I was leaving after withdrawing money at an ATM near where I live. A middle-aged indian man caught my eyes and asked if I could help him use the machine. I obliged, and asked him how much was he planning to withdraw. RM 10, he answered taking me by surprise. Not that I thought nothing of RM 10 which can easily buy one a decent meal, small though its value may be in the present day. But people hardly withdrew RM 10 from ATMs these days. ATMs too are not RM10-friendly here - request for a single RM 10 note and you will find a message on the screen that they only dispense RM 50 notes.
And so, after telling him that, I was going to suggest that he withdrew RM 50 instead when I turned to the screen and found a message that said his balance wasn't sufficient. I told him the machine could not dispense the RM 10, and he responded with a blank look on his face. There was no sign of disappointment in the man. He just took the card, thanked me and walked away.
I tell you, I was so tempted to offer him a RM 10 note - but stopped myself because I did not want to hurt his ego. What if he got offended? Even as I got into my car and saw him at the carpark getting on his bike, I wanted so much to give him the RM 10. Again, my fear of offending him stopped me and I drove away. My heart reached out to him despite the fact that I had smelt alcohol in his breath as he talked to me. Yeah, he could have desperately needed the RM 10 for a quick booze. He probably had drunk all his cash away, thus the insufficient balance. He could be dying because of the amount of alcohol he had been consuming all these while.
He could be this and that. But he needed that RM 10 and I could have given it him.
People tell me all the time - don't encourage addicts by giving them money when they ask you. But really - is an alcoholic or an addict any less a person than he was before he became one? Who am I to decide what's right for him? What is right and wrong really? Yeah drinking is bad, and I would not encourage anyone to, being a teetotaler myself. But my rationale is - when one approaches me for help, I would help regardless of the background of his request. My duty - in fact one of the reasons for my existence, is to help - and when approached I believe in doing that unconditionally.
I wish the man at the bank had looked a little longer at me to reassure me that he needed the money. I wish I had asked him at least with my eyes if he needed further help. Had I tried, I am sure he would have responded with an answer though his eyes, glassy though they appeared...
Every man is involuntarily urged to act by the qualities which spring from nature. He who remains inert, restraining the senses and organs, yet pondering with his heart upon objects of sense, is called a false pietist of bewildered soul. But he who having subdued all his passions performeth with his active faculties all the duties of life, unconcerned as to their result, is to be esteemed. Do thou perform the proper actions: action is superior to inaction.
He who, sinfully delighting in the gratification of his passions, doth not cause this wheel thus already set in motion to continue revolving, liveth in vain.
He hath no interest either in that which is done or that which is not done; and there is not, in all things which have been created, any object on which he may place dependence. Therefore perform thou that which thou hast to do, at all times unmindful of the event; for the man who doeth that which he hath to do, without attachment to the result, obtaineth the Supreme.
Even if the good of mankind only is considered by thee, the performance of thy duty will be plain; for whatever is practiced by the most excellent men, that is also practiced by others. The world follows whatever example they set.
But the wise man also seeketh for that which is homogeneous with his own nature. All creatures act according to their natures; what, then, will restraint effect? In every purpose of the senses are fixed affection and dislike. A wise man should not fall in the power of these two passions, for they are the enemies of man. It is better to do one's own duty, even though it be devoid of excellence, than to perform another's duty well. It is better to perish in the performance of one's own duty; the duty of another is full of danger.
Throwing every deed on me, and with thy meditation fixed upon the Higher Self, resolve to fight, without expectation, devoid of egotism and free from anguish.
(Excerpts from Bhagavad Gita)
