Accept People As They Are - This Is The Kernel Of Happiness And The Essence Of Human Existence

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 27 March 2023 "Jo Dikhta Hai Woh Aksar Sach Nahin Hota Aur Jo Sach Hota Hai Woh Aksar Nahin Dikhta" (What we see is not always true and what's true is often not visible and obvious) Akhtar Orenvi (1911-1977) " When you call someone shallow, it's your shallowness that surfaces." A Turkish maxim I read this heart-touching and true anecdote in Anthony de Mello's immensely readable but out of print book, "The Prayer of the Frog." Gessen was a Buddhist monk. He was also an exceptionally talented artist. Before he started work on any painting, however, he always demanded payment in advance. And his fees were exorbitant. So he came to be known as the Greedy Monk. A geisha once sent for him to have a painting done. Gessen said, "How much will you pay me?" The girl happened to be entertaining a patron at that time. She said, " Any sum you ask for. But the painting must be done right now before me." Gessen set to work at once and when the painting was completed, he asked for the highest sum he had ever charged. As the geisha was giving him his money, she said to her patron, "This man is supposed to be a monk but all he thinks of is money. His talent is exceptional but he has a filthy, money-loving mind. How does one exhibit the canvas of a filthy-minded man like that? His work is good enough for my underclothing!" With that she flung a petticoat at him and asked him to paint a picture on it. Gessen asked the usual question before he started the work: "How much will you give me?" Oh, any sum you ask for," said the girl. Gessen named his price, painted the picture, shamelessly pocketed the money and walked away. Many years later, quite by chance, someone found out why Gessen was so greedy for money. A devastating famine often struck his home province. The rich would do nothing to help the poor. So Gessen had secret barns built in the area and had them filled with grain for such emergencies. No one knew where the grain came from or who the benefactor of the province was. Another reason why Gessen wanted money was the road leading to his village from the city many miles away. It was in such bad condition that ox-carts couldn't move on it; this caused much suffering to the aged and the infirm when they needed to get to the city. So Gessen had the road repaired. The final reason was a meditation temple which Gessen's teacher had always desired to build but could not. Gessen built this temple as a token of gratitude to his revered teacher. After the Greedy Monk had built the road, the temple and the barns, he threw away his paint and brushes, retired to the mountains to give himself to the contemplative life and never painted another canvas again. A person's conduct generally shows what the observer imagines it to show. Salman Rushdie said, " To know a person, one has to swallow the whole world." We are all too quick to form an opinion about others and we often err. World is our extension. When we call someone ugly, it's the ugliness of our personality that manifests itself. And when we call someone good, it's the inherent goodness in us that makes its presence felt. Nothing is good or bad, our thinking makes it so. A person's motives and intentions can never be felt or empathised by others on an even keel. There's a trenchantly beautiful Japanese saying, "Even a mother cannot feel the pain of the child she has given birth to." So very true. When a mother, in spite of her umbilical attachment to her child, cannot fully understand what ails her baby, how can we sniff as to what's going on in someone's mind and opine in haste? Furthermore, if we keep judging people, when will we get time to love them? So, stop judging people. Accept them as they are. This is the crux of life, gist of relationships, kernel of happiness and the very essence of human existence. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/kernel-happiness-essence-human-existence/d/129411 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism