Almost always my teacher shares beautiful insights – all enlightening. But I regret to see that none of these actually changes us the least.
India is the land of mystics – treasuries of immense knowledge. Knowledge is not reserved to Sufi Buddhists only.
Once, Tulsidas happened to hear about a great knower saint of the times. Rahim was a poet and an astrologer, who is believed to have lived in the 16th century. He is said to have been one among the nine jewels at the palace of the Mongol emperor. Rahim had the strange behaviour of giving alms, never looking at the face of the receiver. Tulsidas wrote to him the lines, which meant, “Eh man, where did you learn this from? When you raise your hands to give, your eyes drop…”
Rahim completed his lines saying that “Day or night the world thinks that it is the giver. It is because I am ashamed to think that way, I close my eyes and look down.”
I haven’t ever grown as big as Rahim or Tulsidas. I always used to make sure that the hard-earned money I share is spent amicably and never carelessly thrown around. It was how I used to think until I happened to read the book ‘The Third Eye’ written by Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.
The story goes like, Rampa going to a learned Buddhist lama for training. His teacher opened his third eye. Thereafter Rampa could see beyond into anybody’s future. The next day, both the Guru and sishya were walking through the road. There, aside the road sat a beggar. When Rampa looked at him; he could see that he owned a double storied house and a rich environment.
Rampa asked his master if it is fair to promote such people. His Guru replied saying that similar people are there just to help us express our empathy and concern for the universe. Also, we need not think about how they spend the money. Without them we could not have proved to the universe that we belong to the group of haves. God always keeps us safe where we are.
Thereafter, I have never even thought of how the money I donate is spent. So it is important to have people in the ‘need support’ category.
A rich miser was asked by a priest for a donation to the local parish and was refused. The priest sighed and said, “Come to the window, Mr. Smith. Look out and tell me what you see.”
The miser looked and said, “People, what else?” “Now come to this mirror, and look in, and tell me what you see.”
“Myself, what else?” “There you are. The window is glass, the mirror also is glass, but the mirror has a thin layer of silver on it. As soon as a little silver is added, you no longer see other people, you see only yourself.”
