The teachings of the Avatars, Rishis, Gurus and Saints have great meaning and when we follow them, we are lead to light, peace, bliss and self realization With the passage of time, these teachings are interpreted differently by many people. Slowly but surely twists and turns manifest in the texts and at times they end up with meanings which the original writer never meant to express. The original texts and meanings get polluted. The common man is less bothered about the ancient texts and gives more importance to rituals at the place of worship. He worships God in the simple way that he knows. He does the rituals given by the priests in the temple and pays their fees. And he hopes to get the promised results. The priests as a class perform their duties efficiently but there are many who twist ancient rules to suit their purpose. They understand the needs of the people and their lack of knowledge and sell them remedies which have no other value than enabling the priests to earn well. The following story is one such incident in the life of Buddha:
In the days of yore (and even now), people were full of ignorance and thought that money could buy anything – even send the souls of their dear ones from hell to heaven. The priests performed a ritual for a large sum of money and promised that the soul of the dead relative would be released from hell and would go to heaven. They would fill an urn with stones and chant prayers. Then priest would hit the urn with a ritual hammer. If the urn broke and the stones were released, it was a sign that the soul was also released. The urn was made of brittle clay and always gave way to the blows of the heavy metal hammer.
A young man was deeply grieved at the death of his uncle. He went to Buddha for help. Buddha had started a new religion and hence would have newer rituals which would help release his uncle’s soul. Buddha heard him out and asked him to get two ritual urns from the priests. He was to fill one urn with butter and the other one with stones.
The young man completed his tasks immediately and came back with two urns filled with butter and stones as requested. He was convinced that as Buddha himself was supervising the ritual, it would be very powerful and help his uncle’s soul. Buddha asked him to go to the river and place the urns carefully so that the rim of the urn was just below the surface of the water. Then he was to ask the priests to recite the same prayers and strike both the urns with the ritual hammer. He was to come back and report to Buddha on the results of the action done.
The young man was thrilled. He was the first person to be given this new powerful ritual by Buddha himself. He went to the river bank and did exactly as he was told to. Then he returned to Buddha and described what he saw: O Noble One, it was nothing special. When the priest hit the urns, the stones sank to the bottom of the river and the butter floated and was washed to the shore of the river.
Then Buddha replied: Now ask the priests to pray that butter will sink and the stones will float to the surface. The young man was shocked at this ridiculous and illogical request. How could it possible for the stones to float or the butter to sink despite the sincere and lengthy prayers of the priests? Then Buddha pointed out how illogical the request of the young man was. How was it possible for the soul of his uncle to be released from hell just by prayers? If the uncle had done bad and selfish deeds during his life, his soul would sink towards hell. And if his actions were loving and compassionate, like butter, his soul would float to heaven. How could the prayers of the priests change this course?
Our ignorance and our driving desire to get things free or at smaller costs make us take decisions which we would normally not do so. The law of karma is immutable and is applicable to all of creation. Let us understand this truth and stop paying priests for remedies which are not possible or probable. Let us shape our own fate by doing the SitaRam mantra, meditation and following the teachings of the Guru. When the good karma or butter in our pot is in full, we will float lightly towards the Light!
