You are the Change

John’s mother asks him as to where did he get his expensive shoes from? John had shoplifted that day. However, he tells her mother that a friend gifted him those. Mother somehow guessed that John has stolen the pair and tells him that she knows the truth and that he may fool the world but not himself…

Nice story with a certain moral value. It is not John’s mother, but John himself who is being fooled, maybe not now but in his future endeavors. Why this story is important? ... Because I believe we all become John for one or the other thing in life, many a times. But what is worse is that most of us do not know that!

Nichiren Daishonin, a form of Buddhist practice focuses on the law of action and it consequences. According to their belief, it is only our actions or in-actions that are responsible for the consequences in life and they believe in it with full heart and passion.
However, one’s perception of an ideal future, that he wants to see in the world, is amazingly different from his everyday deeds.   

When a 22 year old boy, busy in his smartphone ignores his mother and father on the dinner table just to tweet his ‘plan for the upcoming weekend’ is certainly not what he wants to see his younger brother be doing after 10 years.

Also a man, who works in a Multi-National Corporate office where he hates going to everyday, certainly would want his children to pursue whatever they wish to be. Even a bus-conductor would do.

A bus-conductor, who is often rude to every passenger in the bus, would never want to tour in a bus being driven or conducted by a ruthless individual.

A lady passenger sitting on a bus-seat reserved for a senior citizen, would not like it when a male person sits on her (women’s) reserved seat.

It creates problem for us all when we ignore the bigger picture of life. It is not him or her who is making a mistake. It is you who make mistakes and your children will pay for it one day by doing what you did, as they only do what they observe and what they observe will not be a good depiction of your deeds. If you want to see the change… be the change!     

Maybe, John after reading this will apologize to his mother and the shopkeeper and will never in his life be fooled…by himself!