This morning HH Jayadvaita Swami gave class. Maharaja is the senior-most editor of Srila Prabhupada's books and also one of the longest standing sannyasis (member of the renounced order). His questions and asnwers sessions are second to none.One powerful point he made was:
The quality of a GREAT soul is that he sees and magnifies the good side of anything or anyone and he minimises the bad side. He then quoted Chanikya Pandit who said: "See a pitcher of poison with a drop of nectar - take the nectar and leave the poison."
By this I am reminded how drawn I am to always see the imperfections in anything and everyone around me. This is a sure-fired sign of false pride, envy and lack of humility. We want to find the dirt and maximise it. This will minimise the other person or situation and exaggerate our greatness. Thus we live in a dog-eat-dog society where we fight to move ahead, instead of a culture that assists one another and pushes others forward before ourselves.
2 comments:
I often find myself accentuating the negative as if it were an addiction. I am always looking for the trick or con in any given situation. I have begun to realize that when you look for these things, you find them. I often tell people that I strive for objectivity in the pursuit of truth (not to say that I am any good at it). This, I am afraid, may be just adding fuel to the flame of indifference. After reading your blog and the quote about nectar and poison, I find that being myself and trying to see all the good in this world is prefferable to striving for unatainable objectivity.
Dear James
My experience has also led me to realise that it is better to just emphasise the good as much as possible, as there is always plenty of bad waiting around the corner. No need to go looking. :)
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