34
Aptavani-1
land, a bungalow, two cars and a significant bank balance. He
asked me how much he should keep. I told him that everyone
should assess his or her needs based on what the circumstances
were when he or she was born. They can come to a decision
about how much they need for the rest of their life based on
whatever luxury they had at the time they were born. That is the
standard guideline. Everything that you have in excess is poison
and it will kill you.
Enjoy What You Have
Lord Krishna has said :
“Enjoy what you have,
do not worry about what you do not”.
One day I was visiting a wealthy businessman in
Ahmedabad. His wife had prepared a delicious meal. As the
man and I sat down to eat, his wife said to him ‘At least eat
well today’. I asked her why she made such a comment and
she replied that whenever her husband sat down to eat, it was
just his physical body sitting at the table but his mind was
always at his factory. He never enjoys his meals. Goodness you
foolish man! At the present moment you have a meal in front of
you, not your factory, why not enjoy your meal in peace? People
have become so foolish they worry about their daughter’s
marriage even when the daughter is only four. Some wretched
soul will be on his deathbed, gasping his last breath and all his
relatives would have lit the lamps for the final farewell and yet
he sobs worrying about his young daughter. His daughter tries
to console him and tells him to be at peace and not worry about
her anymore. He tells her that she would not understand such
matters and in his mind he believes that she is only saying things
to console him because she is not as clever as he. The foolish
man – his intellect is such that no one would pay even a nickel
for it!