a common man ಸಂಜಯ

the greater sacrifice

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msanjay

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Once in a way, it may appear as if we could do without any principles (not referring to anything specific) or anything of that sort. So many people though indifferent to such an idea – plenty of politicians for example – and living corrupt, decadent lives, seem to be getting away with it all, and doing quite well actually! It often appears that none of this principle thing is necessary after all! Especially when living by principles is really hard and… inconvenient (can even be like an agnipath – the path of fire!)


A friend Upendra gave me an analogy once – that even a lot of well to do people are like ducks – swimming calmly on the surface of the water, but under the surface of the water – they’re paddling like hell!

There’s all the awe Indians in general hold for anybody who calls himself spiritual, etc… they idolise and venerate, and basically isolate themselves away from that person assuming that that person has done some great sacrifice which they themselves aren’t capable of making. Upendra had narrated another related anecdote…

A rich businessman comes to visit Ramakrishna to pay respects, and is about to prostrate at his feet. But instead, Ramakrishna first prostrates at the businessman’s feet! The businessman is zapped… “what is this, you shouldn’t do this, such a great man having renounced everything, falling at my feet like this!”. Then Ramakrishna replies – “not me, it is you who are doing the greater sacrifice, you have sacrificed the Divine Itself for the sake of your wealth – it is indeed a much greater sacrifice!”

Comments

18 responses to “the greater sacrifice”

  1. Shruthi Avatar
    Shruthi

    Fantastic 😀

    Reply
  2. bellur ramakrishna Avatar
    bellur ramakrishna

    wonderful anecdote, sanjay.

    Reply
  3. preethi Avatar
    preethi

    In India greatness can be found everywhere in everyone ..each person becomes our buddha helping us find our true selves..
    nice story!!!!!

    Reply
  4. Leonid Mamchenkov Avatar
    Leonid Mamchenkov

    Nice one 😉

    Reply
  5. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    Just a story…

    ——–
    the lost child
    ————-
    A small child walking around a big fair with his mother. After a while he looks at some cotton candy and tugs away to free himself and runs to that stall. The very next moment he smells some sweets from an adjoining one and goes there. He finds there are some beautiful joy rides, and colorful masks, and trained performing animals, and all kinds of other things. He keeps running behind them one after another… thoroughly enjoying himself.

    Suddenly he starts missing his mother… but then he sees a colorfully decorated cart and forgets about her and gleefully runs behind it. He dosen’t mind, he’ll find her again sooner or later anyway. He’s hungry and some kind shopkeeper gives him something to eat. Refreshed, he keeps wandering around, manages to get on some of the joy rides and have a thrilling time. He finds some children to play with. He enjoys his game, having fun, quarelling about some rules, winning some and losing some. Sooner or later, they all leave, get on with other things… leaving him alone again. He starts missing his mother again, but just then he finds some more playmates. Eventually he comes across a heap of paper cups and gets an idea. He starts building a castle out of them. It starts shaping up pretty nicely… a long time passes by and he’s built a really good structure. Passers by pause to appreciate it, and he feels quite happy. Soon there’s a mild draft of wind and the structure starts trembling. He tries to protect it, trying to support it, trying to block the wind. But nothing doing, it only becomes stronger, and soon inspite of all its efforts, it all comes tumbling down. He looks at the debris and feels a momentary disappointment. Anyway it had been fun, but he leaves it and continues his wandering.

    As the day progresses, he starts getting bored. The sweets and the joy rides that were so fascinating for him earlier start losing their charm. He’s hungry again, but he dosen’t even bother much about food. He knows for sure now, beyond any shadow of doubt, that only thing he wants now, more than all the entertainment the fair can provide put together, is his mother. He pauses outside a stall to admire some unusual toys. But the time he spends here is a lot lesser, and he returns to his search. Every now and then he sees something attractive. But the duration for which that attractive object interests him starts to reduce.

    The day keeps progressing. He keeps searching and searching… franctic now. It starts to get dusk, not much time left for the day to end. The crowd around him is receding. But she’s nowhere to be seen.

    He resignedly sits on a platform against a tree – leaning against it still looking around. Wonders how he’s ever going to get home. Closes his eyes for a few moments and realises how exhausted he was.

    Feels a soft hand caressing his head… and opens his eyes to see her standing there and the next moment he tearfully gives her a big hug. What a joy it is to be with her again!

    Reply
  6. bellur ramakrishna Avatar
    bellur ramakrishna

    We are in a similar situation as the child. We have forsaken our mother (the god’s abode) for the toys, sweets and fun rides in the materialistic world.

    May god give us the ‘Buddhi’ to start getting back to where we came from!

    Nice story.

    Reply
  7. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    If one, longing for sensual pleasure,
    achieves it, yes, he’s enraptured at heart.
    The mortal gets what he wants.
    But if for that person — longing, desiring —
    the pleasures diminish,
    he’s shattered, as if shot with an arrow.

    Sutta Nipata 136

    Reply
  8. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    Thanks RK glad you liked it 🙂

    Reply
  9. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    A passage from an article by a woman named Portia Nelson – Autobiography in Five Chapters.

    ———
    Chapter One:

    I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I’m lost. I’m helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

    Chapter Two:

    I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I’m in the same place, but it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

    Chapter Three:

    I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I fall in. It’s a habit. But my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault and I get out immediately.

    Chapter Four:

    I walk down the same street. There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

    Chapter Five:

    I try walking down a different street.

