From Bone to Stone, The Effects of Company
“In the case of fossils, an entire animal has turned to stone. Just see the effect that has been produced by ‘company,’ by attaching to earth they became earth. On the other hand, one becomes holy if one keeps holy company and goes often to sacred places.” — Sri Ramakrishna
This lesson gave us an opportunity to discuss how easy it is to be affected by the company we keep at the moral and ethical level, as well as spiritually. All the kids have watched classmates change for the worse due to their circle of friends, and they have seen themselves affected in various ways by friends, movies, situations, and locations. In this light we discussed good and bad samskaras. More importantly, we discussed what makes someone good company, even holy company, and how beneficial it is to strive to realize the Atman within. From the lesson:
When our characters are strong – when we have controlled anger, jealousy, and pride, when we are peaceful and selfless – then we begin to be good company for others too. Illumined beings have developed an awesome power for helping the good habits/samskaras of others to come out or be created. Therefore, the greatest help we can be to ourselves, to others, our communities, and to the world, is to realize the Atman.
We are always looking for ways to present our children with the crucially important practice of discrimination between the eternal and the noneternal, the unchanging and the changing. Many of our lessons in this retreat and others center on this. But why do we practice? Why is it desirable to realize the Atman? What is the relevance of that for a young person? In holy company, the question may not even arise, for the answer is obvious in their company. But out in the world, among secular friends, school, and pastimes, the challenge always remains to present Vedanta in a way that is relevant, that can easily be associated with circumstances in daily life. Sri Ramakrishna was a master of this, speaking about God and only God with an undiminishing wealth of examples right out of daily life. So, we try to follow his example.