SWAMI VIVEKANADER SHORT STORY: THE MISERLY BEGGER

 

The king was to pass by a beggar’s hut and the man was beside himself with excitement, not because he was about to see the king but because the king was known to part with expensive jewels and huge sums of money when moved by compassion. 

 

He saw the king’s chariot just as a kindly man was filling his begging bowl with uncooked rice. Pushing the man aside, he ran into the street, shouting praises of the king and the royal family. 

The chariot stopped and the king beckoned to the beggar. “Who are you?” he asked. “One of the most unfortunate of your subjects,” said the beggar. 

“Poverty sits on my doorstep and follows me about like a dog. I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon!” “Have you nothing for your king except a tale of woe?” said the ruler, putting out his hand. “Give me something.”

 The beggar, astonished, carefully picked up 5 grains of rice from his bowl and laid them on the king’s outstretched palm. The king drove away. 

The beggar’s disappointment was great. He raved and ranted and cursed the king again and again for his miserliness. Finally, his anger spent, he went on his rounds. When he returned home in the evening he found a bag of rice on the floor. “Some generous soul has been here,” he thought and took out a handful of rice from the bag. 

To his astonishment there was a small piece of gold in it. He realised then that the bag had been sent by the king. He emptied the rice on the floor, feeling sure there would be more gold pieces in it, and he was right. He found 5, one for each grain of rice he had given the king. 

“It is not the king who has been miserly,” thought the man, sadly. “If I had been generous and given him the whole bowl of rice, I would have been a rich man today.”

SO BE GENEROUS WHEN YOU GIVE SOMETHING TO SOMEONE.

HEALTH ETHICS:BENEFITS OF AYURVEDA

• Ayurveda emphasizes more on prevention of diseases rather than its cure. The treatment given is not only to the ailments or the affected parts, but to the person as a whole. 

• This creates an environment for purifying the body naturally, which eliminates all toxic imbalances, enabling to regain natural resistance from diseases and attain good health. 

   

  
  
  

   

• Ayurveda provides detailed instructions of daily regimen, seasonal regimen, food, sleep and sexual behavior so that health can be optimized and illness healed. 

• Ayurveda is grounded in metaphysics of the five elements, earth (prithvi), water (jal), fire (agni), air (vayu) and ether or space (akash). Ayurveda stresses a balance of three elemental energies or humors: vata, pitta and kapha. 

• Either and air combine to form Vata dosha, which governs the principle of movement and therefore can be seen as the force that directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration, and elimination.

• Fire and water form Pitta dosha, process of transformation or metabolism. Water and earth elements combine to form the Kapha dosha, which is responsible for growth, adding structure unit by unit. Another function of the Kapha dosha is to offer protection.

• Ayurveda holds that each human possesses a unique combination of Doshas as the ratio varies from person to person.Altogether, Ayurveda is not only treatment but a way of life. 

• It uses herbs, herbal-mineral combination, massage, meditation and yoga for ones physical, mental and spiritual well being because of which the medicinal system has no side effects. Moreover, Ayurveda gives you an in-depth knowledge of life and helps achieve - dharm, arth, kama, moksha.

ENVIRNOMENTAL ETHICS:

Raising Awareness of Plastic Waste

  Ø Most people are familiar with the concept of a carbon footprint. Many may also know there is such a thing as a water footprint. But whoever heard of a plastic footprint? Well, soon, more and more people will have.

Ø Hundreds of companies and institutions around the world will receive a questionnaire asking them to assess and report their use of plastic: how much they use, what processes they have for recycling and what — if any — policies they have to reduce their plastic consumption or to increase the proportion of recycled or biodegradable plastic within their organizations.

Ø Fairly simple questions, but ones that could help to thrust the issue of plastic waste and pollution onto the radars of corporations, investors and the public in a much bigger way.

