There may be no easy
route to success. Yet, everyday life offers us a hundred different chances to
attain a higher level of consciousness. At home ,in office and else where are
plenty of opportunities to empathize ,forgive & evolve.
Take those who are
rude & mean or nasty towards you. There are two choices facing a person who
has to deal with malice, jealousy and bickering, daily. You can either respond in
the same manner as your antagonist does ,or take the opportunity to rise above
him.
"You will not
be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger," said the
Buddha.
The Buddhist Bodhidharma texts classify jealousy as part of hostility. They define it as
" a disturbing emotion that focuses on other peoples accomplishments and
is the inability to bear their accomplishments."
It’s a fact of life
that those who harness others are quite miserable themselves. They are blinded
by rage, jealousy & resentment & knowingly walk into the abyss of
self-destruction.
Buddhist monk
Mittavinda harassed another 'perfect' monk and had to repent for 1000 lifetimes,
thereby acquiring 'The Curse of Mittavinda'. The Jataka Tales narrate how this
monk ,once happy with his simple village life, did not realize how lucky he was
and let jealousy consume him ,literally.
When Christ said,
"Father, forgive them ,for they, know not what they do," he meant
that the cross of forgiveness and magnanimity had to be carried by the humbler,
more evolved person. He meant that although the easy way out was to react, the
humane approach was to rein in your response.
For, in the end, the
wheels of life come a full circle & teach us all the lessons that we need to
learn, in this life & in the next. These immortal lines from Magna est VERITAS put it well: "for want of me,
the worlds course will not fail; when all its work is done, the lie shall
prevail, when none cares whether it prevails or not."