What Are You Doing With Your Life, The Crown of All Creation?

~ Gautam Baiji gave this satsang last week ~

One day a man saw his Mahatmaji, who asked him:

"Why are you not coming to ashram? You used to come all the time, but now not so much."

The man said, "I don't have time. I have to do everything for my family," and he told him all the things he has to do.

The Mahatma said, "I'm not saying you shouldn't do those things - you definitely should take care of your family. That is your duty. But what are you doing for yourself?"

The man said, "I don't have that time for myself. I'm too busy with my family. Plus I have to attend events with relatives all the time. But one day I will get a chance, and I will do it for sure."

Mahatmaji asked him, "Who told you you will get a chance later?" 

We say things like this a lot: "When I retire, then I will have time." But ask people who are already retired how much meditation they are doing, how much time they are spending on themselves..."

We think, "When everything is done, then I will do meditation."

Will that happen? No. One day your life will be over, but your work will continue.

So the man said, "Mahatmaji, you don't have a family, so you don't understand all that I have to do. I simply do not have the time."

Mahatmaji said, "You know, you are working for them day and night. Do you think they will help you with your karma?

"Why not? If I'm helping them, of course they would help me too."

"Let's put it to the test," and the Mahatma gave him a technique to use.

So the man went home and asked his wife to make rice pudding for him. She did this and served it to him.

Soon after, he started complaining of stomach pains. It got worse and worse. "I think I'm dying!" the man said. (He was pretending.)

After moaning in pain for a while, he said, "When I was a young boy, I would get this same pain and the only person who had the medicine was one Mahatmaji. Please call him." Then he stopped breathing and passed out.

The wife was scared, and she immediately called the whole family there and got her son to fetch the Mahatma. When he arrived, he said:

"It's true that I have the only medicine that can cure him, but it comes with one condition: I need someone to volunteer to drink the medicine for him. It will kill that person, but your Dada will live - that is the only way. Who is ready?"

The grandmother said, "If I do it, who will take care of my husband. He needs me, so I cannot to do it."

The wife said, "Mahatmaji, I could do that because I love my husband, but my kids are very young. If I die, who is going to take care of them? Because of them, I cannot die."

The Mahatmaji said, "Will any of the kids drink it?"

The mother said, "No, how can you say that?"

"Okay, so no one's ready for that, so let me drink it," the Mahatma said.

"Oh Mahatmaji, thank you so much," the wife said. "Mahatmas come into this world to help others. You already sacrificed your life once, and now if you sacrifice it again, that would be great."

"We even promise that if you drink the medicine to save him, when you die we will make a nice temple for you. We'll put a statue of you there, and we'll pray every day. Thank God you met us."

The man then opened his eyes and sat up, showing everyone he was not sick at all. He heard everything and realized that even though he did everything for his family, they were looking out for themselves, as people typically do.

"Do everything you can for your family, but take time for yourself. Sit alone, think about yourself, ask 'What is my life's goal?'"

Why do I have this beautiful life?

The saints say this human life is the crown of all creation. What are we doing with it?