Part 13 (1/2)
”Money can fly,” said the chairman. ”The dodo couldn't.”
The crowd chuckled. The toothless man cackled that his money flew, all right, into the hands of the income tax and bill collectors.
Before all the laughter had subsided the chairman resumed, ”If you don't start living, then you're headed for dododum. In the Dodo world, one dumb Dodo told the rest that flying was a sin, and anyone who flew would be cursed to a life of h.e.l.l once they died.
”Well, when the hunters came the birds were rooted to the ground, not because they couldn't fly, but because of the guilt that imprisoned them, because some idiot dodo proclaimed that flying was sinful,” said the chairman.
”That's a good one,” said one gal, giggling.
”Human dodos abound, the world is full of them, and to make things worse - they love to hear the sound of their own voice. So their mouths are open 24/7,” said the chairman.
Between giggles, the young girl glanced at the paper airplane on the floor.
”Can you give us an example of imaginary sin?” a young man asked earnestly, and wondered if someone was going to pick up the bill.
”If you don't fast during certain times of the year you are labelled a sinner,” said the chairman.
”There's nothing right or wrong about fasting. If it suits your spiritual path then embrace it by all means. But coercing, castigating or intimidating someone to do something they cannot 'relate to' nor are 'comfortable with' causes a lot of harm to both parties,” said the chairman.
”Yes, in the heat of the moment when you lose your sanity because of a lack of awareness and force yourself upon someone you become a sinner.
”Sinning is the absence of goodness or in other words you become evil because evil is the absence of goodness.
”It's so deceptively simple. When 'goodness' leaves you, however fleetingly, at that moment in time you become a sinner,” said the chairman.
”Are non-vegetarians sinners?” asked an elderly lady, with a worried look on her face.
”That's a good question,” said one girl.
”Hmm... ok here goes,” said the chairman.
”Billions of vegetarians spew billions of negative thoughts on a daily basis and a few even harbor thoughts of killing, looting and plundering on a global scale (if their interests are harmed),” said the chairman.
”In many cases, vegetarians wholeheartedly endorse murderous decisions. In this way both vegetarians and non-vegetarians kill hundreds, maybe thousands in conflicts, skirmishes and wars that take place on a daily basis,” said the chairman.
”So both are on the same level, slightly above that of animals. Animals walk around naked, you have clothes on - internally both are looking to survive not thrive. You think that turning into a vegetarian makes you 'spiritual' automatically. How smoothly you delude yourself!”
”Lottsa things are beginning to take on a whole new meaning,” said one man.
”Can anyone tell me the biggest sin a human being can commit?” asked the chairman as he scanned the room.
”Murder?” said a young man.
”No,” said the chairman.
”Rape?” said a woman.
”No,” said the chairman.
”What can be bigger than rape and murder?” an old man whined.
”Hurting the human spirit with words or the lack of it by being silent,” said the chairman.
A hush fell over the room. Most went into a state of shock. n.o.body moved. The chairman didn't utter a word for several minutes. He wanted these words to sink deep into the soul of every partic.i.p.ant.
”Well... err... we've all been guilty of it,” a woman stammered.
”But we never thought the consequences would be so harsh,” a man said.
”That's why most people never make money,” said the chairman. ”Or even if they do, it's with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The karmic load is so heavy that it negates anything you do to move forward.
”What's the solution?” asked an elderly lady.
”Something very simple but very tricky. You can do it but you just won't do it,” said the chairman.
”Forgiveness. You'll hold on to insults or insinuations for decades. Every time you refuse to forgive you give birth to a block. Most of these blocks are deep within you, remnants of a situation or altercation you faced a long time ago.
”I'm saying it once more. Don't ever imprison your spirit on account of a guilty conscience and if you do something wrong ask for forgiveness immediately. If the other person refuses to forgive you, it's their problem. Ask for forgiveness from the bottom of your heart and promise yourself you'll never do it again, and move on in life.
”Looks like we have much bigger issues to deal with,” said an elderly gentleman.
”Your thoughts are diametrically opposite to ours,” opined one woman.
”Since sin doesn't exist, we can party a lot harder from now on,” said a young guy. Everyone screamed: ”Wooohooooooooooooooooo.”
”So what you're saying is that we can commit a crime and get away with it?” asked an elderly gentleman.
”Good question. Since there's no retribution, it's a free ride, right?” asked one gal.
”Well, it's not that simple,” said the chairman. ”When you commit a crime your conscience gets jolted. This jolt results in the formation of a negative imprint, which gets added to your memory bank, which is already overflowing with billions of such imprints.
”This imprint is similar to the one made in molten metal. When you get hot under the collar, these imprints register deep grooves in your psyche. Is it easy to erase them? No. It takes a long time and until it exists you'll project the same reality over and over again. You're helpless.
”So prevention is better than cure. Don't lose your bearings. Keep cool. You'll end up paying a heavy karmic price if you don't.
”These imprints give out a certain type of energy just like a magnet. This magnetic force attracts you to people, places and things vibrating at the same energy level. You can steal a piece of paper, a pen, a book or money from a bank; it's all the same.
”So if you lie or steal, no matter how small or how big, it gets registered, and this attracts you to liars and thieves. They might be from the ghetto or they might be wearing skirts and suits, but the undeniable fact is - 'like attracts like'.
”Another way of looking at it is - your conscience is the software and your memory is the database. When ”an act” involves an emotion then the result of that act gets added to the database. The bigger the database the harder life gets. In other words, keep your emotions in check and travel light. You'll go fast and you'll go far and you'll be happy.
”So it's back again to the memory and its back again to the most important saying of all time empty yourself of your memories, for the reason your life is the same as your parents or differs very marginally is because the same memory patterns bring forth the same experiences.”
”So what you're telling us is that there's no ent.i.ty sittin' in heaven doling out bouquets and brickbats?” clarified an old man.