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"HOW I LOOK AT MYSELF!" (2)
by his own importance, he would talk much more than listen to the lawyers. So the red is not the rightcolour for the courts. Neither red, nor yellow. There is a saying in Hindi,"he turned red and yellow", which means he was beside himself with anger. Both 'red' and 'yellow' are provocative. Yes, colours are of two kinds: hot and cold. The blue is cool, whereas the red and the yellow are hot. So no red or yellow for the judge, since they are provocative and in a state of provocation, a judge cannot deliver justice. He must keep cool; hence the choice of black for the judge is a very significant choice.
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To say freedom is always good and dependence altogether bad is a one-sided view. In order to arrive at the truth we require a holistic approach, a many-sided view, according to which freedom can be good as well as bad; similarly dependence can be bad as well as good, depending upon circumstances.
When India achieved independence, people interpreted it in strange ways. On being asked to deposit income tax, the businessman tells the income tax officer, "Now that the country is free, why should I pay income tax at all?" The farmer likewise refuses to pay land revenue, "I'm a free man now. Why should I pay anything?" Here is a satirical anecdote: A man sat in the middle of the road. A truck came along. The driver stopped the truck and said to the man, "Why are you sitting in the middle of the road causing needless obstruction?" The man said, "I'm a frec inan, the citizen of a free country. I'll do as I please." The driver said. "All right, I, too, am then free to drive this truck without stopping."
Freedom is not always good; the word has many connotations. Likewise dependence is not always bad. If a child were not dependent upon his parents, if it continually disobeyed them, it would get spoiled. Again, a man of inferior intellect has little capacity for independent thought or decision; if left free to act by himself, he is liable to go wrong. It is better for him to heed a wiseman's counsel. All discipline is based on that. It is not right always to have one's own way. Up to a limit, one is free to act on one's own; beyond that one must obey a superior intelligence. There are occasions when one must function independently; there are also occasions when one must depend upon another.
A student recognizes his teacher's superior knowledge. Likewise the pupil his guru's. If the pupil were to occupy his guru's scat, he would not thereby become the guru. To be a guru, one must possess the guru's intelligence. One has to acquire learning and wisdom before one can impart it. True freedom flows from right guidance; he alone can command who has served well.
Here is a leaf out of my own book. When we were studying under Acharya Tulsi, he used to say. "Be disciplined! Do what the guru tells
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