Earlier this week I went to a condolence prayer meet of a very dear Uncle of mine. There was a talk by the Brahma Kumari on life and death. She told a very simple story to put across her message.
There was a man who had three friends. One was Dhani Ram whom he met every day, the other was Mitra Ram whom he met once in a while, the third was Satnam whom he met once or twice a year.
This man got involved in a legal matter and was told that he needed someone to speak from his side at court and he would be let off. He said, “I have three friends one of them will surely come forward.”
He went to Dhani Ram whom he met everyday and put forth the request. Dhani Ram absolutely refused to come with him.
Next he went to Mitra Ram who said that he would accompany him to the court but would not go further than the gates.
Finally he went to Satnam. Now Satnam readily agreed but on the condition that he would speak only the truth.
The above are symbolic. Dhani Ram is your wealth, the fixed assets. That which we give attention to everyday but will not budge when we depart from here.
Mitra Ram are our family and friends, who will come with us to the crematory but for obvious reasons will not accompany us in our journey ahead.
Satnam is the only truth. It is that “Karma” good or bad that we will take with us.
This was a wonderful story and the person in question for whom this prayer meeting was held lived with that Karmic philosophy.
Lastly, there is a line from the movie, The Last Samurai, which I quote,
Emperor Meiji: Tell me how he died.
Algren: I will tell you how he lived.
