I have a sister who is about ten years older than me. She brought me up in my childhood days and took care of me like a mother. Even after her marriage (which was at the age of 16), I spent a few years with her and had my primary education at the place of my brother-in-law’s posting. Thereafter, we kept visiting each other very frequently. She has been a very good home manager and always took good care of all the visitors within her means.
One event, which I usually noticed with her, was the disposal of old newspapers. The deal between her and the hawker used to fail on many accounts. Sometimes it was over rate, sometimes over the weighing balance and sometimes over some other issue. As a result, quite often the old newspapers were taken out of the house and then brought back again. The deal used to conclude only after many such exercises. Seeing this, I used to feel that in the whole process, the pain was more than the gain, but my sister would not listen to any advice in the matter. In due course, as she became mature and saw life in a larger perspective, she realised the waste of energy in this exercise. Around the same time, nature brought me on the spiritual path and she started looking at me as her spiritual guide. Before this, she used to be a very sentimental woman who was prepared to sacrifice anything for others but at the same time felt sad if her sentiments were not appreciated or responded to, adequately.
Once she realised that one should live with a sense of detachment while doing one’s duty sincerely, the texture of her life changed. Thereafter, she stopped wasting her energy on trivial matters like the disposal of old newspapers. The message of this small narration is deep. Most of us waste a lot of energy firstly in acquiring things and then in getting rid of them. The wisdom lies in applying moderation in both the areas. One should understand the essential nature of physical acquisitions. They come to us only to go. Therefore, only optimum acquisition should be our target and their going away also should not bother us unduly. While it is applicable to objects, it is equally important in terms of our relationships. One should, therefore, live like an observer in this world. Since then my sister has been a much happier person and does not waste her energy on petty issues such as the disposal of old newspapers.
