Nagarjuna and The Thief : A Training tool for Emotional Intelligence / Self Awareness..
Source: Vikapla 2001, Singh S P ( 2001 ) Beliefs, Values, and Ethics Vikalpa 26, 2, page 3 - 14.
Here is a story . Please read it . Attempt to write your own answers to the questions that are posed in between.
Story starts .....
1.0 Nagarjuna
was great Buddhist monk and philosopher. One queen was very much devoted
to him. Having invited him to come to her palace, she got a golden
begging bowl studded with diamonds filled it with food,and then planned
to present it to the Master as alms. When the master arrived, she took
his ordinary bowl and replace it by the precious bowl filled with
delicious food. He took it and was going back to his monastery when a thief saw him carrying the bowl and wondered " how long is he going to
keep it ?
1.1. Is it right on the part of Master to accept and carry the diamond decked golden bowl and leave his ordinary bowl ?
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1.2 Why do you think Master has done such an act ? .. What are the reasons you ascribe to this act ?
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2.0 Somebody is going to take it away so why not I ? ". He
followed the monk at some distance.'
2.1 Is it right on the part of thief to do so ? Yes / No .
2.2 Why he has done so ? Any reasons ?
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2.3 Is the thief the following Nagarjuna is an exceptional thing or a normal thing ?
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3.0 Nagarjuna went inside his hut, ate his food, threw the bowl out of the window and it fell where the thief was sitting.
3.1 Why you think Nagarjuna has thrown the golden bowl out ?
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3.2 How come the golden bowl fallen where the thief was sitting ? Give reasons
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4.0 The thief was shocked, picked up the bowl and went in to the hut and asked the master. " May I ask you one question?
4.1 Is it the right thing done by the the thief to go in and meet Nagarjuna, and pose a question to him ?
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5.0 "
Nagarjuna said " to bring you in I had to throw the bowl out.
5.1 What is the underlying theme behind the act by Nagarjuna ?
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6.0 " The bowl
is yours take it as a gift. You will not be a thief. I can now sleep and
you can go satisfied "
6.1 Is Nagarjuna right that in his words ? Do you think the thief will not be a thief ?
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7.0 The thief said, You are a strange man ! Dont you know how costly the bowl is ? Nagarjuna replied " Since I have known myself, nothing is more precious than that".
7.1 What is the underlying meaning of the words of Nagarjuna here ?
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8.0 The thief said, Then give me one more present ' how can I know my self ' ?
8.1 Is it the right thing done by the the thief seeking one more present ?
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9.0 Master
replied "Whatever, you are doing, continue doing it. But do one thing
more When you are stealing be aware, be alert, be watchful of what you
are doing, If you lose your watchfulness, then dont steal".
9.1 What is the meaning and greatness in these words of gift ' Aware, and Watchful ' ?
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9.1 Why such a gift was given to thief ?
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10. For weeks the thief tried but found it difficult to practice stealing. Whenever he tried to take something he lost his awareness. He was sincere and would leave the things.
And when he was aware, there was no desire to take the thing. Finally he came empty-handed to the Master and said " You disturbed my whole life. Now I cannot steal ".
10.1 Why and what is the relationship between ' Being Aware - and Not having desire to steal? Explain as you understand ! .
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11. 0 Nagarjuna said " that is not my problem if you want to steal forget all about awareness".
12.0 The
thief said, " Those few moments when I was aware were so valuable that I
never felt so much of joy in my whole life before. I cannot stop
practicing awareness, will you allow me to be your disciple "
12.1 Why those few moments of AWARENESS are so JOYFUL ?
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12.2 Why not you practice at least for few minutes BE AWARE, WATCHFUL of SELF while reading this story and ENJOY the JOY of being watchful of yourself ? Do you !
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13. 0 Nagarjuna said " .....
I
had initiated you already when you followed me. you were thinking how
you were going to steal that begging bowl, and I was thinking how to
steal you.
We are both in the same business'.
13.1 What is that Nagarjuna steals which is similar a thief does ..?
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13.2 What message / learning you take from the story finally ? Write two points you take home.
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End Note from blog author ... :
- As I type these l.. e.. t.. t.. e.. r.. s... as the blog writer, I am trying to be AWARE of SELF, WATCHING myself how I am typing, what I am typing, why I am typing.!
The issue is NOT ' what one does' . The real issue is if ONE is aware / watchful of oneself while one is doing anything and everything. It is quite possible to be watchful and also doing things.
Yes.. some ( many ! ) times I miss of watching of myself. Let me confess, that it is true. But again I try to come back and Be Watchful of Myself. It is not how many times, I lost of my awareness.
The real issues are :
- Is there self awareness ?
- If thee is an attempt to come back again and again to be self aware ?
- How early one is aware of rather than how delayed and late one is self aware ?
- How long one is aware of ? Is the duration of awareness increasing or not ?
The more I practice the art of coming back to self aware, I am closer to L I V I N G ! Otherwise, so called living is Nothing but other wise of D E A T H ...!
Self awareness is continuous striving. It is not one time set it and that's all. NO. It is not like that.
Let me confess, It is amazing experience to ' Watchful of myself '. The joy and immense LIVING experience this way I get is, so cherishing !
I wish every one of you who read this blog also try to emerge practicing ' Be Watchful of Self '.
I also feel that all other way of living ( Non Watchful and Not Aware of ) are NOT REAL LIVING !