    ——-

    Somewhat reminds me of jaanaami dharmam… 🙂

    Reply
  10. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    The universe had a beginning
    Called the Mother of All Things.
    Once you have found the Mother
    You can know her children.
    Having known the children,
    Hold tightly to the Mother.
    Your whole life will be preserved from peril.

    – Tao Te Ching

    Reply
  11. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    Another story from maktub though this is only dramatic and imaginative…

    An elderly hermit was once invited to appear at the court of the most powerful king of that age.
    “I envy a holy man who can be content with so little,” said the king.
    “I envy Your Majesty, who is content with even less than I,” answered the hermit.
    “What do you mean? This entire country belongs to me,” said the king, offended.
    “Exactly,” said the old hermit. “I have the music of the spheres, I have the rivers and the mountains all over the world. I have the moon and the sun, because I have God in my soul. Your Majesty, though, has only this kingdom.”

    Reply
  12. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.
    – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

    If you are determined to stick to what is really important in life, then from day to day you will see that the unimportant pastimes, the distractions that lead you away from your purpose, will gradually weaken their hold.

    On the list of priorities, first and foremost is meditation. It will clear your eyes and bring the detachment and discrimination we all need to make wise choices. So right at the top of your list should be the resolution to practice meditation, and not to let anything come in the way.

    Not even the greatest of worldly achievements will satisfy us completely. Nothing finite can ever satisfy us. Sooner or later, all the vitality that has gone into pursuing countless goals in the outer world must flow into one huge desire to discover the divine presence within. This supreme discovery is what matters most in life. We are all born to seek the supreme truth.

    ~ Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day

    Reply
  13. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    A Fred Hsu has shared a wonderful quote on this page that I just happened to come across today:

    “Just as the white summer cloud, in harmony with heaven and earth freely floats in the blue sky from horizon to horizon following the breath of the atmosphere–in the same way the pilgrim abandons himself to the breath of the greater life that … leads him beyond the farthest horizons to an aim which is already present within him, though yet hidden from his sight.”

    ~ Lama Govinda “The Way of the Clouds”

    Reply
  14. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated.
    – Sri Ramakrishna

    Mental habits are like ditches in the mind. They have to be dug laboriously. But they can also be filled in and new channels can be dug. Take resentment for example. It does not burst full-blown into the mind; it grows. At first you simply expect people to behave towards you in a particular way. If they behave in their own way instead, you get surprised, then irritated. You are digging a little channel in consciousness.

    In the early stages, this channel may be only an inch or so deep. Thought may flow down it, but it may also flow somewhere else. Also, the walls are still soft and crumbly; they may cave in and fill the channel a little – for example, when someone you dislike says something kind. There is an element of choice. But every time we respond to a situation with resentment, the channel gets a little deeper. Finally there is a huge Grand Canal in the mind. Then anything at all is enough to provoke a conditioned resentful response. Consciousness pours down the sluice of least resistance.

    We can dig new mental channels – kind ways of thinking instead of resentful ones, patience instead of anger. Every time you try to return good will for ill will, love for hatred, you have dug your new, beneficial channel a little deeper. Transforming character, conduct, and consciousness is not a moral problem. It’s an engineering problem.

    ~ Source: Thought For The Day – from Eknath Easwaran

    ——

    Another related story:


    A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner.

    “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.”

    When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most”

    Reply
  15. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    January 14

    Loss of discrimination is the greatest source of danger.
    – Sanskrit proverb

    The greatest source of danger to a human being is loss of discrimination, and this is the main malady in our modern civilization, where we have lost our capacity to differentiate between what is necessary and useful, and what is unnecessary and harmful.

    How often do we stop and ask, “What is really important? What matters most to me?”

    If every one of us starts asking this simple question, it will transform our daily lives and even the world in which we live. After all, we need clean air and water more than we need microwave ovens. Doing work that is meaningful and of service to others is more important than owning luxury cars. We need loving human relationships more than we need home entertainment systems.

    Many modern conveniences make life more pleasant and can save time. We needn’t live without them, but when we begin to think such things are not merely useful but prized possessions, we may gradually lose our discrimination.

    In order to understand what is important in life, what our real priorities are, discrimination is essential.


    ~ Eknath Easwaran: Thought for the day

    Reply
  16. bellur ramakrishna Avatar
    bellur ramakrishna

    read the “Native American elder’s story again”. wonderful answer.

    also this quote by sri eknath eswaran: “In order to understand what is important in life, what our real priorities are, discrimination is essential.”

    clearly knowing what really matters to me will set me free to live life to its fullest potential.

    Reply
  17. a common man ಸಂಜಯ » Blog Archive » I’m not really all that interested in meditation

    […] all really nice and luxurious. But thinking that’s the ultimate would be the most unnecessary ’sacrifice’ as they are petty and trivial compared to the deeper treasures Life has right out in the […]

    Reply
  18. msanjay Avatar
    msanjay

    A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. “I have nothing to give you,” said the stranger. Then he asked: “What’s that you are sitting on?” “Nothing,” replied the beggar. “Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.” “Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger. “No,” said the beggar. “What’s the point? There’s nothing in there.” “Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

    I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself.

    “But I am not a beggar,” I can hear you say.

    Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

    ~ Excerpt from Power of Now – Echkart Tolle – the rest of the page and the book makes for a good read as well! 🙂

    Reply

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