Ø “What we’re trying to do is to have companies manage and use plastic much more wisely, and to receive recognition for doing so from both customers and investors,” said Doug Woodring, an environmental entrepreneur in Hong Kong who has a background in asset management and is the driving force behind the initiative.

Ø “Plastic pollution is a major global phenomenon that has crept up on us over the decades, and it really requires a global and comprehensive solution that includes systemic rethinks about usage and production.”

Ø By pushing the thinking about plastic pollution far beyond beach cleanups with an attempt to change the awareness and behavior of big users of plastic, which include not only companies but also universities, hospitals and sports groups.

Ø Like the carbon project, the plastic disclosure initiative is backed by investors: asset managers who value information about any potential wastage or liabilities related to the use of energy, water or plastic, or, conversely, any improvements that will bolster a company’s bottom line or its image with consumers.

Ø “Increased transparency by companies should improve the ability of sustainable investors to assess the investment risks and opportunities of companies in the global plastic value chain,” 

Ø While carbon emissions and water use are pretty firmly embedded in the consciousness of most organizations, the use of plastic generally is not.

Ø Here is why: About 300 million tons of plastic is produced globally each year. Only about 10 percent of that is recycled. Of the plastic that is simply trashed, an estimated seven million

AMAZING SCIENTIFIC RESONS BEHIND HINDU TRADITIONAL ETHICS 3

1. Why not to sleep with Your Head towards North:

Myth is that it invites ghost or death but science says that it is because human body has its own magnetic field (Also known as hearts magnetic field, because the flow of blood) and Earth is a giant magnet. When we sleep with head towards north, our body’s magnetic field become completely asymmetrical to the Earth’s Magnetic field. That cause problems related to blood pressure and our heart needs to work harder in order to overcome this asymmetry of Magnetic fields. Apart from this another reason is that Our body have significant amount of iron in our blood. When we sleep in this position, iron from the whole body starts to congregate in brain. This can cause headache, Alzheimer’s Disease, Cognitive Decline, Parkinson disease and brain degeneration.

2.  Surya Namaskar:

Hindus have a tradition of paying regards to Sun God early in the morning by their water offering ritual. It was mainly because looking at Sun rays through water or directly at that time of the day is good for eyes and also by waking up to follow this routine, we become prone to a morning lifestyle and mornings are proven to be the most effective part of the day.

3.Ear Piercing in Children:

Piercing the ears has a great importance in Indian ethos. Indian physicians and philosophers believe that piercing the ears helps in the development of intellect, power of thinking and decision making faculties. Talkativeness fritters away life energy. Ear piercing helps in speech-restraint. It helps to reduce impertinent behaviour and the ear-channels become free from disorders. This idea appeals to the Western world as well, and so they are getting their ears pierced to wear fancy earrings as a mark of fashion.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is the way great spiritual giants are produced."

- Swami Vivekanandar

MEDICAL ETHICS

OUR BODY IS THE BEST DOCTOR
                                                                 

We are all children born to our mothers.
All the people in the world are born to their
mothers. How does a mother beget a child?
The mother eats the food through her
mouth. The food goes into her body and gets
transformed into a full child with all body
parts such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc.
Did the mother’s intelligence convert the
food into a child? Or was it the intelligence of
the mother’s body? The answer naturally
would be, “It is not the intelligence of the
mother but the intelligence of the mother’s
body.”

First of all, we need to see our
intelligence as consisting of two parts. Our
experiential intelligence is different from
the innate intelligence of our body.

The intelligence that we get by reading various
books and through our experience is our
experiential intelligence. The intelligence
that is present in our body ever since we are
born is the inbuilt intelligence of our body.

Can any mother claim that it was her
intelligence that transformed the food into
the child? No. The food gets converted into
the child only by her body’s intelligence. If a
mother says that she produced the child
through her intelligence, ask her one
question: “Can you draw all the parts of the
body and name them?” She will not be able
to do it, unless, of course, she is a Science
teacher. How can a mother, who does not
even know all the body parts, produce a
child by transforming the food into the child
using her own intelligence?

