A lot has been written on leadership, and leadership in every area of life. Yes, follow the leader and you will be fine. Follow Moses and you will reach the Promised Land. Develop the vision of a Moses, and you will stand out.
One great teacher near Galilee once asked fishermen to: “Follow me; I will make you fishers of men.” Many like Peter abandoned all and followed him.
“I am the way, the light and the truth,” he had said to them. Indeed, everyone of them needed to experience the inner light, to reach self-realization and then to be able to walk on the straight and narrow path; because as Harold R. McAlindon noted we may not know where the path lead: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” The great teacher led the way and left footprints for others to walk in safety.
Only the brave are prepared to go where there is no path to leave a trail. Those intrepid sea-farers who braved the waves to discover new lands while facing dangers on the way were leaders; those fearless Everest mountain climbers like Hilary and Tensing who put life and limb at risk were leaders; those first men who were prepared to fly to the moon and other planets were indeed leaders. In every domain from time immemorial only people with far-sighted vision, prepared to go where no others have been or willing to go, have made the impossible possible; this is how progress is made. In science and medicine great strides have been made only at the cost of people willing to go one step further.
When you are prepared to donate blood you are a leader; when you are ready to donate your organs to others while still living, you are a leader; when you are ready to give your whole body after death to advance the cause of science, you are a leader. When you are ready to die in order to save others you are a leader.
This is what we really need today in every walk of life. May you all be fit Leaders who can see beyond the ordinary. Broaden your vision, for the whole world belongs to you.
This is well illustrated by a story sent to me recently by my friend Nanda Murthy. An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavad Gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavad Gita just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavad Gita do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!" "So you think it is useless?"
The old man said, Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.” Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavad Gita. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Krishna in our lives." Follow good example set by the leader and be transformed.
By Dr Bala D Lingiah, Glasgow
Courtesy: Mauritius Times
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
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