Man is a combination of good and evil, the human and the
divine, and the humble and the noble! While the soul or the atma is one and the
same, he outward physical form varies infinitely! According to man’s previous
Karma—actions good and bad he is
impelled to follow a certain line of action. Add to this, the attractions and
distractions of the material world lead him astray. As an individual what exactly
is the manner in which he has to conduct himself? How should he lead his short
term in this mortal existence? Most of us, ordinary human beings as we are, do
not know how to conduct ourselves and lead a contented and peaceful life.
“BE LIKE AN ANT.
WHEN THE ANT GETS A MIXTURE OF SAND AND SUGAR, IT SELECTS ONLY SUGAR. IT
NEGLECTS THE SAND. SEE ONLY GOOD IN OTHERS.PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE BAD” says
Bhagawan Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It is more easily said than done! Is it
possible for us to follow the advice of the Bhagawan? Mostly it is not. On the
other hand people generally grasp evil more quickly than good. Children, unless
properly brought up carefully by the parents fall into evil ways. Otherwise how
is it possible for them to turn smokers, drunkards, villains and murderers? In
short, evil attracts people more than
good and diverts them.
The butterfly always
revels in landing on the blossoms and drink deep the honey contained in the
flowers! It is not bothered about the thorns on the rose plant! The busy bee is yet another example in Nature
that should teach us a lesson. It enters innumerable flowers, sucks the sweet
juice in them and saves it in the honeycomb! It is said that the Swan has the
rare quality of extracting milk from a mixture of milk and water! Probably
William Wordsworth. the Nature poet
meant this when he said “ Let Nature be your Teacher.”
It is a
cardinal principle in spirituality to follow this tenet as far as possible.
Though it is difficult at the beginning, practice over a long time shall result
in cultivating this rare quality. By looking at evil in everything you become
evil minded. You will develop bad qualities like hatred, envy, jealousy and
others. Evil company shall finally destroy you. It is not that man is totally
evil. He has many good qualities that are innate and inherent in him. He has to
develop them seriously and consciously. “Even the darkest cloud has a silver
lining.” Very cruel, violent and hardhearted persons have a soft corner in their
hearts! The slaughterer kills animals without pity but he loves his children
and family.
It is said
that on an occasion Lord Krishna met
Duryodhana and Dharmaraja. He asked the latter to go out and bring a bad person!
Likewise he bade Duryodhana to bring a good person! Botht went out and returne
after their search. Dhrmaraja said he did not find a single bad person! In the
same vein, Duryodhana replied that he could not find a single good person! Your
personality reflects on others! If you are good the whole world is good! If you
are evil the entire universe is evil.
It is like
wearing colored glasses and looking at the world. If you wear red, blue, orange
or yellow glasses the world appears in the same colors. It does not mean that
the world is colored! It is your vision, influenced by the color of the glasses that you wear, that has changed! It is
extremely important to cultivate the rare quality of seeing only the good in others! Intolerance,
violence, wars and undesirable acts are just the result of not seeing the good
in others! If only nations and individuals
cultivate this prime quality, most of the modern day quarrels, clashes,
and wars will disappear! Why not we seriously and sincerely cultivate this
prime quality in our own lives?
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