What we understand from this is that
the mother’s duty ends when she eats her
food. It is the job of the mother’s body to
convert the food into the child. The child
born to a highly educated mother who has
obtained a medical degree and also received
four PhDs is similar to the child born to an
illiterate mother.

What is clear from this
is that the intelligence
obtained by us through
t h e b o o k s , I n t e r n e t ,
e x p e r i e n c e , e t c . i s
different from the natural
intelligence of our body.

Our body has the same
wisdom from our birth to
death. It is our brain which
acts intelligently sometimes and acts
foolishly at some other times.
Just imagine what a wizard a body is
that is capable of transforming the food
eaten by the mother into a child with all
parts such as eye, ear, nose, mouth, etc.!

Has anyone in the world ever invented a
machine which can take food from one side
and give out a baby from the other side?
What a big prize such an inventor will get!
Have you ever seen such a machine? You will
say, no. But I have seen such a machine! All
the mothers who have given birth to a child
are such machines.

 Therefore, all mothers
who have borne a child can congratulate
themselves for possessing such a wonderful
power in their body.

Just think for a moment. What an extraordinary
intelligence, knowledge and
wisdom this body possesses as it can
convert the food into a complete child with
eyes, ears, nose, kidneys and all other parts!
Our body’s intelligence is much more
than that of all the greatest scientists,
doctors and wise people put together. Will
such a body be unable to cure diseases such
as Diabetes, blood pressure, Asthma,
Thyroid, Arthritis, Cancer and AIDS? We do
not agree. Our body’s intelligence is capable
of curing all the diseases in the world.

If a person gets a disease, the reason is
simple. There is some problem with the
body’s intelligence. By setting this problem
right, we can cure by ourselves all the
diseases in the world without the help of any
medicine, tablet or doctor. The blood of a
mother is what gets transformed into the
body parts of the child. The body’s
intelligence that knows how to convert the
food into a child also knows how to cure the
diseases.

SPIRITUAL ETHICS

The test of Swami Vivekanandar

SWAMI VIVEKANAND'S inspiring personality has been well known in India and abroad from decades to come. This unknown monk of India suddenly rose to fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago (America) in 1893, representing Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, brilliant conversation skills, empathy and colorful personality made a mark on the hearts of many. People who ever happen to see or hear Swami Vivekanand even once still cherish his memory after a lapse of more than half a century.

Before leaving for abroad for the first time to preach Hinduism, Vivekanand's mother wanted to know whether he is all perfect for this mission or not, she invited him for dinner. Vivekanand enjoyed the food that had the additional flavor of his mother's special love and affection. After the delicious dinner, Vivekanand's mother offered Vivekanand a dish of fruits and a knife. Vivekanand cut the fruit, ate it and after that his mother said, "Son, can you please give me the knife, I need it." Vivekanand immediately responded by giving the knife.
Vivekanand's mother calmly said, "Son, you have passed my test and I heartily bless you for going abroad." Vivekanand surprisingly asked, "Mother, how did you test me? I did not understand."
Mother replied, "Son, when I asked for the knife, I saw how you handed it to me, you gave the knife by holding its sharp edge and kept the wooden handle of knife towards me. This way, I would not get hurt when I take it and this means you took care of me. And this was your test in which you passed.

The person who thinks of others welfare rather than thinking about self has got the right of preaching the world and you have got that right. You have all my blessings."
This was the most important mark he left in the hearts of many he met in his lifetime - to think of others before thinking for self.

Moral: There are some qualities which draw the difference between a common man & an uncommon man. To think about the welfare of everyone falls under an extraordinary quality. The true noble person is the one who thinks of others' happiness even if it is in little matters to our day to day life. The one who thinks of himself alone is considered selfish & will not be valued by the world in the long run. It is the law of nature that as the bigger hearted & noble you are, the more you will keep receiving & as the narrower minded you become, the less you will receive.