swinging tricks and I was observing.  During the practice session, she did not catch the swing and fell on the net.  The manager was furious and said, ‘If you fall one more time, I will marry you to this donkey.’  So you see, I am waiting for the daughter to fall.  Marrying her is my future prospect.” 🙂

The forest donkey quietly left and went deeper into the forest.

Lesson Learned:  Most people dream of achieving something in life.  Many do not get opportunities to work towards their dreams.  However, many do get opportunities to work hard and realize their dreams.  Obstacles do come in their way, but they overcome them with determination and tenacity and are able to fulfill their dreams.

Some people have dreams but wait for miracles to occur, which may help them realize their dreams.  Usually these are false hopes.

We have to be careful not to entertain imaginary future prospects.

 (Thanks to Pallavi Tatapudy and Ishani Trivedi for editing this post).