Psychology of Enlightenment

SR No.: 001807
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Chitrabhanu
Publisher: New York Dodd Made & Company
Total Pages: 114
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Religion, & Dhyan
File Size: 5 MB

Page 60

Anāhata-Love, the Ever-Expanding Circle
chances are you will be the first to object. Why not demand the same standard of acceptance from yourself? If you cannot remain happily in someone's company, simply allow that person to leave without trying to mould or manipulate him. That which you don't like about this person may be a lesson for his growth.
For example, one man who often came to see me in India was a chain smoker. He was also in very poor health. I felt such compassion for him, I urged him to give up smoking. "It is impossible!” he said. “The craving for cigarettes is too deeply ingrained in me. I am miserable without them.”
I told him, in that case, to go ahead and smoke and not be embarrassed about it. He should not force himself to give them up on my account. He was concerned that my feelings would be hurt if he didn't follow my advice. “Why should I be hurt? I accept you just as you are whether you smoke or not," I answered. "Smoking is not my problem; it is yours. I only thought that it might be the cause of your present weak condition. That's all!"
Recently, I met this man again and noticed he was not smoking. Out of curiosity, I asked him about it and he said he had dropped the habit two years before. I was astonished! “You once told me that you could live without your wife, but not without your cigarettes. What happened to you?" I asked.
Then he answered, “The doctor told me my cigarettes were leading to cancer and I already had the symptoms. When I left the Bombay Hospital, I took my cigarettes and my lighter out of my pocket and threw them into the gar
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