Dear Friends,
Namaste!
It was now the turn of the third prince!
“Happiness is my birth right and I will have it!” exclaimed the third prince when quizzed as to what he would like to achieve in this life.
“Ok,” said the Guru mildly, “And if you had to choose only one of these things to help you acquire it, which one will it be?”
The prince took a close look around the cave and selected the set of vocational equipment.
“That’s an interesting choice,” observed the Guru as the King also looked on, “Don’t you want to go in for wealth?”
“Well,” reflected the third prince, “You can give me a lot of wealth but what will I do after I have spent it all? I want to choose something that will ensure a steady flow of wealth and prosperity all the time! So what is more sustainable than to use this set of tools to keep offering services to the entire world and getting rewards in return?”
“Accepted.” The Guru was in no mood to contradict anyone or anything. “But what about God? Worshiping him will not make you happy?”
“Certainly!” agreed the prince quickly, “But my concept of God is slightly wider than what an idol might represent. I believe in an omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient God. This whole universe is His manifestation. Therefore, if you keep serving the world using your unique set of skills in your very own way, you are actually serving Him. Work is worship, you know!
“Hence I want to attain my goal of being completely happy by maximizing my contribution to this world and getting duly rewarded in the process. I believe these tools will surely enable me to do that and hence I have chosen them over every other thing in this cave.”
“All right my dear fellow, please send your brother in next.” The Guru ushered him out of the cave.
“Well?” asked the King, oozing eagerness.
The Guru obliged, “This son of yours is Self-actualising. As these people start seeking Happiness through faith in God or surrender unto Him, their understanding of God starts evolving. They come to know that an idol is just a symbol of God just as a flag is a symbol of any country – not the country itself. The real God dwells everywhere and in everything that one can see, smell, hear, touch and taste. Therefore the real worship is in continuously working for this world, including yourself, to become better.
“Maximum good of maximum beings is the Mantra these people live by. They strive to become perfect and make this world perfect – in a material sense. They help evolution and enrichment of Life by actively contributing towards the same.”
“This is a very noble thing to do,” said the King, impressed, “So what curriculum do you have for this third son of mine?”
“Whatever enables him to fulfill his dream!” The Guru replied, “I will teach him the third and fourth limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, viz., ‘Asana’ and ‘Pranayama’. These will make his body, mind and intellect – his very basic tool set – absolutely refined. Getting his most fundamental tool set in order will enable him to discharge his duties with maximum possible efficiency. As a reaction of his good deeds, he will enjoy excellent fruits of his actions. The happiness he spreads will come back to him manifold times. And he will get closer to his target of achieving total happiness – which he quite rightly treats as his birth right!”
“But what if his actions do not fetch intended results?” asked the King.
“Good question. Actually, the law of Karma – every action has an equal and opposite reaction – operates universally in all times and in all places without exception. However, he has to know how to choose the right action. Also, the results that his actions will fetch will be the net of all the other actions and forces acting at that point in time. Therefore, he may not always find them as per his expectations. He will have to take seemingly unfavorable results in his stride and mercilessly march on without losing faith or focus. Once he learns to decide and take the right action and accept the results there of with equanimity, he will be able to achieve what he has set out to achieve.
“These secrets – choosing your thoughts and actions, executing them with clinical efficiency and handling the results thereof – are known as ‘KarmaYoga’. And along with the ‘Asana’ and ‘Pranayama’, O King, ‘KarmaYoga’ is what I intend teaching this self-actualising third son of yours!” finished the Guru with a flourish.
The King gave the Guru a spontaneous hug and said, “I cannot wait for my other sons to take this test now!”
Friends, hope you cannot too!
Bye for now…
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