A few days back, I was reading the first volume of the many volumes of insights, spoken by a very learned and spiritual person. One of the insights he shared has just stayed on in my mind. This insight is re-playing in me since I read it (and has not yet got worn outJ). Is it re-playing in me, because I need to be diligent in implementing it now? Perhaps yes.
This highly learned person was measured in what he said, perhaps to get the essence across to the reader / listener. But I am extra- polating on what he said though, taking each aspect separately, and independent of one another; although they can be connected to one another too… He says – ‘Be Measured’ – In Money, in words and in thoughts.
Here is my extra-polation…
There are times when we spend money just like that, and then call ourselves impulsive. Be it spending in shopping malls or giving thru donations. There are times when I buy things, only to realise later, that I have not used them from the time they were bought. Money donated to charities, to people asking for alms on the streets were also done at random; only to feel later, that I should have done some back ground check on the charities and then donated. Reason, I am not sure if the money is going to the people who need it and for whom it was collected for!!!
We are very careful on spending money and wonder why others are calling us ‘conservative’, when we think we are just cost conscious. I recall the shock on people’s faces, when they heard that my mother and her friend account for every rupee they have borrowed from one another; or when they shop for each other. Infact, even the bus fares will be accounted for; and in the 80’s and 90’s the bus fares were in paisas, rarely in rupees. I found this very strange then. I remember asking my mother why they were so ‘silly’, accounting to the last level of detail. ‘Best friends don’t look at the money they spend on each other’, is what I said my mother. She said, “If there is one thing that is a sure fire way to cause a break in relationships, it is money’. Now I understand what she was trying to say. Be Measured in Money…
There is a beautiful phrase in Tamil ‘VArthai Prayogam’ – the usage of words. The right words at the right time, to the right person and in the right contextJ. There are many of us who use words so freely without any thought of the context. The meaning may be lost BUT the impact is HUGE. Very recently, I asked a 14 year old student who had just completed her exams, ‘How did you do the exam?’. Her response stunned me. She said, ‘I molested my paper’. I asked her if she knew the meaning of the word ‘Molested’. She saw me gulping and being a perceptive person, she said that she knew the original meaning but now the word is also meant differently. She said it means that she did the paper very well. I heaved a big sigh and said ‘Gosh!!!’ to myself.
There are then many of us who don’t say what we have to say – Is it fear of the impact? Is it a fear of communication? Is it a language challenge? Or is it just a feeling of what is the use of talking? Whatever the reason be, precious time is lost and if one gets a second chance to say what they have to say, they are lucky indeed. Sometimes, ‘tomorrow never comes’… There are times when we regret what we said and then there are times when we wish we had said something, instead of keeping quiet. Be Measured in Words…
The proverb ‘An Idle mind is a Devils’ Workshop’ fits the bill to a ‘T’. Thought after thought after thought, keeps entering the mind, when the mind is left free. The beauty of it is that, there may be absolutely no connection between the thoughts.
There is then that thought of, ‘I don’t want to think, but if I don’t think what else will I do’ that also runs in the mind. And that sets its own trigger and suddenly we find ourselves, occupied with only thoughts; too many of them that exhausts us mentally and physically. Though there are those few who even at that time allow only positive thoughts to run in their mind… A very blessed few indeed.
It is good for the mind to be in a ‘No Thought’ state, sometimes. Many times we are very uncomfortable with the silence, especially when we are in a state of ‘No Thought’. A few switch on the TV, to keep themselves occupied as though the TV gives them company. The money we pay for cable channels, gives ‘food for thought’- resulting in either positive or negative swing of moods. Little do we realise, that this state of ‘No Thought’ is actually our ‘Charge’. Small such moments of ‘No Thought’ is there in almost every one of our days’. If only we channelize the charge that we get from such moments, we could get closer and closer to achieve the purpose we are created for – Be Measured in Thoughts…
Time is Wealth and by ‘Being Measured’ in what we do, say and think, we create time and in turn Wealth for ourselves. Wealth, not necessarily in monetary terms…
October 10, 2018 at 11:02 am
You have rightly identified these three key components which have the potential to make or break a person if not used wisely and with caution. Again a lovely piece of writing, which resonates with any a reader’s experience and thoughts…. Indeed all these three aspects for me… money, words and thoughts are areas not yet mastered, still in process of trial n error and figuring out how?
October 11, 2018 at 6:31 am
Thanks Yashaswini.. I sometimes wonder if mastery is at all possible..
May 15, 2017 at 7:44 am
“Even if you are to dump something in river, measure it and then dump”(in Tamil it was Atril kottinAlum alanDu kottu) is the axiom what I can immediately recall in this regard. This is the way, I can say with pride, all middle class families as ours were brought up in Tamilnadu and hopefully in India and whom do you think were the champions of this? My mother and I am sure that all mothers were alike and I am not surprised. Whatever six rupees you have saved, give that to your mother she will multiply it to one hundred (Arai nUru AkkuvAnga) is what the axiom says!!
This was more important because of the evil associated with money (currency more specifically). Its purchasing power parity always keeps coming down, notwithstanding the promise of central bank, of country like ours, boldly says ‘I promise to pay the bearer (of the currency note) a sum of Rupees ……’! What quantity of products was purchasable with that currency note yesterday the same quantity the currency note of same denomination will not be available today! Then what does the promise mean only God and central bank knows! People are not bothered about this aspect and they have assumed it as a normal attribute of a currency note!!
The ‘measurement of money’, especially, the paper money is of a much latter origin, which was introduced with the supposition of facilitating bilateral transaction, has caused innumerable evils like the proliferation of black money, illegal siphoning abroad hawAla and so on.
Then the ‘measurement of words’. The axiom for this is ‘Even the injury caused by fire burns may heal but never the hurt caused by words’ (TheeyinAl sutta puN uLLArum ArAThE nAvinAl sutta vadu).
But when we witness or experience the kind of words spoken by people of any age group, we are disillusioned whether these axioms have any validity at all.
The mind of man is like a monkey jumping from tree to tree , never staying quiet keeps jumping from one thought to another. There are any number of gadgets to aid this in the modern world, while the vEDanTa requirement is to control its jumping from one useless thought to another, by diverting to constructive thoughts. This is because it is impossible to keep the mind thoughtless. Here the measure thoughts slogan is a waste, but watch thought is the requirement.