Strive To Be Of Service

What is the first thing you recall wanting desperately? You heard this before when I urged you to invest in the process, not the outcome. You now have another tool. Think of the underlying unity of all people and strive to be of service. Don’t gather ye rosebuds while ye may with desperate urgency. Pause to strew some of those rosebuds around. Imagine that you’re very old and about to hand in your dinner pail. Your body is worn out and has become a burden. You’re happy to let it go. In front of you, eager to hear your words, is the person you are today. You see very clearly all of the trials and tribulations this person is facing, and you accurately see the probable outcomes of the actions your younger self is contemplating. What advice would you give this younger self? Write it down, and starting right now, follow that advice! Some years ago, I got up at 4:00 a.m. I went to a department store close by and stood outside the door.

I Can Almost Hear You Sigh

I thought I would be first in line, but I was mistaken. I wasn’t even in the first hundred. We all waited in the predawn darkness, stamping our feet to keep warm. I had been delegated to make sure I got one for my daughter. I don’t remember the doll’s name anymore, but I do remember how urgently I was charged with the task of capturing her. I looked with distaste at the swirling mass of humanity around me. They were the enemy, and I was girding for battle. I think I flunked that test, but I’m not sure. Then there were the Tamagotchis. These electronic kids needed lots of attention. They had to be fed at regular intervals and burped afterward. They had to be exercised and have their diapers changed.

Despite Repeated Warnings

Kids were spending so much time caring for their Tamagotchis that it disrupted classroom lectures, and they were banned from my children’s school. So the parents got to care for the Tamagotchis while the kids were in school. Fortunately, one of my students was hip enough to take a look at it for me, and after she ministered to it for a few minutes, the Tamagotchi was blooming with health. It died by my hand a few days later because I forgot to change its diaper, and I was in the doghouse for a long time. Pokemon trading cards were an addendum to the video game put out by Nintendo, perhaps the company’s most successful franchise after Mario Brothers. My son started collecting the cards, and they became an obsession. Nintendo craftily made some of them very rare and hard to get, and there was fierce competition to get a complete set. I spent hours on eBay bidding for Pokemon cards, sometimes buying a set of twenty or more just to get one elusive card. One of my consulting clients had an equally obsessed son who was much further along in his collection, and she persuaded him to give up some of his rare duplicates. Simultaneously, a contact in Japan sent me Pokemon cards that hadn’t even been released in the United States, and for a brief while, I was a hero. All of these once desperately wanted objects were within a certain time, and nothing within time will give you any enduring satisfaction or happiness. It all rusts or fades or corrodes and disappears sooner or later.

Too Marvelous For Words

And everything you’re chasing now is within time. The young man, Nachiketa, saw his father, a learned sage, give away cattle that were infirm and dry and chided him for giving such poor alms. To whom will you give me away? he mocked, and his father, in anger, snapped. The abode of the king of death and waited outside for three days for him to arrive. For his first boon, Nachiketa asked that his father get over his anger and greet him with love. For his second boon, he requested instruction about a ritual that enabled the performer to reach heaven, and that too was granted. For his third boon, he asked about the secret of death and everlasting life. Death offered him vast wealth, kingdoms with boundless land, thousands of cattle and horses and elephants, beauteous maidens to sing and dance and entertain him in all ways, children and grandchildren blessed with long life and high intelligence, and whatever else his heart could desire. Each time Nachiketa asked, Will this give me bliss that never ends? and each time Death had to answer, No, it lasts a long time, but one day, it will come to an end. The youth turned down all of the counteroffers and insisted on his boon being granted. Death praised Nachiketa for his persistence and wisdom in rejecting transitory pleasures and instructed him on what brings lasting bliss and deep happiness that never ends. What did Death reveal to our hero? I’ll tell you shortly, but play along with me for a while first and do the following exercise. And the next and the next? Pick at least three things you wanted that you actually obtained. Did you expect lasting pleasure, and did you get it? See that this, even if you do get some or all of it, will also gradually fade away. Look at the cover photographs of the people profiled. They were once movers and shakers, household names. You may not even recognize some of their names today. They are yesterday’s stories and fading fast. Many have noted the transitory nature of earthly accomplishment. With the poor crooked scythe and spade. When you understand this very clearly and deeply, you will observe changes in your attitude and the things you strive for. You may know this intellectually, but you don’t really grok it. The concept itself is quite difficult to grok! When you grok that unity, you find that you’re at the place you were seeking and, indeed, were there along. Be sincere, and true friendships will arise.