By now, many of the readers of this column must have noticed that I am fond of returning to the wisdom of our ancestors in order to learn crucial lessons for life. Their wisdom, which comes to us in myriad forms such as stories, proverbs, sayings, riddles and rituals, is as wide as the sea and as deep as the ocean. It is a monumental treasury of insight that is always at our disposal. Today I would like to quote a proverb that I heard from my parents and grandparents. It is amusing to hear, but the message it conveys is not amusing in any measure.
Translated into English, the proverb goes as follows: If your stomach is bigger than you, it will eat you up. I would ask my father, “How can my stomach be bigger than me?” He would explain that a stomach becomes bigger than a person when she or he thinks of nothing else but filling it taking the lion’s share at meals and always putting “me” first in everything. The lesson from this proverb is that when one lacks self-control-not only in sharing meals, but in all aspects of life the consequences are certainly deplorable. On the many occasions when I heard this proverb during my childhood, I would imagine a person whose stomach was larger than the rest of his body; and once the laughter subsided, the lesson remained clear: unbridled desire does indeed destroy. If your stomach is bigger than you, it will eat you up.
There is also the story of a child who put his hand into a container of sugar with a narrow neck. When he tried to withdraw his hand full of sugar, he was unable to do so because he would not let go of it. His stomach was bigger than him, and so he was caught. This proverb applies to all situations in life. It calls upon the listener to think about the welfare of others and to share the blessings that the Divine bestows upon us. It reminds us that selfishness is a vice, not a virtue, and that generosity is the better path. I remember my grandfather telling me that, in their society, there were five enemies of the people: witches, lazy people, selfish people, thieves and chatterers. Our ancestors did not tolerate such behaviour. Elders ensured that such individuals amended their ways. The lesson for you and me is to share the blessings we have and to avoid selfishness at all costs.
