You can’t please everybody

(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26th June 2012, Cape Town) Lecture: BG 7.22

There was a management movie, and it showed a manager in the office, who was trying to satisfy everybody at work:

‘Yes, yes, I can do it for you.  What do you need? Yes, yes, hold on… yes of course.  Sure, I will be right with you. Wait a moment! Just a moment, please!’

He worked the whole day like this. And he was totally stressed out from all the people he had to deal with.  Then when he comes home, his wife says: ‘Did you bring the present?’

He says: ’Present?’

She says: ’It’s Johnny’s birthday! Your son’s birthday.’

‘Oh my God! I forgot all about it.’  So he says: ’Johnny, I have decided that this year, I will buy you something special for your birthday.  Johnny, come into the car.’

So Johnny goes into the car, and he buys the most expensive train from the toy shop, just to make up for it.  Okay, so Johnny is happy. He  comes home and is going up the stairs – it has been a hell-of -a-day.

His wife says: ’Where are you going?’

He said: ‘I’m going to take a rest.’

‘No, don’t go. We are going to the Jones’ tonight – the party.’

So he says while he is walking up the stairs: ’I’m afraid I’m not going.’

She asks: ’Why not?’

‘Because I’m having a heart-attack!’

And he crashes backwards down the staircase!  The ambulance comes and rushes him off to the hospital in intensive care.  Whilst he is lying on the table,  they are trying to revive him with electrodes on his heart.  He sees himself walking up a spiral staircase, and there are clouds there.  He goes up and comes to a gate and he looks to see if anybody is there.  He sees the men who are at the other side of the gate, sitting behind a huge computer.  And he says:

‘Excuse me, can I come in?’

They say: ‘There is no way.  No, you cannot come in.’

He  says: ‘Why can’t I come in?  I have tried to please everybody in my whole life.  I just never thought of myself.  I’ve given my whole life to others.  I have tried to satisfy everyone!’

Then the guy says: ’Okay, come and have a look at the computer.’

And they show him on the computer what really happens behind his back, as he is trying to please everybody.  It doesn’t really work at all!  Everybody is still upset with him. He never has any time, he never gives you any attention.  He is only half there, and he now sees what people say just minutes or seconds after he left, and he realises that everyone is totally disturbed by it.

Oh no, what to do now?

And he says: ‘Please, give me another chance!’

Then his heart beat is back and he gets off the table, and he gets another chance.  Well, this is interesting.  The story of course picks up from there, and basically the moral of the story is, ’You can’t please everybody.’  Yes, but this is where Krishna Consciousness now comes into the story, if you were wondering when it was going to come, since it had to.  Sure enough, here it is: ‘The Krishna Conscious moral is that, the only way to satisfy everybody is by satisfying Krsna.’