UNDERSTANDING THE MISUNDERSTANDING ...

It is not easy to understand many things in life, and it is indeed so easy to misunderstand people or things from what they appear to be! One reason why we misunderstand is that we are too quick to judge others, too much in a hurry to pass a verdict; we don't take time, we don't even make an attempt to see beyond appearances. Perhaps seeing evil in others soothes our bruised conscience, and happily consoles us that we are not the only evil people in this world! We cannot see evil, my Guru says, unless we have the vibe of that evil right within us. Those steeped in goodness, see good in all, and augment it. Those steeped in evil, see that evil everywhere, and accentuate it. ???? ??? ????? ???? ... We see things not as they are, but as we are. It is best not to judge others, it is safe that way. It is even better to ruthlessly judge ourselves. Honest introspection is the door to improvement and progress. So the masters tell us to turn the searchlight on ourselves, and once we do that there will be no time or inclination to even look at the faults of others, and we shall be too busy with right activity, to pay any heed to any such distraction. The truth is, neither we nor others are evil. Lord Krishna says in the Gita, "???? ?????? ????????"... It is the three attributes (Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas) acting on each other. The souls get unduly involved by a false sense of identity and doership. Because we believe that we do, we become accountable! What a brilliant self-implication for no reason or rhyme :-) We are not responsible for the evil in the world; we did not create it. God created evil, God created Satan.... "I created good, and I created evil". But to safeguard ourselves from evil, God also gave us reason in our intellects and the voice of conscience in our hearts. Reason may sometimes fail us if we are not very careful (because it is based on logic and experiential knowledge, and experience is based on delusive sensory inputs), but that silent inner voice of conscience never fails even the most illiterate and uninitiated. Those animals who are kind and loyal, those simple villagers who show great nobility, do you think they went to universities or studied moral science or have a doctorate in religion or philosophy? We love our freedom but repeatedly misuse it, and we ignore this inner voice that could save us from the chasms of misery, and then we blame God for creating temptations! Every situation is a mirror enabling us to see our own flaws. The thoughts with which we react to any situation actually reveal our own inside story, so that we can change ourselves back to what God made us originally.

But for this to happen, the focus should be within, not without - on ourselves, not others!

Hans Dholakia // Motivational Life Coach & Holistic Trainer.