Our scriptures teach us to live in this world in a detached manner. If we are fortunate enough to imbibe this in our lives, we make ourselves happy and little things do not bother us. The greater the degree of detachment, the greater is our capacity to accept things as they are and the greater is our peace of mind. Now the question is, what things should bother us and what not? The answer to this is not easy and varies from person to person. A thing, which is insignificant for one, may not be so for the other. However, a general principle may apply to all. I learnt this from a real-life episode, which was narrated during a training programme which I am sharing here.
There was a famous cardiologist in US, who was a very busy person. Apart from being occupied in his medical practice, he rushed to various cities to deliver lectures on his subject. All his lectures drew huge crowds and this made him all the more popular and busy. His schedule, therefore, had become so hectic that his health came under great strain.
Once he flew to a place to deliver a lecture but just before reaching the venue, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital. Fortunately, he was attended to quickly and his life was saved. He recovered and went to deliver the lecture on the very next day. The news of his heart attack was kept a secret by his managers and so the audience was waiting eagerly for his talk.
This time his lecture was altogether different. He did not speak on the complex systems of the heart and the human body and the complicated ways of keeping them healthy. Instead, he said that human life was very precious and should not be wasted on trivial things. Defining what these small things were, the exact words he used were:
Small things are not worth dying for; And all things are small.
He concluded his lecture with these few lines, pleading that this formula was enough to keep the heart and body healthy.
I consider that his advice advocated nothing but the principle of detachment. Life is too precious to be wasted on small things, and all worldly things are small when compared to the real goal of life.
Rakesh Mittal IAS
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