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“Then,” the muni pointed out, “how is it you are curessing your dog so tenderly? Some feeling there must be deep within you."
"Oh, the dog is different,” Jewo explained. “He is loyal and faithful to me. I can always trust him to help me and stay with me."
Jewo began to warm up to the muni and admitted, “Yes, once I was in jail and I got the news that my granddaughter was dying. I felt at that time a tremendous emotion and great frustration. I heard that her last words were 'Grandpa, grandpa,' for she longed to see me again. We used to be pals, and I was not allowed even to attend her funeral."
Jewo began to sob. Gurudev waited patiently and lovingly for the emotion which surged from him to subside. He accepted all his outpourings with kindness and compassion. He had known how to ask just the right questions to help Jewo see that really he was capable of love. He helped him understand the cause of his pain and to stop blaming the conditions which brought bitterness, fear, and weariness with life.
At last Jewo admitted, "I am tired of living in hiding and I don't want to go on inflicting misery on other people. I try to appear strong in order to hide my fear. I've thought many times, 'How to start a new life?' I would like to do something which might somehow benefit others, but everyone knows me as a ruthless and violent criminal. No one will trust me. So I don't see how I can change my life.”
Gurudev was convinced of Jewo's honesty. He reassured him, “Be patient, I can help you make a new life for yourself. I will talk to some people for you."
Later he explained the situation to the chieftain of Dasada. He found him willing to hire Jewo as a one-man police force to protect the few wheat fields in that village.
Once it became known that Jewo was the law-enforcer, the other bandits in hiding were frightened away and the problem of thievery and terrorizing ended abruptly! Jewo gained the admiration, and even the affection of the people and is still leading a positive useful life today,
Gurudev commented in his diary, "The discourse of a teacher can take effective root only
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