When playing a computer game the other day with my son, I saw him attempting to cheat. When I asked him about it, he tried to grin his way out of the situation. I could have ignored it thinking that it is quite harmless and it was a game after all. However, I took the opportunity of giving him a sermon which I summarise below.
One advice often heard and given by us is that one should not cheat, cheating is a sin, something that will get us punished etc. Yet, many of us have cheated. Sometimes it is for fun. Sometimes it is to get a benefit for ourselves or for our loved ones. Sometimes it is just for checking whether we are good at it. Usually, it is done very subtly and with a lot of finesse. One must be prepared to bluff ones way out if caught.
Cheating takes several forms. Either it may be a simple breaking of rules or it could be making false statements / claims. It could be in the form of duping someone or it could be simply breaking of trust. It might be even used to punish someone falsely. We cheat thinking of immediate gains and do not quite worry about the long term consequences of the act. Even a simple case of cheating while playing a game has long term implications.
When we cheat (even for fun), it becomes part of our personality. We feel it is a legitimate option available for us to be used at any convenient time. Soon, people recognise our behaviour pattern and brand us as cheats. Then people stop trusting us. Our every act then starts looking suspicious to others. Even things done without intention looks malafide. We have to prove our innocence time and again. Our ability to build relationships gets seriously affected. Our gains through cheating can never be sustained or even retained. It is a loss making proposition to cheat. Moreover, cheating is addictive like any other vice.
On the other hand, if we are scrupulously honest, people deal with us comfortably. They trust us implicitly and explicitly. We have strong relationships and this helps us profit in more ways than one. Victory, in the real sense, is ours if we do not cheat.
5 comments:
Honesty is a non negotiable virtue.You have explained well
While reading this blog I remembered the good old times when we used to play and when someone cheated we used to call him names like 'cheater cocks don't prosper'so loudly that everybody would hear.The person concerned would feel so ashamed & this ensured that he would never cheat again..:-)
Tyaagi
I for some reason could not contemplate with this subject unlike your other posts.
You gave me something to think about
Like Vijay Says in the movie Gilli, "The moment you chose to Cheat, you have accepted Defeat."
Nice thought. Cheating is an outcome of lack of confidence.
Very inspiring post. Parenting is a label I would recommend. We need to be very careful our children pick up the right values and are proud of it! I think even if minor deviations ( from Dharma) may be fun, the conscience will reject it immediately. For it is either dharma or adharma, black or white. Nothing in between!
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