
                        DON'T THINK EVIL OF OTHERS
                           from "Morning Talks"
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    Never hurt anybody. We hurt others by thinking ill of them. We think
ill of others, we scheme. This is wrong, as thoughts are very potent. When
you think ill of others that reacts to them like a telegraphic wire. You
may not be telling anybody anything but if you
think of them, radiation is there.
    Once Akbar, who was a great Emperor of India, was told by his minister
that thoughts were very potent and that great care should be taken in what
we think of others. Akbar asked his minister how he knew this. The minister
said, "All right, I will give you a concrete example. Let us go outside."
So both of them went outside and they saw one man coming towards them at a
distance of a few furlongs. The minister said to the king, "Look here, just
think something about this man in your mind and when he comes near, you
might ask him what crossed his mind at that time. You are only to look and
think." The king thought in his mind that this man should be shot. The man
approached the king and the king asked him, "When you saw my face, what
thoughts crossed your mind?" The man said, "Emperor, excuse me, but I
thought that I should beat you with my fists and break your head."
    So thoughts are very potent. If you think evil of others, the other man
will react. You should be careful how you speak to people. If you speak ill
to another and say "You are a fool" and things like that, or if somebody
calls you a name and you react in the same
way, what is the result? There will be a flare-up. A man calls you once,
twice and that results in a fight. This is by words, their very root is the
thought. A man speaks out of the abundance of his heart. Whatever is lying
there, those things take the form of words,
then words lead to fighting. So don't hurt the feelings of others, in
thought, word or deed. Even in very religious places, if a dozen men are
working together they start thinking evil of one another, with the result
that the thoughts radiate and react in another's mind. You follow my point?

    The heart is the Throne of God. The body is the Temple of God. If you
defile the Throne where God is, then who will sit there? So blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Purity mainly lies in not thinking
evil of others, in thought, word and deed. There are other factors too, but
this is the main factor. Wherever you sit, even in an Ashram, if one man
thinks of somebody else, that goes round like anything. That is just like a
plague, an infection. A rat infested by plague goes around and spreads that
infection everywhere. So this is a very strict condition, "Don't be the
unpaid apprentices of the C.I.D. of God. Don't take the law into your own
hands." If you think good of others, you will radiate good. If you purify
your mind you will purify the minds of others. By thinking ill of others,
we spoil our own Temples of God first and then defile them. Outwardly, we
are all right, quite clean, but our hearts are impure. We are defiled by
thinking ill of others. We are all parts of the same machinery. If even one
part is out of order, the machinery will stop working. So that is why it is
said, "Wanted--reformers, not of others, but of themselves". Charity begins
at home. We should first reform ourselves. Example is better than precept.
     So today's subject is "Don't think evil of others, in  word, deed and
mind". If you think of anybody else,  always think good of them. Why?
because they are  your brothers and sisters in God. God is active in  every
heart. Our bodies are the Temples of God.  If we think evil, first we
defile our Temples, then we  defile others. Instead we should think, "Peace
be  unto all the world over, under Thy Will O God."  This is what Guru
Nanak gave out in His prayer.
    Let all the world be happy. How can it be happy if  you defile
everybody! So the foremost thing is, not to  think evil, speak evil or hear
evil of others. If you come to know something then it is for you to just
keep  it to your own self and try to privately tell others concerned for
their own well being. We should not become reformers of each other. We
should reform ourselves first. If we have sympathy for others, we should
tell them privately what we think that they are doing wrong. Then the other
person will care to listen. If a blind man is there, and you say, "O Blind
Man" he will take it to heart. If we simply say, "Well dear friend, when
did you lose your sight?" the purpose is served. There are ways and means
to express. So speaking, you might say, is an art. The same words that
carry a loving and peaceful effect can also create fire. This is what we
have to guard against. So we should not think evil of others at heart, in
mind, word or deed.
    God is not difficult to meet, but it is difficult to be a man. Man is
in the make. God is seeking after a man who is a man. So when you are
ready, God will come and also give you a commission.
    I went to London, I remember, on my first tour. There were two children
about 7 or 8 years old, that were given Initiation for hearing. I asked
them, "What do you want?" "We want to become Masters," they said. "All
right," I said, "you have been put on the Way, improve, progress on the Way
and you might be selected as a Master." God is after finding
out some man who is a man, so that His work may go on. It is not for us to
pray for this, but for God to select who is fit for the job. Hankering or
only propaganda to have that position which is not in man's hands won't do.
It is a commission from God. I told the children, "Well, you may become a
Master, that's all right. You have been put on the Way, go on
with it and you may be selected as a Master." Each one has after all, to
come to perfection. It is no sin. Every saint has his past and every sinner
his future. This starts where? From our own self. First of all, we should
not think evil. If there is evil in your mind, out of the abundance of
heart a man speaks. That radiates, by thought and by word. First and
foremost, this is the Teaching of the Masters. We should examine our own
self and see how we stand, where we stand. Because these things are there,
how can we aspire to become Masters! So purity of mind is essential. Let it
not be defiled by the thinking of evil thoughts. You should pray for
forgiveness. You should also forgive and forget. Generally, we don't
forget. We say, "Oh I don't mind," but that poison goes on working in our
mind. That affects, sooner or later. So whenever anybody hurts your
feelings in word or deed, forgive. Forgiveness is the only sweet water that
will wash away all dirt. Justice won't do it, mind that! If you want
justice, then that will react. Forgiveness only washes away all dirt.
Forgive and forget, this is the way to Spirituality.
    A man once went to Lord Buddha and began to insult Him like anything.
He went on in this way for one, two, three hours, until it got dark. When
night fell, he wanted to go away. So Lord Buddha said, "Well dear friend,
just tell me one thing." The man asked what Buddha wanted to know, to which
Buddha replied, "If anybody brings some present to somebody and if that
person does not accept it, with whom is it left?" The man replied, "With
the person who brings that present." "Well," said Buddha, "the present you
have brought, I don't accept it."
    So these are the things to be developed in us and lived up to. If you
live up to them, your thoughts, your radiation will change. It is not a
matter, I think, of acting, or posing, it is a matter of living. The
Masters used to say, "Those who live up to what I say, I am their servant,
they are my bosses. I will serve them to the best I can." Truly any son,
who would be obedient to his father and would do all things what he wants,
naturally he is most dear to the father. This is not done by mere outward
assent, acting or posing, because the mind radiates. The Master knows the
mind, not the outward things.
    These things are not explained in general talks. They are heart to
heart talks in which you are being given these topics. The secret of
success is to keep your mind unalloyed.
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