AUM SHANTHI

First shortcut to Sivaloga

Points to Ponder - 001

          In spirituality there are no shortcuts. It's like climbing the mountain. We have to toil through every step of the way.

Today we will look at, the first of the three funny stories, called shortcut to Sivaloga(heaven).

          We have heard of the autotaxis - three wheeled, open sided small taxis - in big cities in India - Chennai, Bombay, Delhi etc. They drive, squeezing between buses and trucks to beat the congested traffic and to reach the destination faster, in order to earn more money for the day. Their reckless driving is very scary, especially to the passengers. Every time the driver makes a sharp cut or turn most of the passengers especially ladies shout "Oh God! drive carefully, man."

          Once in Chennai, an elderly priest died on a Friday. On the same day his neighbour who was an auto taxi driver for twenty years also died. Both of them were received at the gate of the Sivaloga "Heaven" by Sithraputhar. The latter is the name of the Deva -"deity" in charge of admission to heaven. The Deity told the driver to enter in heaven right away, and asked the priest to wait for the next vacancy to occur. The priest was upset and asked the Deity, "How come you are allowing him first. He was my neighbour, he never came to the Temple, although his wife and children used to come. Where as, I have been praying daily and preaching in the Temple every Friday without fail for the last 35 years." The Deity replied, "True, my records show that you were a regular preacher that is why you are here. But the point is, while you were preaching ninety percent of the people, ninety percent of the time were dreaming or dozing off. It is entirely different when he was driving, ninety percent of the people shouted "Oh God." Therefore he gets the first chance."

Moral in this story :

Some appear to achieve their goals inadvertently !

AUM SHANTHI