A sane advice

Here is a little excerpt from an interesting article, written by Vijayalakshmi Pandit (one of Jawaharlal Nehru's sisters) in 1955, that I found in the Reader's Digest of November 2006.

' The best advice I ever had came from one of the greatest souls the world has ever known - Mahatma Gandhi - on a sunny afternoon a decade ago. Most people pass through a period of anguish when their belief in humanity is at a low ebb. I was in such a period. My husband had recently died. My deep sorrow over his loss was followed by the humiliating realization that in the eyes of Indian law I had no individual existence. Along with other Indian women I participated for years with men in the national struggle for freedom, working and suffering side by side with them until it had finally been achieved - yet in law we women were still recognized only through our relationship to men.

Now as a widow without a son, I was not entitled to any share of the family property, nor were my two daughters. I resented this galling position. I was bitter towards those members of my family who supported this antiquated law.

At this time I went to pay my respects to Gandhiji and say good-bye before leaving for America to take part in a conference. After our talk he asked, "Have you made peace with your relatives?"

I was amazed that he would take sides against me. "I have not quarrelled with anyone," I replied, "but I refuse to have anything to do with those who take advantage of an outworn law to create a difficult and humiliating situation for me."

Gandhiji looked out of the window for a moment. Then he turned to me and smiled and said, "You will go and say good-bye because courtesy and decency demand this. In India, we still attach importance to these things."

"No," I declared, "not even to please you will I go to those who wish to harm me."

"No one can harm you except yourself," he said, still smiling. "I see enough bitterness in your heart to cause you injury unless you check it." I remained silent, and he continued: "You are going to a new country because you are unhappy and want to escape. Can you escape from yourself? Will you find happiness outside when there is bitterness in your heart? Think it over. Be a little humble. You have lost a loved one - that is sorrow enough. Must you inflict further injury on yourself because you lack courage to cleanse your own heart?" '

I was wondering when I read this article, that those letters in blue above is so typical of my attitude in general. And the gist of the advice from Gandhiji matches so well with what we read from The Holy Bible (Old Testament, Leviticus 19:17-18), "You must not hate your fellow citizen in your heart. If your neighbour does something wrong tell him about it, or you will be partly to blame. Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. I am the LORD."

And again, Jesus says in the New Testament (Mathew 5:43-48), "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemies.' But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends. So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."