Sajha.com Archives
ASHAMED OF MYSELF...

   When my son was five years old, I used t 31-Jul-03 LaataMora
     Your feeling of superiority from giving 31-Jul-03 ramaychowchow
       finally.. sajha presents: SOME SEROIUS T 31-Jul-03 Help_desk_3
         Why should I provide for the beggars? t 31-Jul-03 VincentBodega
           From my last visit to Nepal: I went to 31-Jul-03 ramaychowchow
             Who doesn't want to be happy? Everybody 31-Jul-03 selfexplorer
               It's so nice of you, nice friends, to re 31-Jul-03 LaataMora
                 Well what we can do??????? With beggar 01-Aug-03 komal the soft one
                   our society has taken a wrong turn. we a 01-Aug-03 mitra 2
                     It's so wonderful to share great opinion 01-Aug-03 LaataMora
                       A nice quotation 01-Aug-03 learner
                         Good to remember everyday... 01-Aug-03 learner


Username Post
LaataMora Posted on 31-Jul-03 10:08 AM

When my son was five years old, I used to buy him fancy toys worth few hundreds.
During the same time, an incident took place that is still in my hearts, fresh. One day
while I was walking in Bhugol park, I happened to see an old man with two
little kids, hungry, begging. I took pity upon them and gave them five rupees. I feel ashamed to say that the moment I gave them the money I felt like I was the most compassionate person in the whole world. What a shame?

Why I am so selfish? I think, it is due to persons like me who have spoiled this beautiful earth. Nobody is responsible, except myself. Due to the lack of self-knowledge, we are all becoming more and more miserable. We are mostly in unconscious state.

So, Self-knowledge is the first step towards true living...

ramaychowchow Posted on 31-Jul-03 11:18 AM

Your feeling of superiority from giving money to the poor is wrong. (If anyone gives charity it should be without any expectation of return. Otherwise it beats the whole purpose of giving charity.) But later you realized your mistake. That is good. In life, we all make mistakes over and over. Realizing those mistakes and trying not to repeat them again is what makes us better each day.
Help_desk_3 Posted on 31-Jul-03 11:19 AM

finally.. sajha presents: SOME SEROIUS TALKS
VincentBodega Posted on 31-Jul-03 11:34 AM

Why should I provide for the beggars?
this is something i always wondered about.. and even if I did should I feel good for my "altruistic" sense or should I feel damned that I crippled another soul?
We are taught that we should always share our "fortune" with the less fortunate, and so the logic behind helping out the needy and that involves donating some money to the beggars.
Does it really do good to them though? I dont think it really does. Doesnt free lunch make them less likely to go out and fend for themselves? Lifes hard and its harder if you give up and pick up a nook of a street and decide to live on the mercy of others.
About this post... I dont know why you felt bad
Is it for giving them money? then why did you call yourself selfish?
is it for feeling pitty on them? well they did it to themselves, not you ... you cant control your feelings when people are there to make to feel that way towards them.
Is it for not giving them hundreds of dollars like you spend on your sons toys well you dont have to. Keep your money to yourself and use wisely!!!

--BV


ramaychowchow Posted on 31-Jul-03 12:19 PM

From my last visit to Nepal:
I went to Chaungu Narayan Temple with my parents one day. There was one old lady begging on the doorway. She must have been 70+ in age; face all wrinkled, grey hair, no teeth, can hardly hear or see, etc. I gave her 5 rupees. She smiled at me and thanked me. She was genuinly thankful. I felt so much warmth in my heart, I never felt like that in my entire life. (To this day, I can see her smiling face) Then I asked my dad how much that money is worth. It turns out, you can hardly buy anything with 5 rupees these days. I went back and gave her more money. This came naturally. I was not thinking about how rich I am; I was not thinking about how great I am. I truely felt like helping her. From one human to the other. Nothing less and nothing more. I did gain something that day. It is to realize the true meaning of charity: to help fellow human beings, to be compassionate, without any strings attached.

