________________
spread all over the neighborhood. It became an epidemic. When the woman was alive, she was despised and ignored, but when she expired, all the villagers became her partners and shareholders of germs in illness.
"The Health Home is a living example of people who care. You are shareholders in health and life. The compassion and cooperation which made this dream come true is a benefit to all and a blessing to you. To live is good. To live vividly is better, but to live vividly together is best. United in this project, you are discovering what it is to live vividly together.”
After the talk, inspired listeners gave another forty-six thousand rupees on the spot. After that, donations continued to be given unceasingly.
In the same month, a group of residents from the Krishna Nivas apartment building asked Gurudev to help them solve a problem. In their compound, there was an open courtyard where schoolchildren played. It had come to be littered with debris and rubbish. They told Gurudev,
"We fear for the health of the children who play there. We have appealed to the other residents to help us clean the area, but to make it sanitary once again is an overwhelming task. We don't know where to begin.”
To Gurudev, cleanliness was “next to godliness,” and no work was lesser or higher than any other. He reminded the residents of the story of the Greek hero Hercules whose tremendous task it was to clean the Aegean stables. He pointed out that even though Hercules would get up each morning with fresh vigor and wash the stables until they were spotlessly clean, by evening, they would again be dirty.
Again and again he would clean them until one day he conceived of a good idea—to connect the water system he was using to the nearby Aegean Sea. From then on, the water flowed in continuously and kept the whole area clean. Gurudev inspired the residents to ask themselves.
"What is our Aegean Sea? It is amity. When we let the stream of amity flow in our hearts, we are linked to the ocean of love, the real source of cleanliness. Then we want every
241
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
