Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.
One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?"
"Wait a moment," Socrates replied, "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
'Triple filter?" asked the acquaintance.
"That's right," Socrates continued, "Before you talk to me about Diogenes let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth.
Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "Actually I just heard about it."
"All right," said Socrates, "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you're not certain it's true?"
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued, "You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness.
Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even useful, why tell it to me or anyone at all?"
The man was bewildered and ashamed.
This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
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This was the instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Raghunatha dasa Gosvami:
gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
["Do not talk like people in general or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely." (CC Antya 6.236)]
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna-seva manase karibe
["Do not expect honor, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Krsna, and within your mind render service to Radha and Krsna in Vrndavana." (CC Antya 6.237)]
Thanks to Chetan Prabhu / Nitai Chand Prabhu (Melbourne) for forwarding the nice story.
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