The Five Million Dollar Story (Revised & Updated)
As a little
child I remember telling my mother before going to bed "Mother wake me up when I
feel the call of nature" . My mother used to say "My child, I shall not have to
wake you . The urge itself will wake you."
It is strange but it so true that when the divine
call seeks you, your power of reasoning and the pride of being educated takes a
backseat. I have noticed one peculiar thing about life, one big secret I learnt
from my mother. I want to share that with you today. A story which she told me
when I was fifteen years old. Here it goes:
There was a very steep, high and
rocky mountain in a village in southern India. No one had ever reached to the
top of the mountain. One day 100 people mustered sufficient courage to climb
this huge mountain. They had no clue of how much time it would take to get to
the summit. However each of them was determined to succeed.
In the beginning they helped each
other but as days passed by a handful of them who were more talented at mountain
climbing went quite a distance ahead while leaving the others behind. The man
who was ahead of everyone was very happy and pleased that he had beaten
everyone. He was surging ahead with a rapid pace, determined to reach to the top
of the mountain before anyone else.
The other people in the group
were also equally resolved to succeed. They looked upon this man, knowing his
reputation, for inspiration and motivation. They talked at length about him his
character, his confidence and personality, and admired him. Their climb
continued each person covering sufficient ground every day and making progress.
Days turned to months and months to year but the journey went on.
The man who led the race could
see from a distance the top of the mountain but the more he advanced towards the
summit he found more extra ground to cover. When he looked back at the height he
had already covered it gave him tremendous satisfaction and the confidence to
master the remaining distance. Meanwhile the distance between him and the others
had also widened depending on the progress made by each of them.
There was a small child in
the village who was watching all this. His dad was part of the group and ten
years had passed by and his dad had not yet returned home. He was desperate to
see him again. But no one could fulfill his wish. His mother had no clue of the
whereabouts of his father. This child began to ask all the elderly people for
advice but no one could really help him.
Finally, the child met a wise old
man who told him that a huge river flowed behind the vast mountain with a
beautiful island at the other end of the river. "Your dad might be in that
beautiful island," the old man said. "I can show you a way to reach that island
in a week's time. But you have to cross a thick dense forest."
The little child was
thrilled. . He was bold and determined to meet his father and readily agreed to
cross the dense forest. The wise old man then took a piece of paper and wrote
two words on it. "On the third day of your travel in the forest you will meet a
person. Hand this paper to him and he will take you to the beautiful island
where you can meet your father."
The little child couldn't
hide his excitement. Seeking the wise man's blessing he grabbed the note
and headed in the direction of the forest. On the third day of his journey he
met a strange man in the forest. As advised by the wise man the little child
handed the note to this person. No sooner had he handed over the note this man
seized the child, slapped him hard, and tied him to a nearby tree with a strong
rope.
The little child was all in
tears. He had eaten very little for the last two days and he had no clue of what
was happening. He thought this person would help him meet his dad but instead
this ugly man was beating him to death. He cried bitterly.
This strange man was the head of
a tribal community and he told the child that tomorrow by 12 noon he would kill
him and offer him as a sacrifice to the Forest God. The little child pleaded for
mercy to be released. But the strange man refused to pay any heed to him.
"Why did the wise man lie to me?"
How could he be so cruel? Why did he do this to me?" the little child wondered.
Weeping bitterly he fell fast asleep. He had a beautiful dream that night. God
appeared before him.
The little child complained to
God that the wise man had fooled him and the tribal head was going to kill him
by 12 noon tomorrow. With tears rolling down his eyes he asked God whether He
could him get out of the forest and meet his father.
God knelt down, took the tender
child in his arms, and whispered two words in the child's ears. " Utter these
two words tomorrow morning when the tribal head comes and he will free you and
help you meet your dad." God kissed the little child and bid him goodbye.
Early next morning the tribal head arrived. The little child smiled. He
uttered the two words and then ...?
These are probably your immediate
questions. Was the little child killed? Did the tribal head release him? Did the
little child finally reach the beautiful island and become reunited with his
father?
Moreover, what happened to the
group of 100 people who had ventured out to climb the mountain? Did any of them
reach the top of the mountain?
Do you really want to know
all this ?
Or
Do you want to know
the two words which God whispered in the child's ears?
Big
Secret: The success that you see around you is an
illusion. Most of the successful people in the world are not role models for
life because they are still climbing to the top of the mountain.
We place far too much emphasis on
success. We all are like the 100 people who are climbing the mountain. Some are
ahead in the race and some behind. We admire the man who is at the top and hold
him in high esteem. But remember that the person leading the ascent in the above
story had no clue that a big river flowed behind the mountain , that a
beautiful island existed on the other end of the river and it was not
necessary to reach this wonderful island by climbing the mountain.
The wise old man sitting in the village had
not climbed the mountain but he was aware of the beautiful island. He
knew that the few people who successfully climbed the mountain had
ultimately settled in this beautiful island.
Look back on your life and you will see
that you get fascinated by events, by personalities who dominate the headlines,
by their lifestyle. You want to know more about them and to tread in their
footsteps, but the fact is that most of them are still climbing the
mountain. They are just ahead of you but that doesn't mean anything in
a larger context of life. There is no reason to be overawed by the people who
are successful in their field. They are not the real role models of life. They
are just ahead of many but be aware that most of them have spent a whole life
time climbing the mountain which was not necessary to reach the beautiful
island.
The success that you see around the world
could be a big illusion.
Your role models, the people from whom
you seek advice and the people whom you aspire to meet, could be interesting
personalities who have been successful in their life; but never forget that most
of these people are probably still climbing to the top of the mountain and they
have no clue of the beautiful island.
You should be like the little child in the
story who found the wise man, followed his instructions, and immediately
departed for his mission. He had complete faith in the words of the wise
man just as he had complete faith in the words of God who appeared before him in
his dream. Even though he landed in trouble by following the wise man's words he
was ready to put his faith on test based on a dream. We waste too much time
applauding the success of other people and looking for inspiration when we
should spend the same time firming up our faith in our being and in the
goodness within ourselves.
We have to train ourselves to focus
more on listening to our inner voice, the voice of faith, the two words which
God spoke in the child's ears. They are more important than the life style of
the people who are ahead of us in life's various races. When you conduct your
life in this manner you would still come across interesting personalities like
the wise man above who would guide you, inspire you and motivate you in your
life so that the universe conspires in your favor to help you achieve your
dream..
One of your objectives in life should
be to get in touch with wise men and women who care for you , who have a
vision for you as big and gigantic as the sky which spans the whole universe.
These wise men and women are your true guides and not the successful
people in the world.
It is good to pick up a few
personality traits from the successful people but understand that their
vision is limited to reaching to the top of the mountain and they have
absolutely no clue of the beautiful island which is waiting with open arms to
embrace you. The path to this wonderful island could only be
revealed only by wise beings who have a level of consciousness far greater than
the average person.
Why I am
telling you all this?
So that you do not stand on the fence
and applaud all the successful people. You too are a wonderful child of
the universe and have every right to abundance, love and prosperity no matter
what you current circumstance of life is. Did you hear what I said? No matter
what your current circumstance of life is I want you to scale high up.
If 74 participants who came from varied
backgrounds and who struggled with their circumstances could make big
turnarounds in their life, what is stopping you? This life is short and big
decisions are the need of the hour .
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