Growing up I remember my mother’s words quite vividly, she used to tell me (in Telugu language) ” Manchi cheste, Manchi jaruguthundi “, meaning ” Good will happen to you if you do good “. Clueless with what it meant, I used to look at her innocuously. Understanding my predicament, she would smile back and say, ” You will understand it when you grow up “.
When I started going to school, we were shown 3 monkeys, depicting 3 signs.
SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL
Again, I was clueless with the message the monkeys were conveying, and when I opened the textbook at school, there was one word – AHIMSA (Non-Violence), obviously, again, no idea what it meant.
I truly understood the meaning of my mother’s words, the message of the monkeys, and the word Ahimsa, much later in my life. They all conveyed the same message but albeit differently.
Sages say ‘ The cosmic nature of the universe is such that POSITIVE VIBES emanate from POSITIVE ENERGY. True to these words, in a way, I reckon, my mother’s words on goodness, the message of 3 monkeys and the word Ahimsa, truly manifested and defined in making me what I’m today.
I can illustrate my lives learnings in 3 simple steps:
The ancient Indian literature talks about Karma. In English, we say, “What goes around comes around” or “As you sow, so shall you reap”. This is precisely what Karma is – The Law of Cause & Effect. The meaning is simple —- What we do to others is what we get —- Good or Bad.
“Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you” – Madeline Bridges
I believe, we are born to do good, and help each other and be a good Samaritan.
In simple terms Dharma means Righteousness. In other words, all of us sent to this world for a purpose — Identifying that purpose, doing the RIGHT thing — To be of some help to others.
There is a Chinese saying “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, HELP SOMEBODY.”
“Happiness springs from doing good and helping others” – Plato
years back, when I was leaving India to come to the USA, I remember my uncle saying this (in Telugu language)…
“Nuvvu Jeevitam lo Enta Edigithe, Anta Vodigi Undali” which means..”If your head is in the cloud with success, keep your feet firmly rooted to the ground“
In other words, he was trying to tell me, not to get carried away by success, no matter how successful you become, stay humble, affable, express empathy, and show humility.
Very interesting article