Adaminte Makan Abu -2011

The moral of the story about impatient killing of the goose for the golden egg is that we are so focussed on the result rather than the process. If we take care of adam-abu-5the goose well, we will get an eternal supply of golden eggs.

However in the modern times, we are so much result oriented than process oriented.  Whether it is about gaining materialistic wealth or about raising children, education or doing spiritual practices, we are so much result oriented that we compromise the processes of doing the action efficiently.

An action becomes a ritual when the awareness of doing the process is ignored by focussing only on the results.


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This is the theme "golden" underlined in the Malayalam movie Adaminte Makan Abu. A story about a couple wishing to go for the Hajj spiritual pilgrimage to Mecca from kerala, South India. This Indian drama film is written, directed and co-produced by Salim Ahamed.

Abu (Salim Kumar) and Aishumma (Zarina Wahab) an elderly  Muslim couple living in Kerala's Malabar region does not comprimise their spiritual principles to fullfill their aspiration is to go for Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

We see the strength in their personality, by refusing to undertake a "Physical (body level) pilgrimage to Mecca. They are prepared to patiently wait to go the next year rather than self-justifying compromising actions to physically be at Mecca. Today millions who undertake religious pilgrimage attain only success of reaching the destination physically, but they fail at the Awareness or spiritual level. This is because of the result oriented mind set, missing the very purpose of the pilgrimage.

Abu makes barely money by selling  attar (a perfume obtained from flowers) and religious books. Aishumma breeds cattle and hens, helping her husband realise their shared dream. Every day they drop few pennies in their saving box to go to Haj.

To meet the travel expenses, Abu sells his cow and old Jack fruit tree. Abu is helped by the manager of a travel agency to get flight tickets and other documents for his journey. 

adam-abu-2When the passports and the tickets are ready the chritian sawmill owner, while handing over the money for Abu's tree, says that its wood turned out to be rotten and useless. He insists that Abu still take the money, since his cause is noble. Abu refuses it, saying that it wouldn't be "Halal (the Arabic word for actions that decreases SAL Energy needed to reach Godhood).  When Good-natured people try to help Abu by offering to loan him the amount, but as this goes against the accepted Islamic practices, he refuses to take anything. Because every help we get from Soceity, is symbolically a loan from the Cosmic energy (SAL Energy). This is why all spiritual traditions emphasizes to do donations and Seva (Selfless service) to pay back this Cosmic loan. 

When Abu decides to drop the Hajj Journey, a Hindu school teacher, Abu's friend, comes to his aid at his time of need. But he says that one should go only with the self earned money and not accept "free money". The travel agent also was ready to pay Abu's travel ticket as a tribute to his parents unfilled wish to go Haj. Abu refuses his kind offer saying that using others "Money or Energy" will benefit the donor and does not give him the merit of the pilgrimage. 

On the Holy night, Abu tells his wife they will go the next year. He feels God did not want to come with the money got by killing a life, the jack fruit tree. He says the tree too had life, and several lives must have died when he cut the tree in front of his house. Abu feels that that maybe one of the reasons for his not being able to go on the journey.

On the dawn of the Hajj, he plants a new sapling of a jackfruit tree and is seen going to the mosque to pray on the morning of Hajj.

Conclusion: When problems come in life, ordinary minds blame others and situations and does not contemplate one's own cause for it. This is why spiritual masters tell to look "within" and not out for solutions. We start our spiritual evolution from the moment we start to contemplate on our problems.

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 We are the cause for our life and not God. Of course without God's functional Energy nothing is possible. But how we spend that Energy, determines our quality of life.

  All pilgrimages and rituals in any religion or spiritual traditions are only to increase the SAL Energy. But without understanding this concept, we decrease it by doing result oriented actions.

Abu sticking on to the Islamic principles highlight the importance of SAL Energy. He is ready to fulfill his wish next year but does not any way comproimse the principles of SAL Energy according to Islam. Abu beautifully connects that destroying nature (cutting jack fruit tree) is equal to turning down of others help, because getting others money (their SAL Energy) will give merit only to them and not to him. 

According to Islamic principles, one has to pay back all dues before the Haj journey of no return. This symbolically means that leading a life owing nothing to anybody in soceity, will only help to reach God's abode. This will happen when we lead a life of giving more than receiving. Ironically we are constantly look for living on other's (Soceity) energy to the maximum (Selfishness), instead of contributing to soceity (Selflessness).

The SAL Energy concept is deeply embeded in Islam in many ways. Even women wearing "Purdah" is also to increase SAL Energy by not provoking "sensual thoughts" in others. When it is not understood in the proper sense, it leads to torture of women by men and liberalization attitude of women. 

Symbolism of the movie ending with watering and growing of a Jack fruit sappling shows that we need to grow that SAL Energy to reach the final destination of our journey of life.

adam-abu-4Postponing the pilgrimage next year without compromising principles, symbolize that if we cannot realize our dreams this life time, understand, that it will be fulfilled in the next birth.  Our ignorance of rebirth, makes us to compromise good values of this life time. 

For the golden eggs (material life), it is stupid to kill the Goose (SAL Energy).

 

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