“If I choose to bless another person, I will always end up feeling more blessed.”
- Marianne Williamson

“Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”
- St. Augustine

“You must look into other people as well as at them.”

- Lord Chesterfield

“I was ecstatic when I saw the beauty of my beloved. Though my eyes were guilty, it was my heart that was punished.”
- Jalil Manikpuri
(translation by Satyanarayana Hegde)

Any new karma that we bind, is a consequence of reacting to our senses. If we sense something that we love, or that we hate, we bind karma. It doesn’t matter whether it’s something we see, something we hear, something we taste, smell or touch. Any reaction to something that we sense causes us to bind karma.

This bound karma of course then comes to fruition at it’s very own pre-determined time, which is when a new situation arises in our life.

So when looking at something that brings you a lot of pleasure, that feeling of attraction, of wanting more of it, this is known as raag. The eyes along with the passion for what we see are partners in crime for bound karma, but what really suffers is our inner being, our heart, our soul.

Ideally, when we see something that we like, or something that we don’t like, we’ll remain in a state of equanimity - remain in a state of balance, where we’re not moved towards it or away from it. We don’t crave more of it, or feel like we want to push it away. It just is what it is. By having no passion towards it, no extra vibrations are sent out, and so no further karma is attracted and therefore bound to the soul due to it. That would be the ideal state.

“Why did the monkey fall off the tree? Because it let go. Why did the elephant fall off the tree? Because it was holding onto the monkey. Why did the giraffe fall off the tree. Because it thought that’s the game everyone was playing.”
- Sawan Shah

So who are you going to be? The giraffe who followed what everyone else did? The elephant who got too attached and became dependant on the monkey? Or the monkey who did what it had to do - in this case choosing to let go and let nature take it’s course?

“Arguing with a fool proves there are two.”
- Doris M. Smith

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”
- Wayne W. Dyer

“If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.”
- Epictetus

With awareness of who you are, your good parts as well as parts that don’t quite line up so well, you know that whenever someone talks about you, the response really is a simple choice.

Listen with intent, listen deeply. Respond with one word: OK. No need to defend, no need to create friction. Just a simple OK will do.

If what they’ve said is true, and you need to correct yourself, then respond with an OK and realign yourself without saying another word.

If what they’ve said is false, then respond with an OK and laugh deeply within yourself.

What someone says about you is nowhere near as important as the strength of character you recognise within yourself.

“A man’s own good breeding is the best security against other people’s ill manners.”
- Lord Chesterfield

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”
- Dalai Lama