Devotion to God, Sex And Running

Ramakrishna was a famous mystic of 19th-century India.  He was born in a poor family in rural Bengal.  At the age of 20, he became a priest in a temple dedicated to Goddess Kali.

Ramakrishna also experimented with other religions, notably Islam and Christianity, and said that they all lead to the same God.  Though conventionally uneducated, he attracted the attention of the middle class, upper middle class and numerous intellectuals.  

Ramakrishna always spread his messages through parables.  One of them is my favourite.  I have also found the same story in a Hindi poem by Nirala.

The story made me think about a few things! The story goes as follows:

One day Narada, the wandering sage, went up to Lord Vishnu and asked him who His favourite devotee was. Now as most Hindus would know, Narada is supposed to be Lord Vishnu’s greatest devotee. In fact he punctuates his every sentence with the famous words, “Narayana, Narayana”. (Narayana is one of the many names of Lord Vishnu)

Narada was sure that there was no comparable devotee. But when Narada questioned Him, Vishnu replied, “There is a good farmer on earth who is my greatest devotee”

Narada was shocked to hear this. The words stung him. But he quickly regained his composure and said, “If that is so, I would like to test him.”

“By all means”, said Vishnu smiling kindly.

Narada arrived at the doorstep of the farmer’s hut and stayed with him for a few days.

During those days Narada observed that the farmer took the Lord’s name only three times each day – before going to the fields in the morning, before eating food in the afternoon and after returning from his field at dusk. So Narada wondered why would Vishnu call this farmer his favourite devotee?

He was puzzled. On returning to the Heavens, Narada asked Vishnu. Vishnu was expecting this question.

He said, “Narada, before I answer you, I have some work that only you can do.” He handed him a bowl filled to the brim with oil and asked him to walk around the earth once without dropping any oil.

 
Narada went away to do as he was bid.
When he returned, Vishnu asked him, “So how many times did you remember me while walking around the earth?”  “Not once,” replied Narada, with some hesitation. “This was difficult work, how do you expect me to chant your name when I was concentrating on the bowl of oil?”

“Narada, the farmer’s work is also given by me to him. He has many responsibilities, and he fulfils them all but still remembers me.” Vishnu said.

Narada was ashamed, “That is true,” he said, with his head down.

What a wonderful story about devotion!  But I think many people think of the Lord more than just a couple of times a day.

And so I Googled the following question: how many times does an average man think of god?

There were 76,600,000 results.  None were a perfect match.  The first three hits were as follows:

1) How many hairs does the average man have on their head? 

2) How many times does the average man think of sex every day?

3) Why do guys sleep with so many women?

So of course I then Googled the second obvious question:

How many times does an average man think of sex?  There were 96,000,000 results.  All the results on the 1^st page were perfect hits.

1) Men think about sex 5000 times a year – Telegraph

2) Every Seven seconds men think about sex

3) How many times does the average man think of sex everyday?

Wow! This seems to be a very scientifically analyzed question.

I then Googled the next question which came to my mind: how many times does an average man think of running?

207,000,000 results but the first hit made me almost fall of the chair....laughing! It read:

1) Are you an Average man?

And then the rest followed as usual....

2) So...do men Really think about sex every seven seconds?

Wow! God, Sex and Running! It seems there is no real contest on which is the uppermost topic in the average man's mind. 

But I am not sure about these Google results.  And although I am sure that Sex wins over God almost every single time....when it comes to Sex and Running... the jury may still be out... or Not!

(Important Technical Note: When you google these questions immediately after reading this blog please google the question 'word for word' as I did to get same results. The operative word in the search seems to be "AVERAGE MAN"... put that in and google seems to take you straight to sex !"