To me , Naradmuni is
World’s first & most Pioneering Coach who made a profound impact on world history
with one of his most talked about human transformations – which turned Vaalya ,
the roadside dacoit to Valmiki who went on to become one of the most revered Sages
, who wrote Ramayan . :
o
For the lesser
initiated on the matter , here goes the story :
§ Vaalya used to loot / kill unsuspecting
passers by in Jungle as his way of earning & feeding self & family .
One day Naradmuni happened to pass by , when Vaalya caught him & asked for
money . Naradmuni said ‘ I have nothing on me that can serve your purpose –
you’ll be wasting your time on me ‘ . He asked Vaalya as to why is he doing all
these supposedly wrong things – looting / robbing , killing . Vaalya had a quick reply – “ I do
it for my family “ , he said . This is when in a typical Coaching approach ,
Naradmuni asked him if he thinks , whether this is what his family too expects from
him . Without hesitation , Vaalya replied in affirmative . Naradmuni challenged
Vaalya to check out with the family if they too think so . When Vaalya asked
his family , to his surprise he found out that none of his family members was
either supportive of his ‘ profession ‘ or wanted to be a partner in his ‘ sin
‘ .
§ This brought in the realization . He was not
only in his self created illusion ( about what he felt his family wants ) but
he realized the irrelevance of what he was doing . The impact of that awareness
was such that it brought about almost 180 degree transformation from a dacoit
to a Sage …. The rest is history , as he went on to write Ramayan .
o
I find very high
relevance of this story today . If I liken us with Vaalya , I’m sure most of us
would feel outraged … I most certainly don’t mean to refer to anyone as Vaalya
in literal sense ( as a roadside robber ) However the zeal with which I see
many of us work single mindedly to amass material wealth , the speed with which
I see greed replacing need as the driver in life and the amazing route we are
taking where Money , at the exclusion of everything else , is becoming the
Purpose of Life ( PoL ) scares me to think which way are we heading . And on
top of it , when I see most of us ( sincerely ) believe that the single minded
pursuit of material wealth at the cost of health , family time & purity of
soul is guided by our concern for the family --- this is what we are doing “
for the family “ …… no other analogy
hits me better than that of Vaalya’s self created illusion of what he thought
his family wanted .
o
In a way hence , I see
that many of us in our lust for money have lost touch with both reality &
life . Like Vaalya we have become “ awareness blind “ … we are in dire need for
a Naradmuni coach in our life to bring in a larger awareness about priorities
in life …. If that helps here are some self soul searching questions :
o
What do I want from
life , What will bring real joy to me and
my family
o
What do my spouse , my
children really need from me
o
What is the best gift I
can give to my family , What is that can
really make difference to their life
o
What is the best
inheritance I can plan for my children … if it’s the material wealth , what
makes me believe that my children are not as capable as I was in generating this
much wealth & more on their own
o
When I retire from
active life , what is that one thing I’d yearn for . Looking back from a
retired stage , what is that one thing I’d not like to regret
o
While it’s all about
awareness , finally it’s your life – your choice . You have to take a call to
start your life journey from Vaalya to Valmiki …. The sooner it occurs to you
is better for you . You can certainly do it on your own , however should you
need me to be your Naradmuni , I’d be more than happy … after all it’s not just
my Joy , but also my Job !
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