Good and Bad

Swami Vivekanand was staying as guest of Sri Ajit Singh, Raja of Khetri, a sma princely state in Rajasthan. One day Raja arranged an entertainment program by a professional dancing girl, as was the custom in those days and invited Swamiji to join him; but Swamiji refused the invitation. The singer was deeply hurt and started singing a bhajan by Sant Surdas, the gist of which was: Look not upon my evil qualities. The name, Oh Lord, is like a Paras (philosopher's stone). One piece of iron is the image in the temple and another in the butcher's hands, but when they are touched by the Paras, both alike turn into gold. So Lord, look not upon my evil qualities."

Swamiji was deeply moved by the bhajan, which he heard in his room. He rushed to the music room, addressed the woman as Mother, and bedded for her pardon for the discourteous behavior. This is true spiritual enlightenment - seeing the same divine spirit behind all fleeting names and forces - relatively good or bad.

Sitting idle is nothing but killing the precious moments of life. One who wastes time in lethargy or haphazard activities actually closes the doors of one's own progress and invites misfortune.

If one really wants to be happy and is seeking a firm basis and definite way towards it, he ought to follow the righteous path of goodwill for all, virtuous conduct and noble deeds. And this would be possible only if spirituality is rooted deeply in his heart and mind.

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. ===== M.K. Gandhi

A fisherman was having a bad day. He could not catch any fish and instead crabs got caught in his fishing net. The fisherman was disappointed. Yet, he decided to keep all the crabs in his basket. He did not put any lid on the basket.

Seeing this, the other fisherman remarked, "Why didn't you cover the basket else all crabs will run away". he replied, "When one crab tries to run then the other one pulls him down. This way no crab comes out of the basket. All of them keep pulling each other down and remain in misery."

This applies to humans also. We keep pulling each other down and eventually, the whole community stays in misery.