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Today’s reading comes from the book Siddhartha. It is an interesting passage because it offers a different way to look at the world. In the developed world, humans think a great deal about possessions. Here Siddhartha presents himself as a person who has nothing but his own mind and body.

Siddhartha went to see Kamaswami, the merchant, and was shown into a rich house. Servants conducted him across costly carpets to a room where he waited for the master of the house.

Kamaswami came in, a supple, lively man, with greying hair, with clever prudent eyes and a sensual mouth. Master and visitor greeted each other in a friendly manner.

‘I have been told,’ the merchant began, ‘that you are a Brahmin, a learned man, and you seek service with a merchant. Are you then in need, Brahmin, that you seek service?’

‘No,’ replied Siddhartha, ‘I am not in need and I have never been in need. I have come from the Samanas with whom I lived for a long time.’

‘If you come from the Samanas, how is that you are not in need? Are not all the Samanas completely without possessions?’

‘I possess nothing,’ said Siddhartha, ‘if that is what you mean. I am certainly without possessions, but of my own free will, so I am not in need.’

‘But how will you live if you are without possessions?’

‘I have never thought about it, sir. I have been without possessions for nearly three years and I have never thought on what I should live.’

‘So you have lived on the possessions of others?’

‘Apparently. The merchant also lives on the possessions of others.’

‘Well spoken, but he does not take from others for nothing, he gives his goods in exchange.’

‘That seems the way of things. Everyone takes, everyone gives. Life is like that.’

‘Ah, but if you are without possessions, how can you give?’

‘Everyone gives what he has. The soldier gives strength, the merchant goods, the teacher instruction, the farmer rice, the fisherman fish.’

‘Very well and what can you give? What have you learned that you can give?’

‘I can think, I can wait, I can fast.’

‘Is that all?’

‘I think that is all.’

‘And of what use are they? For example, fasting, what good is that?’

‘It is of great value, sir. If a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most intelligent thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha had not learned how to fast, he would have had to seek some kind of work today, either with you, or elsewhere, for hunger would have driven him. But as it is, Siddhartha can wait calmly. He is not impatient, he is not in need, he can ward off hunger for a long time and laugh at it. Therefore, fasting is useful, sir.’

‘You are right, Samana. Wait for a moment.’

It is revealed that Siddhartha can do many other things besides thinking, waiting and fasting, even though he has nothing. And if you think about it, each of us has a set of things we can do, even if we have no possessions at all. We have a set of skills (reading, writing, mathematics, piano playing, etc.). We take these things for granted, but they are valuable. We have, as Siddhartha mentions, our strength – our ability to change the world around us by moving ourselves and moving other things. We have our knowledge in all its myriad forms, and our memories. We have our character. We have our ability to love, to help, to teach, etc. If we were to eliminate all possessions, we still have these things. Each human is innately valuable.

Today’s Reading comes from Chapter 2 of the book “The Greatest Miracle in the World” by Og Mandino:

“Now what would you judge has been the greatest miracle ever performed on this earth?”

I thought for several minutes. “Probably those cases where the dead have supposedly come back to life.”

“I agree, as would a consensus of world opinion I’m sure.”

“But how does all this connected those books you’ve got piled up. Certainly they don’t contain any secret methods on how to come back from the dead.”

“Ah, but they do, Mr. Og. Most humans, in varying degrees, are already dead. In one way or another they’ve lost their dreams, their ambitions, their desire for a better life. They have surrendered their fight for self esteem and they have compromised their great potential. They’ve settled for a life of mediocrity, days of despair and nights of tears. There are no more than living deaths confined to cemeteries of their choice. Yet they need not remain in that state. They can be resurrected from their sorry condition. They can each performed the greatest miracle in the world. They can each come back from the dead… And in those books are the simple secrets, techniques, and methods which they can still apply to their own lives to become anything they wish to be and to attain all the true riches of life.”

Example from the same chapter:

“See this wooden cross that I often wear. It was carved by a young man who once was a shipping clerk. I ran into him one night on Wilson avenue… Or rather I should say he ran into me. He was intoxicated. I brought him here. After several pots of black coffee, a cold shower, and some food, we talked. He was truly a lost soul, nearly crushed by his inability to properly support his wife and two young children. He had been working at two jobs, more than 17 hours a day, for almost three years and he had reached the breaking point. He had begun to hide in the bottle when I found him… Trying not to face his living death and a conscience that was telling him he didn’t deserve his wonderful young family. I managed to convince him that his situation was common and far from hopeless and he began to visit me, nearly every day, before he went to his night job. Together we explored and discussed many of the ancient and modern secrets of happiness and success. I imagine I touched on every wise man from Salomon to Emerson to Gibran. And he listened carefully.”

“What happened to him?”

“When he had $1000 saved he quit both jobs, packed his family in their old Plymouth, and headed for Arizona. Now they have a tiny roadside stand, just outside of Scottsdale, and he’s beginning to command fairly large prices for his woodcarvings. Now and then he writes, always thanking me for giving him the courage he needed to change his life. This cross was one of his first carvings. He’s now a happy and fulfilled a man… Not any richer, mind you, just happier. You see, Mr. Og, most of us build prisons for ourselves and after we occupy them for a period of time we become accustomed to their walls and accept the false premise that we are incarcerated for life. As soon as that belief takes hold of us we abandon hope of ever doing more with our lives and of ever giving our dreams a chance to be fulfilled. We become puppets and begin to suffer living deaths. It may be praiseworthy and noble to sacrifice your life to a cause or a business or the happiness of others, but if you are miserable and unfulfilled in that lifestyle, and know it, then to remain in it is a hypocrisy, a lie….”

If you find yourself in this position, you may wish to learn more about DecidingToBeBetter.com. Then please find your way to the forum and start a thread. Let’s see if there is a way out of this prison – a way to make things better.