Men have many common qualities in them. Among these are intense desire for wealth, name, fame, power and popularity. We also share one more common quality in intense quantities – self pity! It is very rare for us not to wallow in feeling sorry for self: No one understands me! No one cares for me! How could he/she/they hurt me this way? I am not appreciated at all! We go on and on bemoaning our fate and lack of appreciation of the efforts we make for our family and others around us.
Along with this litany of woes and pains we indulge in, we also speak ill of others: My wife is selfish, my husband is inconsiderate, my son is hurtful, he is cruel, she is unworthy etc. What we do not realise is that we are projecting our inner selves on others. We are telling others how selfish, inconsiderate, hurtful, cruel and unworthy we are. When we habitually think and speak evil of others and are always complaining, we reveal the darkness and evil within us. We display to the world, the demons of dark thoughts that flourish and nourish in us.
Such miserable souls exist everywhere in life – at home, in politics, in education, at work and in social and religious spheres. They are forever brooding on wrongs done to them. They brood on the injustices heaped on their heads. They stir pain and resentment within themselves and seek justification of their anger, hatred and discontentment. They forever point fingers at others and roar, rave and rant in sorrow and anger so that their own insecurities and evil remain undetected. They perpetuate their anger and delusion. Their anger and pain are self maintained and self defended. They use this to manipulate and control others around them.
Modern society and education seem to encourage this wrong trait. We never blame ourselves for our wrongs or shortcomings. When crime flourishes, the society is blamed. The criminal has been failed by society. He has been neglected and abused by family, friends, society, religious leaders and government. The pointing finger moves everywhere but never to the source of wrongs – the self. We are primarily responsible for who and what we are.
We must free ourselves from the vicious cycle of self pity. It is not easy to do so. We have to face the truth that we are not perfect and life bounces back at us what we give to life. No one is above the law of karma. The source of all our trouble is our own mind, thoughts, reactions and judgements. We refuse to acknowledge that we are hurt today as we hurt someone before or we are insulted now as we have previously insulted someone else. Life is an echo. It bounces back at us what we give to it. The story of little boy in the mountain tells us this truth beautifully:
A little boy and his father were walking on the mountains. The boy slipped and fell down. He screamed: Aeeeh! To his surprise, he heard a voice repeat the same: Aeeeh!
He looked around and saw no one. He was curious. He yelled out: Who are you? He received the same answer: Who are you? He replied: I am a boy. He got the same answer: I am a boy.
He yelled back: I like you. The answer bounced back at him at once: I like you. He yelled out: Come out, I want to see you. The answer came back to him: Come out, I want to see you.
The little boy was now angry. He screamed: Coward! I am here. The voice replied at once: Coward! I am here.
The little boy was taken aback and asked his father what was going on. The father smiled and asked him to repeat some words he whispered in his ears and pay attention.
The boy called out : Winner! The voice replied: Winner!
The boy said: You are great! The voice replied back: You are great!
The boy said: I love you. The voice answered back: I love you.
The boy could not understand what was going on. His father explained: What you heard now are echoes. What you shout in the mountains is reflected back. It is the same with life. When you are good, life gives you goodness; when you are compassionate, life gives you same. When you love life, life loves you back and when you hate all, all hate you. This rule applies to every aspect of life. It is also the eternal law of karma. We get what we give, we reap what we sow.
Our life is a continuous stream of karmic echoes. These echoes originate from us and are manifested through others around us. We cannot blame others for what originates from us. We must change ourselves. Let us use the teachings of the Guru, the SitaRam mantra and meditation to change the direction and quality of our thoughts. Our lives will change automatically and life will reflect love, beauty, compassion, discipline, peace and balance.
