The treatment you receive from the outside world is only a reflection of what is going on within you. He whose heart is a flowing fountain of love will be greeted with love wherever he goes. He who harms no one will be harmed by none
what may I do?” asked a disciple of his Master.And the Master said: “Undo what you have done!”
We have set up wrong relations with people by thinking what we should not have thought about them, by saying what we should not have said about them. We have thought in terms of jealousy and hatred, of suspicion and scorn, of doubt and disdain. We have spoken words of disrespect and dishonour, of insult and abuse, of rage and outrage, of irreverence and affront, of mockery and ridicule. We have spoken words which have cut into the hearts of others, wounding them beyond repair. It is time we started upon the work of healing!
How often do we not enter into controversies when we had rather remain silent! All controversy is heat: and heat is pride. Controversy puffs up the ego and so throws barriers in the way of self-realisation. What is right and what is wrong? Who can say? Let but each walk according to the light that is shown him. What is right for me may be wrong for another: what is right for him may be wrong for me. Though we all come from the One and to Him must one day return, we all are so different from each other, in equipment, in opportunities, in heredity, in traditional background. Let us only be true to the Truth as we see it. How often do we not make uncharitable remarks against others! And how hasty we are in passing judgment over the actions of others! And how quick we are in slandering our own friends behind their back!
There is a touching incident in the life of the great Sufi saint, Junaid. One day, a beggar comes to his door. He looks so well-built and strong that Junaid wonders why he has taken to begging instead of earning his livelihood by the sweat of his brow.
At night, Junaid is visited by a dream in which he sees something covered with a sheet: he is asked to eat it. On uncovering it, Junaid finds a dead body. Startled, he cries out: “Lord, how shall I eat this corpse?”
He hears a voice say “How did you eat it in the morning?”
He remembers that in the morning he had cherished an uncharitable thought against the beggar. Junaid prays to the Lord for forgiveness.
The next morning, Junaid goes out in search of the beggar. Junaid finds him sitting underneath a tree, lost in communion. After a while, the beggar opens his eyes and, on seeing Junaid, says to him: “Brother, the Lord accepts the repentance of those who offer it as soon as they realise they have erred. Do take heed that you do not commit again the sin of cherishing an uncharitable thought against a brother or of slandering anyone behind his back!”
Though we all come from the One and to Him must one day return, we all are so different from each other
If I know what is right for me, let me strive to live by it. I can never know what is right for another: he will know it himself, and will shape his life in accord with it. No fighting over words, for words never reach the Truth. So it is that when Pilate asked Jesus, “What is Truth?” Jesus remained silent. The world will not improve by argumentation and hot discussion, but by radiating thoughts of love and compassion.
How often do we not gossip about others, when we should be minding our own business? How often do we not, as Jesus said, see “the mote in another’s eye,” when we should be careful about “the beam in our own?” Gossip, is spiritual murder. Many a promising life has been wrecked by gossip.
There is an inviolable law which governs the universe from end to end: What you send out, comes back to you! Do you gossip about others? You will be gossiped about! Do you send out thoughts of hatred and enmity to others? Hatred and enmity will come back to you, turning your life into a dreary desert!Do you send out loving thoughts to others? Do you pray for struggling souls? Do you serve those that are in need? Are you kind to the passers-by, the pilgrims on the way who seek your hospitality? Then, remember, sure as the sun rises in the East, all these things will retura to you, making your life beautiful and bright as a rose garden in the season of spring!
Has life been unkind to you? Do your brothers and sisters ill-treat you at home? Do your friends and co-workers pay little heed to your words and wishes? Do you get a cold reception wherever you go? Then, may I tell you brother, what you should do? Do not find fault with others. But search yourself and see where you are at fault. The treatment you receive from the outside world is only a reflection of what is going on within you. He whose heart is a flowing fountain of love will be greeted with love wherever he goes. He who harms no one will be harmed by none.
By Gy Dada JP Vaswani
