Training in Nonviolence

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Anuvrat Global Organization

Page 50

Training in Nonviolence
get two hundred thousand" - the doctor asked? "Half of it will be yours. I am a laboure and will never go back on words" - he replied. The amount further increased to four hundred thousand first and five hundred thousand later. "What will you do if you get five hundred thousand," the doctor asked. The labourer repeated, "One half will be yours and the other half mine." The doctor said, "Are you sure half of it will be mine?" Yes, surely, he replied. As soon as the doctor heard it, his heart failed. He had gone to treat the labourer psychologically but ended up with heart failure.
It means we should think about the effect wealth has on a person and in that context we should consider present-day problems. It may be heart disease or some other disease, but the fact is that because of attachment to wealth people's health is deteriorating today while diseases - be they physical, mental or most critically
emotional - are on the rise.
Let us therefore think over the big problems of today for which words like corruption etc. are in vogue. At their root lie earning wealth, its consumption and accumulation. These are the main causes responsible for all our ills. Even the method of earning money is not good. Just one individual earns money to such a great extent that it multiplies into billions. Then we will have to admit that Gangotri (origin of the Ganges) can be pure but the flow of the Ganges cannot be pure for no one knows how many pollutants, including chemicals, get mixed with its water as it flows. It is indeed what is happening today. When the means are not pure, when Gangotri is not pure, how will its water be pure? It is said that big people are involved in corruption and are indulging in evil deeds. Why not, since very essence is impure? There is a purpose of living but that is also not pure. When life becomes secondary and wealth becomes primary, how can evil deeds be avoided? These problems would not have arisen only if we had given priority to life, consciousness, restraint, control of senses and victory over them. But we are not doing it. We are giving priority only to earning and accumulating money, then, why will it not happen? We should not be surprised at all.
Some people come and say that a particular man occupies such a big position and yet he does wrong things. I tell them that it does not surprise me. On the contrary I will be surprised if he does not indulge in evil practices. One should not be surprised at people practising corruption under the present circumstances. When money is accumulated, consumption increases proportionately.
There was a common saying in Rajasthan. If a person was asked 'how are you' he used to reply, "By God's grace I am getting enough dal (lentils) and roti (bread) to live on". But today it is not dal and roti, we must use some other words. Big persons do not eat these things now. They only eat diamonds, emeralds, rubies and currency. They never eat dal roti (lentils and bread) which they think is a poor man's diet. But what can they do? Nature has so made them that they would die if they were to eat them. Since they cannot eat them, they are available in the world, otherwise big people would have made them disappear. Therefore we should deliberate upon these basic problems.
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