In a scene from Spiderman 2, Peter Parker aka Spiderman could have done something to stop a crime from happening but chose not to involve. Later his uncle dies at the hands of the criminal. He regrets his inaction. Minutes before the incident he has an argument with his Uncle and later the Store Clerk.
Uncle Ben: You're a lot like your father. You really are, Peter, and that's a good thing. But your father lived by a philosophy, a principle really. He believed that...that if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things. That's what at stake here. Not a choice, responsibility.
Uncle Ben: You're a lot like your father. You really are, Peter, and that's a good thing. But your father lived by a philosophy, a principle really. He believed that...that if you could do good things for other people, you had a moral obligation to do those things. That's what at stake here. Not a choice, responsibility.
Peter Parker: That is nice. That's really...that's great. That's all well and good, so where is he?
Uncle Ben: What?
Peter Parker: Where is he? Where's my dad? He didn't think it was his responsibility to be here and tell me this himself?
Uncle Ben: Oh, come on! How dare you?
Peter Parker: How dare I? How dare you?
[Peter turns and walks out of the house in anger]
Uncle Ben: Where are you going? Peter, come back here! Please!
[as Peter closes the front door, not realizing his own strength, the glass completely shatters, Peter runs off]
Aunt May: Ben, leave him alone for a little while. He'll be alright.
[Ben goes after Peter, calling out his name, Peter hiding up a subway pole]
[After his angry encounter with his uncle, Peter goes to the grocery store to buy chocolate milk]
Store Clerk: That's two-o-seven.
[Peters puts his money on the counter but it's not enough]
Store Clerk: Uh...it's two-o-seven.
Peter Parker: Yeah. No, I know.
Store Clerk: Here, you're holding up the line.
[Peter takes pennies from the "leave a penny, take a penny" tray to make up the difference]
Store Clerk: No, you can leave a penny. You can't take a penny.
Peter Parker: What?
Store Clerk: You can't leave a penny anytime, you have to spend ten dollars to take a penny. Store policy. You gonna pay? You're holding up my line!
Peter Parker: I don't have two cents.
Store Clerk: You can't afford your milk, just step aside. What, daddy didn't give you enough milk money today?
Peter Parker: It's two cents, we're talking about two cents.
Store Clerk: Just step aside, kid.
[Peter is about to leave when he notices that the next customer deliberately knocks a bunch of stuff off the counter]
Store Clerk: Really?
[as the store clerk bends to collect the stuff off the floor, the customer grabs the cash from the till and tosses the chocolate milk that Peter couldn't buy to Peter before taking off, the store clerk goes after the thief and Peter watches him]
Store Clerk: Hey, stop! Somebody stop that guy! [to Peter] Hey, kid, a little help?
Peter Parker: Not my policy.
[Peter turns and walks off, on the other side of the street, Ben hears the store clerk yelling for help, he sees the thief trip and fall, dropping a gun out of his coat, Ben tries to grab the gun but gets shot in the chest, Peter runs to help, but by the time he gets there Ben is dead]
[Peter feeling guilty and miserable after his uncle's death, listens to the last voice message his uncle had left him]
Uncle Ben: Peter, I know things have been difficult lately, and I'm sorry about that. I think I know what you're feeling.
(Source: https://transcripts.fandom.com/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man)
(Source: https://transcripts.fandom.com/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man)
Although it's just a scene from a movie it made we ponder about our involvement in things around us. Should or should we not react? If we choose to react how far do we go? Where do you draw the line in helping others?
For one who walked by the poor and hungry without even giving a second look, the thought of doing charity was triggered by Tavayogi after he showed me photos of such activities carried out at his Kallar Ashram. A month after his departure from Malaysia to India, I told him that I would like to feed the poor. His face lighted up and we immediately left for the marketplace in Methupalaiyam. When my brother joined us later, we sponsored shoes, clothes, and stationaries to the school-going children living around the ashram. This was the start of many more acts of charity. Sending several youths to my home we joined hands in reaching out to the old folks' homes and children's homes under the able leadership of Bala Chandran. Upon meeting Sri Krishna he brought us to feed the homeless in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Taking off from where another devotee left we started providing food and groceries to the extremely poor and single mothers in the vicinity. Our aid stopped short of giving food, grocery, and clothing. We never gave cash or settled their rentals, utility bills, and the costs of repairs and maintenance. In doing charity he started us by giving to all those who came forward asking for help or food aid without any reservation. This was to moot and motivate us to continue to give. But as the thought of giving to others became ingrained in us, he asked us to vet through and only give those who deserved the aid.
As for karma and the remedies, each has to serve its tenure or opt to cushion its effects by doing atonements or remedies given. No proxy is allowed unless the person cannot move himself to carry out the remedies himself.
As for a leader it is advisable to leave the organization, society, or other establishments at the peak of his/her success or popularity and not hang around too long and initiate a coup or revolt among its members.
We observe with delight that there is a paradigm shift, a major change in the modality or process in the events taking place on our journey. Today Agathiyar has told us to move on and move within, telling us that there will be others to carry on our work. He brought rituals too to a halt, initiating them only when necessary as in his annual Jayanthi and Guru Puja celebrations. The subject of building a temple for him has been frozen. These days he asks us to instead pay attention to our breath and go within, two keywords often repeated by Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal whenever they come. Towards this, they both have shown us certain techniques to adopt for the time being and put into practice.
While we sit back and wonder if we can achieve their asking, they seem to have faith in us in fulfilling the given task and achieving the goal. We await further guidance and instructions from them while we try to comply with their directives.