In English
Know the items of the spiritual menu
Take the ups and downs of life as natural; they are incidental to the world of compounds and components. A (ascetic) named was informed by a disciple who rushed into his presence that his son had died. The sat unmoved; he only said,"Water flows; fire burns; the wind blows", meaning that the corn pound of five elements has some day to disintegrate. The laughed at the concern of others; he was brave because he knew. Those who know are called : heavy, weighted. They will not be moved by storms; the leaf on which no dish is served tends to rise up in the wind and fly, but when it is weighted by servings of food, it will remain unshaken. Virtues, faith, steady discipline, devotion, detachment, equanimity - these are items of the spiritual menu.. When you have attained true wisdom, you will find that good fortune should not be gloated over, nor bad fortune grieved over. The hero treats both with equal unconcern. They are breezes and storms that cannot affect the depths of the ocean of bliss in the heart of man. The Minister spoke of gardeners who tie a weight at the end of snake-gourds, in order that they may grow long and straight. Done when quite young, the weight pulls the gourds and prevents them rolling into curves. Children too must be trained to grow straight by the parents, the teachers and the company into which they are led. In the old days, they were awakened from sleep at 4.00 a.m. The mother sang fine hymns and poems until dawn when she moved about in the house and the children imbibed the lesson of prayer automatically from her. Now, children get acquainted with the heroes and heroines of the (epics) and of , and the other manifestations of Divinity only through the films. They identify them by the names of the actors who assumed those roles. They miss the sublimity and the sweetness of the epics and the mythological stories since they rely on modernised and mis-shaped rescensions for their acquaintance.