________________
GREED AND INGRATITUDE
This is a story that Guruji tells about an experience he had with a particular black monkey. Since it was not an isolated or exceptional incident, he generalizes from the experience, making statements about the social world and the human condition in the process. Do you agree or disagree with his conclusions? Why or why not?
O
ne time I was staying in Nav Dvip Dham, a city near holy Bengal. During those days I was in the habit of going to the forest and observing monkeys. One day I brought a piece of bread to a large, black monkey in the hope of making friends with him. But the monkey took the bread and he went off with it.
For ten days I brought bread to the same place and give it to the same black monkey. Each day the monkey took the bread and ran off with it to the forest without so much as a "thank you." On the eleventh day I decided that I would go to the forest with bread and feed it to the other monkeys. When I did this and the black monkey appeared, I waved him off to tell him that I had no more bread.
The black monkey became very angry and upset. He yelled and screamed at me. He threatened to attack by charging toward me. He jumped and he screamed and he showed
Jain Education International
64
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
