The Soapbox | Where South Africans Speak Out

BY JEAN-MARC VOGT

I attended the regenesys conference in early 2008. It was held at the Sandton Convention Centre; among some of the guests were Deepak Chopra and John Demartini. The course dealt with spiritual and emotional knowledge in relation to business leadership.

Dr J. Demartini was giving a mind blowing leadership speech and gave tips based on personal experience. It came time for a question-answer interaction. A number of questions were raised, including one from myself, and then a gentleman at the back raised his hand and began to speak.

He painted a pitiful picture of how his business had flopped; his wife had divorced him and made off with the kids, how he had to sell his car to pay debt and how he was on the verge of sequestration. To make matters worse, putting the icing on the cake, he asked Demartini, almost with arrogance; “What can tell me, how can YOU HELP ME, what can YOU GIVE ME?”

The audience turned to face the front, almost in disbelief.

There was a pregnant silence; no one knew what to say or how to react to such a blatant question. Dr Demartini took a deep breathe, relaxed his hands at his sides and looked coolly into the audience.

He cleared his throat authoritatively; he looked down and rocked on his feet. He began to stride slightly across the stage, his brows knitted, as if trying to piece together a response as politely as possible. He stopped and straightened his posture; the gentleman had already sat (vanishing in the anonymity of the hundreds of audience members).

“You know, what I’m about to say may piss a lot of people off.” He strode along the stage looking into the masses. “South Africa complains about having such a high crime rate.” He paused and stared in the general direction of the gentleman. “You’re complaining but you accept free handouts from other countries across the world”. He didn’t need to finish the sentence, the audience was stunned, and we shifted in our seats uncomfortably. The gentleman tried to interrupt. I think the gentleman tried to say something but Dr. Demartini just thrust out an arm and pointed “It’s enlightenment, not entitlement, brother!”

I had nearly forgotten about what he said but I’ve been reminded by the amount of homeless people in the streets. I don’t have a problem with the homeless and I’m sure they have very valid reasons why they are. There was s one instance, however, that angered me. There is a beggar on Empire Road and I’ve observed him since 2nd year at AFDA.

One day I had stopped at the robot where he begs. He came up to my window and asked for some money so that he could buy something to eat, all the while rubbing his “starved” belly. I had no cash in my wallet, just my student card, so I searched my car ashtray and found 3 5 cent coins. I picked the coins up and gave them to him remorsefully .“Sorry man.” I looked into my hand. “This is all I have”. The coins split into his hand. He looked down, almost in disgust, and gave them back to me disapprovingly.
I was so shocked that I didn’t even notice that the light had changed. In that infinite instant I remembered that gentleman in the conference centre: it was exactly the same entitlement, in his demeanour, that Demartini was criticizing. I changed gear and drove off the man suddenly threw the coins back as if they were rancid.

That happened a year ago; this year I catch a taxi and then walk to college. I find the act very calming and meditative; I collect my thoughts and prepare myself for the day ahead. Walking isn’t a chore — I work very hard and I love what I do and that isn’t a chore either.

“And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy,” said Khalil Gibran, the prophet.

Some of these beggars also refuse work on the grounds that they would make far more on the side of the road. I often see this guy on the road; he is well shaved and relatively clean; now, if you were destitute, surely you wouldn’t be able to afford to shave, cut your hair or wear a new set of clothing everyday.

People really should respect each other and their possessions. People should respect and be enlightened by how much effort it has taken for that possession to be earned and not disrespectfully and effortlessly take it.

“Integrity: The clever man knows all the roads. The wise man knows the right one”.

The clever person knows all the ways to manipulate in order to get what they want.

The wise person, the integral person knows it takes effort: a long hard path must be taken.

The right path.

Jean-Marc Vogt believes we need to feel enlightned not entitled.