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Rays of Dharma
attributes that we are considering can be helpful in that respect.
There was a police officer known for his cruelty. One of his eyes had failed and was replaced by an artificial one. It was so exquisitely made that no one could make out that it was not real. Once he thought to test its efficacy. He told a culprit that if he could figure out which was the artificial eye, his sentence would be condoned. The culprit minutely looked at both the eyes and said that the left one was artificial. That was the correct reply and the officer was stunned to hear it. He asked the culprit how he could make it out. The latter replied that while watching both the eyes he could notice a trace of compassion in the left eye, which was absent in the real eye. It meant that the officer's cruelty was manifest in every real limb. He repented for that extreme level of cruelty and decided to give it up.
In life we have to undertake various worldly activities, which happen to be more or less futile. We should therefore undertake some activity that can give the sense of satisfaction and provide sound sleep at night. Such activities will be in the interests of others as well as in our own. The dedicated courteousness that we are considering, stipulates that the pains of others should get echoed in our hearts. But that cannot arise spontaneously; we have to make conscious efforts to cultivate it.
The built-in wrong traits do not disappear all of a sudden. When it is hard to get rid of the addictions like snuff-inhaling, smoking, etc., how would it be easy to remove the traits prevailing since time immemorial? But as it becomes possible to clean even the clothes of an oil-miller by carefully washing them, the built-in wrong traits can also be removed by resorting to contemplation, meditation etc. over a long period.
Many people undertake even the apparently wholesome activities with wrong motives. If they have to make a donation, they would donate illicitly earned amount or something that is no longer required by them. They would contend that since God can turn a wicked man into a virtuous one, He would also legitimate their illicit earning. But
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