DON’T THINK EVIL OF OTHERS
(an excerpt from Sant Kirpal Singh’s book: “Mornings talks”)
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 you 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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