To me , Naradmuni is World’s first & most Pioneering Coach who made a profound impact on world history with one of his most talked about human transformations – which turned Vaalya , the roadside dacoit to Valmiki who went on to become one of the most revered Sages , who wrote Ramayan . :
- For the lesser initiated on the matter , here goes the story :
- Vaalya used to loot / kill unsuspecting passers by in Jungle as his way of earning & feeding self & family . One day Naradmuni happened to pass by , when Vaalya caught him & asked for money . Naradmuni said ‘ I have nothing on me that can serve your purpose – you’ll be wasting your time on me ‘ . He asked Vaalya as to why is he doing all these supposedly wrong things – looting / robbing , killing . Vaalya had a quick reply – “ I do it for my family “ , he said . This is when in a typical Coaching approach , Naradmuni asked him if he thinks , whether this is what his family too expects from him . Without hesitation , Vaalya replied in affirmative . Naradmuni challenged Vaalya to check out with the family if they too think so . When Vaalya asked his family , to his surprise he found out that none of his family members was either supportive of his ‘ profession ‘ or wanted to be a partner in his ‘ sin ‘ .
- This brought in the realization . He was not only in his self created illusion ( about what he felt his family wants ) but he realized the irrelevance of what he was doing . The impact of that awareness was such that it brought about almost 180 degree transformation from a dacoit to a Sage …. The rest is history , as he went on to write Ramayan .
- I find very high relevance of this story today . If I liken us with Vaalya , I’m sure most of us would feel outraged … I most certainly don’t mean to refer to anyone as Vaalya in literal sense ( as a roadside robber ) However the zeal with which I see many of us work single mindedly to amass material wealth , the speed with which I see greed replacing need as the driver in life and the amazing route we are taking where Money , at the exclusion of everything else , is becoming the Purpose of Life ( PoL ) scares me to think which way are we heading . And on top of it , when I see most of us ( sincerely ) believe that the single minded pursuit of material wealth at the cost of health , family time & purity of soul is guided by our concern for the family — this is what we are doing “ for the family “ …… no other analogy hits me better than that of Vaalya’s self created illusion of what he thought his family wanted .
- In a way hence , I see that many of us in our lust for money have lost touch with both reality & life . Like Vaalya we have become “ awareness blind “ … we are in dire need for a Naradmuni coach in our life to bring in a larger awareness about priorities in life …. If that helps here are some self soul searching questions :
- What do I want from life , What will bring real joy to me and my family
- What do my spouse , my children really need from me
- What is the best gift I can give to my family , What is that can really make difference to their life
- What is the best inheritance I can plan for my children … if it’s the material wealth , what makes me believe that my children are not as capable as I was in generating this much wealth & more on their own
- When I retire from active life , what is that one thing I’d yearn for . Looking back from a retired stage , what is that one thing I’d not like to regret
- While it’s all about awareness , finally it’s your life – your choice . You have to take a call to start your life journey from Vaalya to Valmiki …. The sooner it occurs to you is better for you . You can certainly do it on your own , however should you need me to be your Naradmuni , I’d be more than happy … after all it’s not just my Joy , but also my Job !
Value Enhancer 