________________
I am the Soul
511 fearing the Lord, had sinned terribly. All because of that thirst for earning wealth. Until now his wife and friends had been asking him to reduce his thirst for wealth, but he had never understood. He was unwilling to accept that wealth was the reason for his worry. But after quietly introspecting, and looking into the past, it dawned that all the efforts until now in pursuit of wealth were like mining for disaster. Ultimately, Arthur was convinced that wealth was not the be all and end all of things. Wealth is transitory. It wasn't there and has come now, so will it go away. Therefore, it is not worth being proud about.
Arthur could begin to see the light and understood the truth. He felt much lighter. In this joy he overshot by an hour over three hours. He opened the third packet.
His self was peaceful, his mind happy - free of all weight and feeling relieved. So he took the third dose of medicine, read the blessing -
“Re-examine your motives!" My motives? What motives? I have never thought of motives. I live, just live. What do I live for? There has to be some reason. Arthur began to think. Now that the key was in his hand, there was no need to go out in search of motives. He looked within himself. He examined his conscience, scrutinised and evaluated and realised that his life's ultimate and supreme goal had been only wealth and the name, fame and status that it brought. All my struggle is to achieve these. Then is this motive ideal? Whose name has remained? Many wealthy men like me have been razed out. Who remembers them? Then who will remember me? Alas! I have been suffering all those severe pains for Arthur - the name that is bound to get razed out. Oh! All this is worthless! I have wasted my life so far.
Brothers! That Arthur who yesterday wondered what would happen if he left his business for 12 hours and how things would run in his absence, was today proving all his activities wrong. He was seeing the totality of things in them and realising their
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
