... with you on your journey

A Way to Rama

The delightful Hindu story of a somewhat creative way to salvation.

There was once a very evil robber who had committed atrocities galore. He had come to the realization that he was in big trouble with a large account of bad karma due to his egocentric activities.

Somewhat repentant, he went to a great sage to see what could be done before the revenue collectors came after him. The sage said that his actions had been so evil that there really wasn't much hope for him and that he was due for several lifetimes of nastiness.

Nevertheless, he suggested that the robber at least make a start by saying God's name "Rama" over and over again. Well, the robber couldn't even say "Rama". The word wouldn't even come out of his mouth because he had been so sinful! This was really one bad dude!

So the sage, who was also a creative teacher of physics, changed the frame of reference and told the robber to say "mora" which is the word for death. Our robber had no trouble uttering that at all, though he really wasn't sure what the point of doing so was. He was told to keep saying "mora" continuously and quickly.

Well, if you do it, you can see what happens:
"mora mora mora moramoramoramo ramoramo ramo rama"

And so, apparently because he had stamina, was sincere and because the conditions had been changed (that frame of reference), he managed to alter his expected karmic fate and went on to become a great sage as well (though not greater than the first sage, because he did not want to upsage his mentor).