A a group of tomato farmers were resting underneath a tree in a tiny China village tomato farm.
A tourist complimented the local farmers on the quality of their tomatoes and
asked how long it took them to grow them.
"Not very long." they answered in unison.
"How many crops in a year do you reap?", he asked.
"Two or at the most three", replied the farmers.
The farmers explained that doing so was sufficient to meet their
needs and those of their families.
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"We relax, play with our children, and spend time with our family. We enjoy life."
The tourist interrupted,
"I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You have potential to reap more crops per year.
You can then sell the extra tomatoes and with the extra revenue, you can increase your produce further."
"And after that?"
"With the extra money that brings, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire farming & production facility. Instead of selling your tomatoes to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant to make puree and other products. You can then leave this little village and move to Shanghai!
From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."
"How long would that take?"
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.
"And after that?"
"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the farmers. "After that you'll be able to retire,live in a tiny village near the coast,sleep late, play with your children spend time with your family and enjoy life."
"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the farmers.
And the moral of this story is: Know where you're going in life.... you may already be there.
It is quite easy to lose sight of what we are doing being caught up in the passionate desire to achieve goals in some supposedly unchartered territories. However, when we look back, we may find that we had lost what is quintessential in the rajas mode. Life is precious, use it appropriately. There is room for play and work.
Use it diligently.
BG 2.51 (please also read 2.49 & 2.50)
karma-jam buddhi-yuktä hi
phalam tyaktvä manishinah
janma-bandha-vinirmuktäh
padam gacchanty anämayam
TRANSLATION
By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees
free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they
become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all
miseries [by going back to Godhead].
Thanks to Srivas Nimai Prabhu (currently in Hyderabad / previously in Melbourne) for sharing the nice story.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward moral / instructive stories they hear so that everyone can be benefited.
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