Importance of Your Contribution in a social-religious process, irrespective of its magnitude. (My Experiences with Truth – 3)

As an extension to my previous article based on “The Concept of DASWAND in Sikhism”, here I would like to explain the importance of each and every contribution in a social religious project irrespective of its magnitude, with the help of two real life incidents of my past years. Though both these incidents are not related to each other in any respect but they do explain the value of a true contribution or define the concept of sharing in the best possible manner I have ever seen so far.

The first one takes me some eighteen years back when I was in college enjoying life as a free bird. One of those days I was in my friend’s place attending a party given for the farewell of my friend’s elder brother who was leaving for US. Every guest of his was bringing some gift for their dear friend departing from them and we were all having fun looking at the expensive and distinctive gifts being offered to our elder brother.

But there was one friend in their circle, who was still standing with his gift in his hand and was not giving it. (At that moment I was also informed that the person was a follower of the great mystic OSHO.) He had a big box of steel in his hand which seemed to be hot, looking at the way he was holding it. On being called by his name, he came forward to the middle very slowly and just uttered these golden words which are still fresh in my memories till today.

He said, “Friend, as you know, I don’t have enough resources to buy you a gift from the market and also I didn’t want to give you any artificial gift which can be easily bought with some rupees from anywhere. I really wished from my heart to give you something with my own personal touch and warmth, so I have brought these hot boiled potatoes which I could find in my home, cooked with all my love and friendship. I only knew this much of cooking, so I hope you will enjoy these with all of us together.”

And that evening, in spite of all the delicious dishes lying on the tables waiting to be served, all the dear friends ate those hot potatoes along with salt and pepper with tears in their eyes and love in their hearts in front of all the family guests.

That day I realized that its always more important that you contribute with your complete heart and soul to a cause, without caring about its magnitude. The form, scale, price or value of your contribution is not of that importance at all. It can be 10, 100, 1000 or 10,000 rupees or may be in kind or through giving your precious time and effort to a cause. But in reality, what’s more important is that you do contribute and make your presence felt in every noble act taking place in your surroundings.

That beautiful night continues to sparkle in my eyes till date and I still don’t miss any chance of sharing this incident whenever I get an opportunity……….In fact, all those close friends are still eating the hot delicious potatoes right in front of my eyes along with salt & pepper.

The second instance reminds me of the day when a dear friend of mine took me to meet Sant Baba Harbans Singh Ji, Kar Sewa Wale at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib few years back. Many readers might be familiar with his name and must be knowing the unbelievable kind of construction work being done under his guidance at more than 5-7 sites simultaneously. Seeing him work such elaborately at the age of 80 plus, is really amazing and undoubtedly it is only possible with the blessings showered by the Supreme Almighty upon him.

After sitting in his gracious presence for a few minutes, as we were about to leave his room, he called us and gave my friend a golden rule which I religiously continue to follow even today.

He said to my friend, “It’s good that you visit me often after taking time out of your busy activities, but it is even better when you inspire your friends too for coming along and give their valuable time to the Divine Almighty. One can easily think about himself and his salvation but it is really great if your heart can care about your beloved friend’s salvation too. Its very fine to contribute yourself to a humble cause but its even more appreciable if you can inspire others too to willfully get involved in such generous work. That way you become even more important person both in the eyes of the Lord as well as in the life of your dear friend. So keep inspiring people to contribute in any way they can in activities which may help to make this world more peaceful, calm and beautiful.”

His golden words at once made an impact on my thinking pattern and I started following it consciously. Before that day, I didn’t care whether any of my friends did contribute towards any such social cause or not and I only used to think that its their personal choice. But now I do make sure to inspire everyone around me to share whatever they can to a noble cause and believe me the process is a huge satisfactory process in reality.

So, as a conclusion I would like to say that its not only huge sums of money with which you can contribute towards a cause. One can contribute even more through offering his valuable time, talent or physical presence which at times is even more precious than loads of money being offered without any care. Hence just don’t worry about how small or big you can contribute, but just make sure that You Do contribute and share your bit in a social activity happening around you and make yourself happy.

With a hope that my personal experiences shared above may become instrumental in bringing some change in our souls and unconscious living styles.

Harpreet Singh (Bobby Sing)
A Seeker On The Path

HIS BLESSINGS

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