"The most intelligent thing to do is not to hate anybody because whomsoever you hate, you get those impressions embedded in you."
A gardener is working in the garden.
When you work in a garden, you will definitely get dirty. Your gloves will get dirty, your hands will get dirty, and your clothes will get some mud splashes. But after you come inside and wash up, you don’t identify yourself with the mud that got splashed onto you while you were working in the garden, right?
In the same way, while we are in society, moving among people, the emotions of others get splashed onto our subtle mind and we start to identify with them. This is what becomes a problem. We identify, “Oh, this is my emotion – my anger and my greed.” Whether the emotions are positive or negative, we identify with them and then we try to get rid of them. And it’s not an easy job. It’s like the gardener who thinks some mud that is on him will not go away.
For example, you’re peacefully working in your office.You have done your morning meditation, and you feel good, but your boss is uptight. Suddenly, there is some problem that comes up, and you get agitated. Someone else’s agitation has latched on to you, and you think, “Oh, I am angry.”
The clever thing to do is to not identify yourself with the emotion that has nothing to do with you. You can realize, “I am different from the emotions. The emotions are different from me.”
Did you know of the practice called Dhootnadi?
In Ayurveda, there is a practice called Dhootnadi. You go to a doctor on behalf of someone else and the doctor checks your pulse. While your pulse is being checked, you are asked to think of the person on whose behalf you have come to the doctor. This is called Dhootnadi – it means checking the pulse of the messenger. A messenger comes to collect the medicine from the doctor, the messenger’s pulse is taken by the doctor, and the doctor gives the medicine for the person for whom the messenger has come. It works because anybody you think of, their emotions and their state of mind latches on to you and is reflected through you.
Don’t identify yourself with the emotions you go through
The mind is like a mirror, and whatever comes in front of it is reflected in it. But a mirror doesn’t cry, “Oh, I got dirty!” when a dirty picture comes in front of it. And it doesn’t jump up and say, “Oh, I have got these wonderful qualities” when something good is reflected.
When you’re driving, you can see in the mirror that there is a garbage can behind your car. Just imagine the mirror identifying itself with the garbage can. Or imagine the mirror identifying with some beautiful scenery. In both cases, what would you say? It’s a stupid idea, and it’s not the case. The mirror is neither the garbage can nor the scenery. And that is exactly how it is with our own consciousness.
Our consciousness is like a mirror. Different images come onto it, and they all move away. Know this, and be free. When we get attached to any of those images, that is bondage. So, wake up and see – the mind is a mirror.
Why should you not hate anybody? What is the reason?
If you keep thinking about happy people, you get happy. Thinking about unhappy things, you feel unhappy. That’s why I have said, “Don’t hate anybody.” Not for the sake of the person whom you hate, but for your own sake. Your own mind, your nervous system, will assume the form, shape, and color of that person. That is why we don’t hate anybody. Is this an intelligent thing to do or not? The most intelligent thing to do is not to hate anybody, because whomsoever you hate, you get those impressions embedded in you.
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3 Things that Affect the Mind
If you keep resisting negative thoughts, they will follow you
like a ghost.
When it comes to negativity or thoughts in general,
there are three things that
affect the mind.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
talks on the three factors that impact the mind and the way
out of it.