(adapted
from Sri OmSwami’s article in Tattvaloka)
Once a king wanted to know
1)
The most important person
2)
The most important time
3)
The most important karma
He posed it as three
questions to his ministers and other courtiers. He got varied answers like King, God etc., for
most important person; death, birth etc. for most important time and charity,
serving one’s religion etc., for most important karma. King was not satisfied with the answers he
got. Then his chief minister suggested
that the king take his questions to the sage who lived in solitude in a cave on
the top of a nearby mountain. The king
agreed with the idea and went to see the sage. After a few hours of steep climb,
he came to the mouth of the cave. He left his sword and costume outside and
went in a simple dress and prostrated before the sage. The sage asked the king for the purpose of
his visit. The king told the sage about his quest and posed the three
questions. The sage took him to a cliff
of the mountain overlooking the kingdom and left him there to contemplate in
silence on the questions and retired to the cave. As the king was surveying his
kingdom in silent solitude soaking in the serene atmosphere from the cliff-top,
he heard a voice behind commanding him to turn back. Startled the king turned
back and found himself looking at his sword pointed at him by the sage standing
a few feet away. Taken by surprise the king stood in silence staring at the
sword when the sage broke the silence and asked him whether he knew now, who is
the most important person, what is the most important time and what is the most
important karma. As the king looked back
into the eyes of the sage, a calm feeling swept over his entire being and he
bowed in reverence signifying affirmation.
The sage handed back king’s sword and the king bowing once again in
gratitude left the place and went back to the palace.
His chief minister who was
waiting for him there asked him whether he got the answers and the king said
“Yes” with a smile. The chief minister was eager to know them as well. The king
said that he got the answers from the sage not directly but indirectly and
started explaining them, after telling him what took place at the mountain top.
When the king was surveying silently his kingdom he realised that he was a king
because of the subjects, and the most important karma for him was to
love and care for them. When he was staring at the sword held by the sage and
was feeling he was a few moments away from death, he realised that the most
important time was “Now”, the present moment. When the sage was speaking he
realised that the most important person is the person who is with him at the
moment.
After narrating the story, Sri
Om Swami comments that if one could remember these answers all the time one’s
life would undergo a change for the better and explains these answers in detail
in a general context. The important time
in life at any stage in life is “Now”, the present moment because that is the only
time one can act in. That is the time one
will ever have because past is gone and does not matter and future is not yet
born and has no influence. Giving
attention to the present moment is the principle of mindfulness. To be mindful all the time is the key to
success in any action. So one should make “Now” the primary focus of one’s life.
The person one is with, “Now”
is the most important person for the one at that time. One gives sole attention
to that person, making the other person feel important, boosting the person’s
self-esteem. The other person feels cared, feels respected and this makes for
positive relations and positive feelings all around. When adopted in respect of
members of one’s family, it promotes harmony in the family.
To bestow love and care is
the most important karma. It is the most worthwhile thing one can do not only with
others but also with oneself as well.
When one is with someone else one should show one’s love and care through
undivided attention. When one is alone with oneself one should not waste one’s
thoughts and energy in nourishing the anxieties for the future nor keep nursing
the grievances of the past. One should not give room to negative thoughts at
any time.
All these; treating the
present as the most important time, holding the person one is with as the most
important person and having love and caring attitude to one and all, could be
cultivated and sustained only if one keeps one’s mind calm and peaceful all the
time, which is the case when contentment rules the mind. When one is contented, one feels calm and
peaceful, love and compassion overflows, struggle, anxiety and agitation
disappears and one radiates happiness.
This gives room to acceptance of life’s situations, good or bad,
beneficial or adverse without judging them or others, when one combines it with
a prayerful attitude which, in short, is called the attitude of a karma yogi. Eckhart Tolle author of “The Power of NOW”
states “The moment that judgement stops
through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind.
You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.”
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Nice questions well answered.
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