“मूल्यवान वस्तुओं पर नहीं, ‘मूल्यों’ और सिद्धांतों पर अधिक ध्यान दो…”

Swami ji said…

Remember the good old days of yore , when ‘valuable possessions’ – far and few in any home – could be counted on one’s finger tips. One took great pride in having worked tenaciously to buy any such ‘कीमती वस्तु’ and such a possession would be treasured and cherished and always held a special place in one’s heart. At times, months and sometimes even years of planning and saving were required to acquire a valuable thing – and the joy experienced on finally possessing it made one feel it was worth all the sweat and toil. Parents saved money, to buy bicycles, clothes and gifts for their children to reward them for getting good marks in their exams or on their birthdays.
These were preserved by children for as long as possible.
People worked hard and saved whatever they could. They did not look to spend on anything unnecessary or frivolous.

Homes were basic and simple – with hygiene and cleanliness being given great importance. But what made them really ‘valuable’ was the peace, love and happiness that resided in the hearts of all those living there. Of course, certain material possessions did matter – but not to the extent where many would be willing to sell their ‘soul’ to the devil. They were men of integrity and their aim was to live an honourable life. Undue importance was not given to one’s physical appearance. People mostly kept it simple, wearing only that what they could afford to wear. They did not feel the need to create an ‘impression’ on anyone with their attire. Younger ones in the family would often wear ‘hand me downs’ from older siblings. The elders of the family would often step out of the house to meet various social obligations wearing the same very clothes that they would be donning at home. Issues of this nature were rather insignificant to them – as they were more focussed on ‘investing’ their energy in inculcating good ‘values’ in their offspring.

However, staying healthy and happy were the top priorities during those days – as they were considered to be one’s most ‘valuable’ assets. ” हम सब के परिवार थोड़े में ही खुश रहते थे…” ” कम में भी काम बन जाता था…” – as everyone was willing to sacrifice for one another and truly believed in sharing and caring.

But gone are those days now. All of us have been bitten by the bug that has made us extremely conscious of the ‘image’ that we need to project to others ; to the outside world – to be considered ‘worthy’. And, to achieve that we are more than willing
to go to extreme lengths to appear sharp, and project a sense of power and wealth that we might nowhere be close to possessing.

And, thus, irrespective of the fact whether we can afford to or not – we are desirous of wearing expensive, branded clothes, costly watches, exorbitantly priced shoes ; ensconce ourselves in all these ‘valuables’ – step out of resplendent homes and luxurious cars – and on seeing that we have succeeded in impressing others – by our ‘valuables’ – we feel that this false projection was worth it – even if it came at the cost of taking a loan. There is no denying the fact that the ‘valuables’ we carry may ‘impress’ others – but , what we need to remember is that – it is the ‘values’ that we hold – that can ‘inspire’ others. It is upto us to decide – what is more important – ‘impressing’ or ‘inspiring’ others?

As man becomes more and more embroiled in materialistic gains – the lesser he focusses on the ‘values’ that were an essential part of his life till then. As he fills his coffers with gold; his ideals, principles, belief in an honest way of life – slip out of his heart and mind – and get buried beneath the numerous ideas and greed to acquire more and more. But this definition of success is wrong. A bigger house does not make the ‘man’ bigger in any way. It is his behaviour, his actions and words that define how big or small a man he is. We might remember or recollect the name of the person who owned and drove a fancy car in our neighbourhood, but , we would admire the person who made an effort to help us in our time of need or said kind words when we were completely down and out. It is our values and principles that dictate our words and deeds. Any compromise in our values has a direct bearing on the quality of our actions. Good deeds arise out of a belief that doing the right thing, irrespective of the cost, is what matters. Kind words are said when one is secure in enabling another person feel good and confident. And, this only happens when one has strong and empowering ‘values’.