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The Magic Bowl: A Tale of Immortality

“The act of building a benevolent Character is the highest act of all.”

There was once an ancient Gurukul in Southern India. While learning, one disciple asked his Guru. What is immortality? How does a person become immortal? 

Another disciple said, ‘In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said that our body wrapped the soul, which is the energy that transformed from one body to another. So, how does a person achieve immortality? The soul is immortal; we are not.’

Then, the Guru told them that once the soul leaves the body, it transfers to another body. But till the time is inside the body, it is carefully watched by the body. The soul belongs to a body, and that specific character recognises it. The soul is immortal but provides the person’s character to eternity. A person’s choices, his/her virtues and principles make him/her immortal.

Let’s assess the immortality factor among you. I want three disciples who come forward and volunteer for this assessment. The disciples come forward and sit near the Guru. Other disciples watched and were eager to see how their Guru assessed the disciples.

The Guru keeps one bowl in front of them. ‘He said, This is the magical bowl. It will fill automatically with your wish. But there are some constraints to your wish. You cannot wish for money, you cannot wish for a liquid thing, and you cannot wish for any doped things.’

The first disciple is fond of mangoes. He wishes for the sweetest mangoes in the world. The magic bowl fulfilled his wish. It shocked him when he saw the mangoes. He took one and smelled it. The Guru said, ‘Enjoy your fruit. You will never get these many sweet mangoes.’

The second disciple wishes for medicine that will make him strong. He would never get ill in his life. The magic bowl fills his wish, and a green paste comes out of that bowl. The Guru said, ‘Have it? You will never become unhealthy again in your life.’

Then, everybody is eager to see what the third disciple will choose. The disciple closed his eyes and wished. He opened his eyes and saw a magic bowl full of flower seeds with a seven-petal flower. 

Everybody was disheartened to see the seeds. The Guru smiled and asked the disciple, ‘What is the reason to wish for the seeds? Please explain it to your fellow mates.’

The disciple said, ‘I think if we sow the seeds of our character, we will reach immortality. That is why I wished for seeds.’ The other disciple needs clarification on his statement.

The Guru acclaimed the disciple and said, ‘Let me explain. The first wish is for the mangoes. You wish it because you think the desire inside you gives you timeless joy if you triumph over your desires. It is an earnest contentment,’

The second wish is for wellness. ‘It lets you have a permanent experience if you have an ultimate wellbeing and vigour. You sustain your life immutable but not immortal.’

But the energy of the soul requires a fuel that vitalises human beings. This will only start with a thought and a series of those thoughts that turn into consequential decisions. Then, the experiences emerge from the decisions and create actions that become your values. Then, those values will nurture the virtues and bestow the ultimate character. If you wish for seeds (Thoughts), the series of seeds turn into the plant (decisions), and it will grow in the tree (Actions), and those trees create and spread the strong roots (Values) and produce the sweetest fruit (Virtues) and nurture it into immortal beings (Character)’.

The character that builds will never die out. It scattered new seeds, and it returned to a modish character. It became immortal.

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