There is a rhythm in a way a river flows. Sometimes it flows through gravels and pebbles and boulders. Another time it moves in a tremendous speed and cascades down a precipice. In another instance, the water flows over smooth sand dunes yet there are occasions that it has to flow through thorny debris. While one person pours milky fluid into the river, another adds pollutants. However, tolerating all these differences, the water glides through its course.
All human lives are exposed to the eight worldly conditions. Sometimes, people feel pleasure and say ‘My heart is overwhelmed will joy”, When their dreams are realized the way they want. In a different situation, when their hopes are shattered they lament and cry saying ‘My heart bleeds, I am so hurt’. Buddhism explains this condition as profit and loss. Young children, there is nobody in the world, who has realized all his wishes and hopes in the course of his life. Everybody has to face numerous types of disappointments as a result of failing expectations. Do not worry, lament or cry thinking ‘why God, why only I am suffering like this. To pass exams, to find a good job, to possess a nice house and a comfortable vehicle and so many other wishes and hopes must be engraved in your innermost mind. You must generate a persistent effort, a strong determination and strength to strive hard, until the purpose is achieved. However, if should never be forgotten that you ought to be religious minded along the path of achieving your purpose or goal. Some young children think that they must fulfil their dreams either in a constructive way or a destructive way, other wise their mission would fail. Along the way to fulfil your wishes, you might visualize that irreligious way is swifter than the religious way. But it should be understood that anti-religious way does not have much longevity. Another fact is that is you make a wrong choice, your mind would be bitter and would always feel guilty by blaming your or painting at your wrong choice. This emotional suffering, later on might lead to sickness and also might bring some kind of misfortune to your family. Do not get emotionally distressed and discouraged, if you fail an exam, or miss one mark to enter the university or become unsuccessful at a job interview, by thinking ‘I am fed up of everything’. Instead, intelligently analyze your shortcomings and discuss them with well experienced teachers and parents or a suitable person whom you think, can advice constructively. Realizing what’s to be done wisely, take a step forward with more courage than earlier. You must survive, even if you fail in achieving your goals. If so, it is not advisable or beneficial to shatter your future related to the failure of what you wanted and wished to achieve. ‘You must have heard some children saying, ‘Good that it happened that way, I am now having a happy life as I have learnt lessons from my past mistakes. It is true many people say that both profit and loss should be tolerated in the same spirit. Yet, it is not easy for ordinary people. However, it should be noted that even at a loss, we can regain peace of mind. Hence, the best thing is to plan what’s to be done as the next step, if your hopes and plans to achieve a goal, ultimately fails. You may have practical experience or must have heard that before taking off in every flight, you are instructed and demonstrated how to behave appropriately and take safety measures is a mishap happens. We know such unfortunate accidents are rare; however, these precautions are taken as safely comes first. In your life too, specially in decisions and actions that have a deep impact for your life, you must give a thought for an alternative step, if the outcome of what you have planned wouldn’t happen. Loss and profit, condemn and praise, pleasure and pain are the universal principles common to ever human life. When praised every ordinary person would feel happy. However, if this happiness wouldn’t turn into arrogance and pride, but transforms into a state if humility, it shows the characteristic feature of a virtuous person. Young children, you must have heard that someone is described like this, ‘He was with me in the same class, we had our meals together, but now, he has climbed up the ladder in the society and holds high positions, surprisingly he can’t even recognize me. ‘These narrations wouldn’t show a virtuous human feature. We are unaware of the time, we die. If so, why these inhuman actions?
I am mentioning certain points that you should keep in your mind specially during your youth .
‘Oh! All the youthfulness diminishes with ageing and deterioration’.
‘Oh! All the meetings end with separations’
‘Oh! All the attachments and love end with pain and sadness’
‘Oh! All lives end with death’
I am mentioning these not with displeasure with young children. It can e noted that some young children try to put the ultimate truth of life, behind during their youth. You must have hard how the senior citizens and ageing people are being addressed with low humiliating words. It comes to my mind that these kind of people must be thinking that ‘we wouldn’t age or fall sick’. They say, ‘what matters is today, even if we die tomorrow’ ‘wouldn’t you even think that this is the value and meaning of human life that we have got so very hard? When life gradually takes the course of ageing, if you don’t want to remember your youth as a bitter memory, you should beautify your youthful years with humanity guided by virtue. How reliable the advice given by the Buddha to Venerable Rahula , even today? Learn a lesson from water. Even if people pollute water or poured with milky fluid, water accepts both without difference, it buns everything that comes on its way. Learn a lesson from wind. The wind, without any distinction, carries the pleasant smell and the unpleasant smell. As the water bears everything, how good it is, if you also tolerate criticism, praise and someone’s ruthlessness with patience? Like the way hat fire burns everything on its course, where ever there are wrongdoings, even if they are done by you or another person, still you can rectify them, as wind takes both pleasant and unpleasant smell without any difference. Greatness is generated there. Without diminishing the virtue of somebody if you can carry forward and absorb the righteousness and goodness of that person into yourself, isn’t that the Dhamma preached by the Buddha related to humanity?