It is said that while there is not material solution for material problems, there is a spiritual solution for every problem.
I believe that we are disregarding the injunctions in the scriptures which is causing disturbance of the body and mind, and suffering to our soul.
The Isopanishad states that one who pursues materialism alone goes into great darkness and one who pursues spiritual life alone goes into even greater darkness. But those who pursue materialism and spiritualism side by side like two wings of the bird, are happy in this world and the next.
I personally see that we are either going from one extreme or another. We don't have balance. We have lost our values because we lost touch with our ancient scriptures. We even discard our older generation, like our parents and grand-parents who have acquired wisdom through age and experience. We do not want to listen to them. So how do we expect the younger generation to imbibe the wisdom from our scriptures.
The most important message in all Scriptures is that we are all and connected by one invisible thread just like that invisible thread that connects the pearls in a necklace. We can see one another but cannot see the connection hence we want to fight to enjoy by controlling and possessing for our own vested interest. Hence we are becoming more and more selfish. We want to grab more and enjoy by hook or crook. We just want control and possess things, and we want to show we are better than others. Little do we realize that we have come empty handed and shall leave exactly the same way when our time comes.
We don't realize that what goes around comes around. If we share the resources with one another we are giving it to our own self because we are all spiritually one.
Even Christ said, "Do unto others what you would do unto your own self".
We are cutting and chopping thousand year old trees and our rain forests to make way for concrete jungles. We are converting natural (organic) food into unnatural (man-made, inorganic) and then blame one another or the government. We put preservatives in our food to give it longer shelf life instead of consuming natural organic food, because we want to hoard things for tomorrow. We don't have faith in the bounty of God who has enough for our needs. But He is helpless in front of our greed. We don't want to share God's bounty with one another, which He has endowed each country,state, city, town and village with something unique to share with all.
The condition we are in is because of the scarcity mentality which we have, instead of the abundance mentality which we should have. Because we don't have faith in God's abundance. He provides food for an ant as well as an elephant.
The situation we are in today is because of our mind. As is our mind, so is a our world (Yog Vasishtha)
I recently came across this story, which some of you may have read before, I would like to share here -
There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."
He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.
So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the spiritually centered person shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself.
- From the Bible,
Proverbs 11:24-25
Hare Krishna!
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