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DISCOURSE 44
Help should be extended to them. Financial assistance should be given to them". Not only this; now-a-days, betting and gambling have become common among people. How can these people, who waste money thus perform noble activities? They waste money, yet they do not admit that they are imprudent. They believe that what they are doing is right. They say, "What we are doing is right. In these days, all these things are essential". Some people take help from society or from religious institutions or from magnanimious persons and spend that money on fashionable living, and they spend it on bad habits and addictions.
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HOW CAN ASSISTANCE BE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO ARE IMMERSED IN ADDICTIONS?
About 20 years ago, we were spending the rainy season in a town. One day, a gentleman aged about thirtyfive or forty came to me. He said to me, "I have lost my job. My wife is pregnant. I do not have money. Kindly secure some financial help for me from some person or some institution or you kindly manage to get me a job".
I found out his name and asked him to meet me the next day. Later, I found out some details about him. The next day he came to me. I said to him, "I can get you a job. You may get a salary of three to four hundred rupees a month but you must promise me to abide by four principles, which I am going to mention now. You must take four vows".
The marks of worry rose on his face. I said;
"1. You should not gamble;
2. You should not drink liquors;
3. You should discard illicit intimacies with other women;
4.
You should visit the temple every day.
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You take these vows and you can join duty tomorrow. There will be a reformation in your life and there will be a reformation in your family also".
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