CARROT, EGG OR COFFEE

A daughter complained to her father about life and how hard things are for her. She said she wanted to give up as she was tired of struggling. For just as one problem was solved, another arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed the fire on high.

Soon the three pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the other he placed eggs and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. The daughter wondered what he was trying to do.

In half an hour he turned down the fire and took out the contents of the pots and put them in bowls. Turning to her he said, “My dear child, what do you see?” Smartly she replied, “Carrots, eggs and coffee.”

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After shelling it, she observed it was hard-boiled now. Finally, he asked her to take a sip of the fragrant coffee. She winced as it was very strong.

Humbly, she asked, “What does it mean father?” He explained, “Each of them faced the same adversity, 100oC of boiling water. However, each reacted differently. The carrot was strong, hard and unrelenting. But, after going through boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg was fragile. A thin outer shell protected a liquid centre. But after sitting in the boiling water, the inside became hardened. However, the coffee beans are unique. After they were in the boiling water, they became stronger and richer. Which one of these are you?” he asked.

Are you the carrot that seems hard but with the smallest amount of pain, adversity or heat, you wilt and become soft with no strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? But after a death, breakup, divorce or layoff become hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same but you are bitter and tough inside. Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean does not get its true flavour until it reaches 100oC. When the water gets hotter, it just tastes better. When things are at their worst, you get better.

So how do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

THE DEBATE BETWEEN A PROFESSOR AND DEVOTEE

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with Krishna. He asks one of his new students Hiten Raja to stand.

Professor: You are a Hare Krishna
devotee, aren't you, son?

Hiten: Yes, sir.

Prof: So you believe in God?

Hiten: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Hiten: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Hiten: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to Krishna to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But Krishna didn't. How is this Krishna good then? (Hiten Raja is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Hiten: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Hiten: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Hiten: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Hiten: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Hiten: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Hiten does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Hiten: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Hiten has no answer.)

Prof: Tell me, son. Do you believe in Krishna?

Hiten: Yes, professor, I do.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Krishna?

Hiten: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your Krishna?

Hiten: Yes , sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your Krishna, tasted your Krishna, smelt your Krishna? Have you ever had any sensory perception o Krishna
or God for that matter?

Hiten: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Hiten: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical,testable, demonstrable protocol, science says our Krishna doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Hiten: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has with Krishna.

Hiten: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Hiten: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Hiten: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Hiten: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold.Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Hiten: What about darkness,Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Hiten: You're wrong again, sir.Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light.....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it?
In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker,wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Hiten: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Hiten: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either on. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Hiten : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Hiten : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

 

(The class is in uproar.)

Hiten : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Hiten : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so. Therefore, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Hiten Raja: That is it sir.. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.