LIVING BY YOUR OWN LIGHT

Pic.: Chetna Shetty

How another person – no matter who he or she may be your life – perceives you, is not important you... How you perceive yourself, it, really, is. Allowing ourselves to behave on the basis of how others think of us, is the surest way to the hell called depression!

It is becoming clearer to me, as each day passes by, that the most important lesson to learn in life is to have a strong and healthy opinion about our own selves. Simply put – a very healthy and strong self-regard. Most of our miseries can be dealt with just by this one endowment in life.

A bitter – rather funny – reality in life is: you might be the most genuine human being, a real gem. But, another person – and, I am not talking about any passerby in your life – might think you are the worst creature on this earth... a mistake, a disaster, a demon!

So, unless you learn to live by your own light – the light from your own healthy opinion of yourself – it is going to be tough for you to maintain your mental sanity... Your job in life is to go about doing what your mind and heart deem best... and, your duty is to do it despite what some people around you think...

A while ago, I, once again, told the young-ones in my class this old story:

Once, a monk was bathing in a river. He saw a scorpion drowning and, instinctively, he placed his palm under the scorpion to save it...

The scorpion began to sting restlessly and monk’s palm began to bleed... The next moment, it fell back into the river...

The monk, once again, lifted the scorpion up with his palm to save it from drowning... But, the agitated scorpion began to sting even harder, and monk’s palm began to bleed even more... In a moment, the scorpion fell back into the river, once again...

This continued for some time...

The man, who bathed alongside the monk, was unable to understand what was going on... “Sir, you have been so kind to that scorpion,” the man asked, almost, shocked, “but, the creature is thankless... Your palm is bleeding so badly... Tell me, why are you still trying to save the ungrateful creature?”

“Because, my friend, the creature is doing its karma,” the monk replied, bending down to save the drowning scorpion, all over again, “and, I am doing my dharma!”

Why did I tell this story to my young-students, this morning?

Well, I did not want to lose my faith in my own goodness, just because someone was so thankless... and, my heart was bleeding...

The scorpion just wants to save itself... Maybe, I just need to understand it, so!

GERALD D’CUNHA