I don't think anyone becomes poor by choice. There are circumstances which leads to that stage. I have met older people in Nepal begging in the streets because their kids kick them out of the house (after taking all the money). So we shouldn't stop helping those in need. Yes, there will be those who will con us by pretending to be helpless, etc. But why should other helpless individuals get penalized for that?
selfexplorer Posted on 31-Jul-03 04:35 PM

Who doesn't want to be happy?
Everybody wants that. Happiness lies in everybody and everything.
However, many people are trying to find happiness outside themselves, in the
external world, and in the end they are disappointed.

We all think money brings happiness. What money actually brings is ease and comfort.
But the happiness that it brings does not last long. The reason?

Our heads are satisfied but not our hearts.

Thank you, Mr. LaataMora ... for bringing a nice talk which might benefit to those who really want a long lasting happiness.
LaataMora Posted on 31-Jul-03 05:09 PM

It's so nice of you, nice friends, to respond to my post - thank you.

I know a zen story :

In a village, a very old man was living with his only young son. One day, unfortunately his son fell from a tree and broke his leg. The neighbours, on hearing about the accident, came to the old man and conveyed their sorrow " We are very sorry, a very bad thing happened"

The very next day, maoists rebels came to the village for recruting purpose - one member from each family. The old man was excused because his son had broken leg. Next, the same neighbours came to the old man and said " We are happy, a good thing happened yesterday"

The idea behind this story is that situation can say what is good or bad. Helping the poor is good if they really needed help, but the idea that remained in my head that I had helped is bad which aroused pride in me. But again, if I learn from this incident to make myself conscious of the feelings of pride in me, then again it will be good for me.






komal the soft one Posted on 01-Aug-03 06:50 AM

Well what we can do???????
With beggars? Nothing..........No body wants to beg like that on the street and even if we dont give them any money then what would they do? They don't have enough money to have a good meal or.............And even if we give them rs 5/- then theres nothing harm as i think every one used to spend lots of money each and every day. And even just rs.5/- its not a big amount though. As u all know these days each and every thing is so expensive. What will they buy of rs 5/- can any body tell me?????? Ya i know every one says they have their hand why dont they work...............WORK?????????????????Who will give them work????????????As u all know where ever u go for a work they ask for a experience and certificates.....Am i right? Don;t u guys think so?????????? And how can they have an experience cuz they are from village they dont even know whats the certificates means yaar. Come on dont say that. Ok allrite instead of giving money to them can we feed them all?No nah? Then each and every day if we give rs.5/- then it won;t harm us I think.
Komal
mitra 2 Posted on 01-Aug-03 09:52 AM

our society has taken a wrong turn. we are going too far away from our being. that is the problem. we are not taught to be happy, playful, caring or sharing. our education system is helping to create the misery of our life. all we are learning is to create win-win situation and accumulate wealth so that we can live a luxurious life. we lack the basic fundamental education which is called the 'truth'. without truth we can not be happy, and we are not. we have created division, inequality, status, label, and what not! amongst each other so that our ego can feel better. this is the root cause of our misery.

in general, the more educated you are, the less human you become. go to the remote villages in nepal and meet with illietrate people (i don't call them uneducated), to the cities, and to the western world. what we can witness is the reality of our education system. the reality in which our ego is living and our being 'soul' is dying.

i agree with selfexplorer that we are too much dependent on our head. head is always thinking about logic which helps to grow our ego. thinking won't make us happy but feeling can. we should start feeling from our heart. if we start thinking YES thinking from our heart, much of the problems from our society would go away.

our education lacks love, awareness, creativity, music, dance, art, yoga, and all other good stuffs that are essence of life which 'Gurukul shiksha' used to teach in ancient times. to me that 'bidhya dhanam is sarba dhanam'. we need to bring that back in order to make this world more beautiful.
LaataMora Posted on 01-Aug-03 10:46 AM

It's so wonderful to share great opinions about what is wrong with our society. I absolutely agree with mitra2 that we are taught to become more and more egoist. We are trained by our education to forget our hearts and be cunning more and more. The more education we acquire, the more unconscious we become. I have noticed, the higher degree one acquires, the more serious he/she becomes. In the same way, the richer one becomes the more serious he looks. The main problem is ... we are too self-conscious. We are taught - become special. That is to become more egotistic.

learner Posted on 01-Aug-03 02:50 PM

A nice quotation

learner Posted on 01-Aug-03 02:51 PM

Good to remember everyday...