Remove the Heaps in Your Mind
This text was machine-transcribed from the printed book and may contain errors. Select the words and choose “Report a mistake”.
A learned man
(pundit) wanted to
bathe in the waters
of the holy Ganges
River. He had a
kamandalu (water
pot) with him and he
needed to keep it in a
safe place while he
bathed. He looked
for a safe spot
without much luck.
Finding
nobody to care for
the kamandalu, he
made a small pit on
the sandy banks of
Ganga. He placed his
kamandalu in it and
covered the pit with
a heap of sand. He
then went to bathe in
the river.
Without his
knowledge, a farmer
watched him from a
distance.
He thought, 'Oh! I
didn't know this
custom. I too should
make a small sand
heap before bathing
in the holy Ganga!' He
made a heap of sand
before he went for his
bath.
Another person
watched the farmer.
He too thought, 'Oh!
It seems to be a
tradition to make a
sand heap before
taking a bath in
Ganga.' So he too
made a small heap
and went to have his
sacred bath.
By and by, all the
people who came to
the river for their
bath started making
a sand heap before
taking their bath in
Ganga.
When the pundit returned from the river he saw hundreds of sand heaps all over the banks! He now had a problem. Where was his kamandalu?! He started to search. He pushed down the sand heaps that other people had made. Now, a sand heap naturally looks like a sacred Shivalinga (Symbol of God Shiva.)
The farmer who saw this
was very upset, "Why
are you destroying our
Shivalingas? You are a
pundit. You should have
more sense! Don't you
know that you should
make a Shivalinga before
taking a bath? Here you
are, disturbing our
Shivalingas!"
The pundit thought,
'When did this ritual
start? I myself started
this to protect my
kamandalu. Now look
what it has become!'
It was a big problem
for him. He knew that
he could not destroy
what the others had
created as a sacred
ritual. So he had to
move on without his
kamandalu.
REFLECTION CORNER
Master says, "Like the bathers at the Ganges, we have accumulated many heaps, or habits, in our lives. In the course of time, many regulations or rituals that originally had meaning have become rules that have no significance for us now. They block our spiritual progress. We don't do them with a full understanding of their meaning. Instead of bringing us in touch with the core of our being and our individuality, the habits only serve to distract us and keep us at the superficial level of our personality. When we do something with an understanding of what we are doing and why we are doing it, we give it our full attention and devotion. Only then are we transformed by the experience."
DID YOU KNOW?
You can unlearn a habit by simply being aware of it!
ACTIVITY CORNER
Our habits are like oxymorons. We often do or say things out of habit, even when it is not necessary. Oxymorons are two words, which are opposites but that make up common phrases.
Example:
Act naturally
Found missing
Good grief
Small crowd
Peace force
Can you think of others?
