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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
Thoughtful people all over the world arc concerned over the incidents of growing violence, untruth, envy and malice and continual increase in the number of thefts and dacoitics, rapes and debaucheries. Crime is incrcasing day by day, lawlessness and aggression grow unchecked, imperialistic mentality is spreading far and wide. They wonder what is bchind it all. Considering the prevailing mentality, it can be safely asserted that man's life today is more dominated by negative emotions. Within each individualtwo streams flow for ever---positive-constructive and negative-destructive. However, if negative emotions are more active, it leads to greater violence in society, and the qucstion arises as to what is more predominant in man—the positive approach or the negative one, constructive or destructive feeling. It is a complex problem requiring a patient enquiry.
There is the story of Shukraj (the Parrot-Chief) going to meet the King. The two held a dialogue, and the King was greatly awed by Shukraj's wisdom. On the King's enquiring about the reason for his late arrival, Shukraj told him how he had got involved in a casc brought before him by two members of his race.
Two parrots had approached Shukraj with a problem. One of them held that there were more anuscs than mouths in the world, while the other assorted that there were as many anuses as mouths - neither more nor less. What was the truth? Shukraj argued all those who have mouths have also anuses, and vice versa. However, there are men who go back on their word, deny what they themselves have uttered with their own tongue. Such people cannot be said to have a tonguc or a mouth at all; thicy have only an anus; thcy have no virtue in them, only vile refuse. So one might affirm there are morc anuses in the world than mouths.
Similarly there are more negative emotions prevailing in the world today. Actually it should have been the other way round. The more desirable thing would have been to have more of positive and constructive thinking or at least some worthwhile cquation between the positive and the negative approach. However, the stream of negative emotions is more powerful and morc active. Conscqucntly. we find in the world a great deal of incongruity of speech, fccling and conduct. In the face of strong ncgative cmotions, constructive scelings cannot survive. That is precisсly man's great problem. It requires a serious effort on the part of cach individual to bring about a complctc change of heart. That effort implies a willing acceptance of beliefs and practices which further the development of a constructive outlook before which negative cmotions pale into insignificance.
Nothing can be abruptly wiped out. It is not easy to root out
what has become long established. We sce this principle in Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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