Look Within – Talks on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Venkatesananda.

[Guest guest]

There was another extraordinary article I read when " life "

magazine was still being published.

 

The story is of someone who went into a burning house, and before he

could run out a burning beam collapsed on him and he was roasted.

 

Someone else jumped in and rescued him, and then a whole army of doctors

and nurses went to work on him. After a long time and every type of

medical and surgical intervention, he was saved.

 

In the " life " magazine there was a huge picture; a photograph of

this man surrounded by doctors and nurses, and in the foreground was an

array of the specialised drugs which were used to bring him back to

life.

 

I think the whole thing cost about $2 million, for just this one person.

 

While in the hospital convalescing, a nurse fell in love with him and

when he went home, they were married.

 

Help poured in from all sources – he was provided with a house, a

job, and a jeep.

 

Six months later he was driving the jeep – it skidded, fell down the

hillside and the petrol tank exploded, killing him in exactly the same

manner in which he would have been killed two years before!

 

I was reading it and I thought " Good heavens! This almost the theory

of karma illustrated. The man had to die in that way " .

 

We seem to pretend that we are so terribly concerned with the protection

and preservation of life – are we?

 

In which case we should take a total view of the whole situation, be

concerned with all, where ever there is unnecessary killing (unnecessary

in the sense of unnatural).

 

You cannot prevent death, but you prevent people killing one another,

you prevent murder by not providing the climate for it.

 

You can prevent wars, you can prevent riots; you can prevent road

accidents by wiping out this automobile!

 

Ah no! That doesn't seem to suit us. So we sweep all this dirt under

the carpet, and to ease our conscience we get upset at cruelty to

animals.

 

For instance, a visitor from south Africa to Mauritius was a little

distressed when she found someone had knocked a stray dog down while he

was driving.

 

She said " oh we don't have stray dogs in south Africa " . When

I went to south Africa later I asked them " how do you deal with your

stray dogs? And what do you do with all the puppies? " (there is no

family planning there)

 

They said " oh you know, the S.P.C.A looks after them by putting them

to sleep "

 

So you see, as long as it is not done in front of you, and as long as

you don't use the correct words, (the S.P.C.A does not kill them, it

puts them to sleep) it is alright.

 

The dogs don't run around on the roads inviting accidents to

themselves, they are neatly taken away and disposed off.

To be continued..