Story: Mother, Beggar and Chapati (Source: Google Baba)
Every morning a woman baked Chapati, an Indian flatbread, for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She would always place the extra Chapati on the windowsill, for whosoever needed to eat it.
She noticed a beggar came every day and took the extra Chapati. Instead of expressing gratitude, he would mutter the following words as he went on his way: “The evil you do remains with you. The good you do comes back to you!“
This went on day after day after day. The woman felt very irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself. “Every day this beggar utters this jingle! What does he mean? “
One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this beggar,” she said.
And what did she do? She added poison to the Chapati she prepared for him!
As she was about to place it on the windowsill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw his Chapati into the fire, prepared another one and put it on the sill.
As usual, the beggar came, picked up the Chapati and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you. The good you do comes back to you!”
The beggar proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman.
Every day, as the woman placed the Chapati on the windowsill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months she had no news of him and she always prayed for his safe return.
That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak.
Looking at his mother he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old beggar passed by. I begged him for a morsel of food and he was kind enough to give me a whole Chapati.”
“When he gave it to me, he said, ‘This is what I eat every day. Today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!’”
As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned Chapati that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her son and he would have lost his life!
It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you. The good you do comes back to you!”
Moral of the story: Do good and don’t ever stop doing good, even if it’s not appreciated at that time.
What is the Meaning of Karmic Account?
Karma is like opening a savings bank account. We have choices on how much money we want to put in to add to our balance, or how much we want to withdraw. We can choose to put different investments that result in interest to increase what we have available in our account. We can also choose to use a credit card in which we pay interest on what we spend. The choice is ours to make.
Similarly, we have a karmic account. Each day we can choose whether we want to engage in thoughts, words, and deeds that are going to result in good (supporting others, helping others, guiding others) that come back to us. We can also engage in thoughts, words, and deeds, for which we must pay the consequences (criticizing, cheating, cheating).
Everything is predestined. It means whatever is happening today was already decided before. Many times, we have observed that someone does not put much effort and still, the results are astounding while on the other side, there will be someone who will be putting consistent efforts but still, the results are not so promising. Why does it happen and what we can do about it?
When we are born, based on the position of the stars, the priest makes our horoscope (Janampatri). It specifies what is going to happen in our lifetime. It could be good, ugly or bad. From where this information is coming? It is a result of our past karmas, which is due on that date. It is a pure science that is based on the facts so far.
It is exactly similar to the balance sheet of a company which was prepared on 31st March of a particular year. That balance sheet reflects the performance of the company as of that date. Based on the previous year’s performance, the organization and the competitors can predict the performance of the company in the coming year. If the organization continues to work exactly the way it worked in the previous years, the results will be broadly similar. But, if the company decides to make drastic changes in their way of working, there is a high possibility that results can be very surprising by the end of the next financial year.
It is interesting to note that in the entire globe, not two companies have similar balance sheets. Something similar is with human beings too. When twins are born in a family, they may look identical but their horoscope (Janampatri) is not the same as it is based on their previous births’ karmic account.
When the same twins grew up, they do new karma (good and bad). If the parents and the child only consider the future based on the horoscope and do not consider the karmas that the children are doing in this birth, it will be a wrong assessment as the horoscope does not consider the karmas which are done in this lifetime.
Interestingly in the majority of the cases, all those people who believe in the horoscope observe that whatever is written in the horoscope comes true! The key reason is that we do assume that whatever is written in the horoscope will certainly come true and we stop doing any additional efforts.
Why it is Important to Understand Karmic Account?
We meet someone for the first time and after a while, we start talking as if we know each other for ages. We meet someone for the very first time and we have a feeling that this person is irritating, rough and arrogant. How it is possible that even without uttering a word, we make our opinion about another person?
It is a result of our past karmic account which triggers positive or negative thoughts about a person. Interestingly for the same person, my brother, sister or friend may not hold the same feeling!
How to Improve Our Karmic Account?
We can improve our present karmic account by thinking and doing good for others irrespective of what is happening around us. When we will share positive vibrations with others, automatically it will create a positive aura around us. In majority of the cases, whatever we are thinking, it will happen. Even if will not happen as per our expectations, we will remain calm & stable and will be able to get over the situation quickly.
The mantra given by Mahatma Gandhi can do wonders in our lives if we implement them truly in our lives. See no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil.
Never dwell your mind towards the hurtful comments as this only increases the pain. Instruct your mind to be calm by consistently doing the following three things listed below. The choice is always yours.
Practice Self-Talk: A key element of giving blessings is being grateful for what you have. Practice self-talk in our daily life and learn to appreciate all of the good things in your life.
Meditate: Meditation can help you to focus your mind and clear your thoughts. This can help you to give/receive blessings of self-empowerment that are more powerful and meaningful.
Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness can help you to be more present and aware of the blessings in your life. Practice mindfulness regularly to help you to receive/give blessings of self-empowerment more easily.