Move on!

We are human beings who get carried away by people, circumstances and sometimes, ourselves. Greed for money is another thing that dictates our life. As a result, we may end up losing our moral values. At times, we may cheat others. Many a times (Read as “all the time”) we will be cheating ourselves. We pretend as if we don’t understand that life and situations are not constant. What is there today may not be there tomorrow. Think about it, we may be alive now. But, our breathings may stop and heart may stop anytime. It may happen to me as I am typing this post. Hence, it is imperative to take life with ease and love the people around us. I understand that it may not possible to help people and show the divinity streak within us. In that case, why can’t we follow this mantra – Live and let live!!

Here goes a Buddhist story…

A rich old man died leaving two sons. They decided to separate, dividing all the properties between themselves – fifty-fifty. Once the property related matters were settled, the two brothers came across a small packet carefully hidden by their father. The packet contained two rings – one was an expensive diamond ring and the other was an ordinary silver ring costing only a few rupees.

Seeing the diamond ring the elder brother developed greed and desired the ring for himself. He explained to the younger brother: "This packet is obviously a family heirloom and not part of the joint family property. Our father evidently desired the diamond ring to be passed on from generation to generation and stay within the family. Being the elder brother I will take the diamond ring. You had better take the silver one."

The younger brother smiled and agreed.

The younger brother was curious as to why the father had preserved the silver ring, which had very little value. He took the ring off his finger and examined it. He found these words inscribed on it: "This too shall pass". The younger brother thought: "Oh, this was the motto of my father – This too shall pass." He replaced the ring on his finger.

Time passed. Both brothers went through the ups and downs of life. 

The brother with diamond ring used to get highly delighted when spring came and he was prosperous. He lost his balance and developed greed and attachment. When the good season went away and winter approached he became highly anxious. He needed medication and sleeping pills to be able to sleep. When that did not help he completely lost his balance. He needed visits to therapeutics for treatments. 

When spring came, the younger brother, he enjoyed it but remembered his father's motto: This too will change. He did not get attached to his circumstances but enjoyed them while they lasted. When spring passed he said to himself – It was inevitably going to pass and now it has done so. So what? Similarly when winter approached and circumstances became bad he did not become agitated but remembered: This too will pass. Thus he was able to preserve his sense of balance through all the ups and downs of life and lived his life happily.