We are often misled by the externals or the outward appearance of people or things. Due to our limited and imperfect senses, we tend to quickly judge others and come to wrong conclusions abruptly. Before reacting to an apparently visible circumstance, we need to dive deeper to uncover the truth.
Here is a beautiful narrative which would help us understand this fact. A cruise ship met with an accident at sea. Aboard the ship was a couple. After having made their way to the lifeboat, they realized that there was only space for one person left. At this moment, the man pushed the woman behind him and jumped onto the lifeboat himself. The lady stood on the sinking ship and shouted one sentence to her husband.
When I asked my counselees, "What do you think she shouted?"
Most of them excitedly answered, "I hate you! I was blind!"
Now, I noticed a boy who was silent throughout.
I coaxed him to answer and he replied, "I believe she would have shouted - Take care of our child!"
I was surprised and asked "Have you heard this story before?"
The boy shook his head, "Nope, but that was what my mum told my dad before she died to disease".
I said, "The answer is right".
The cruise sunk, the man went home and brought up their daughter single-handedly. Many years later after the death of the man, their daughter found his diary while tidying his belongings. It turns out that when parents went onto the cruise ship, the mother was already diagnosed with a terminal illness. At the critical moment, the father rushed to the only chance of survival.
He wrote in his diary, "How I wished to sink to the bottom of the ocean with you, but for the sake of our daughter, I can only let you lie forever below the sea alone".
The story ended and the class was silent.
I was happy that the students had understood the moral of the story, that of the good and the evil in the world, there are many intricacies behind them which are hard to understand. Thus, we should never only focus on the surface and judge others without understanding them first.
Those who like to pay the bill, do so not because they are loaded but because they value friendship above money. Those who take the initiative at work, do so not because they are stupid but because they understand the concept of responsibility. Those who apologizes first after a fight, do so not because they are wrong but because they value the people around them. Those who are willing to help you, do so not because they owe you any thing but because they see you as a true friend. Those who often text you, do so not because they have nothing better to do but because you are in their heart.
Hence never form opinions about another soul by just looking at the tip of the iceberg, never cause pain to another being, look beyond the surface and always shower your loved ones with selfless unmotivated love. We need to remember that all these engagements, emotions, attachments are manifestations and reactions of our karmas that we have accumulated in this as well as over the past millions of lifetimes. Similarly our minds are covered with the veil of illusion, due to which we are unable to see the causeless mercy of the Lord. In order to establish strong faith in the Lord's arrangements, we need to develop a deep desire to look beyond the surface, never form conjectures or hurt living entities who are His parts and parcels. This is the secret of success.
