________________
Chapter Transformation
A religious person needs to have several virtues that become helpful in climbing over the summit of success. Our body happens to be a bundle of lifeless particles, virtuousness turns them into gold. Virtues can direct our life-journey towards the mine of gold.
All sorts of worldly wealth are temporary. We have to leave everything here and proceed on an uncharted path. We have, however, an internal treasure that can be perceived in the light of knowledge. The darkness stays so long as we do not light that lamp. Once we light it, we can see the brightness spreading over this life as well as beyond it. For that purpose, we need to be equipped with the attributes discussed in the previous chapters.
When one understands the nature of the soul, his life starts undergoing the change. We know that delirium reduces the state of literate as well as illiterate at par. Similarly, the saints and common men, monks and laymen come to the same level, when they are overcome with anger, arrogance, deception and greed. One can come back to his sense only when the delirium of defiling instincts is removed.
We should not consider ourselves as very different from other people. The way we treat others, they are going to treat us. A monk once happened to pass by a pond where a washerman was washing
38