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THE DOCTRINE OF LESYA
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to cut the twigs that had fruits; he is of yellow thought-paint. The next onewanted to pluck the fruits only and eat them; he has got pink thought-paint. The last man wanted to eat only the fruits that had fallen down. He did not want to do any harm to the tree and he was therefore the best man with white thought-paint.
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The different thought-pajnts thus exhibit the inner activity of the mind showing that the means to be employed to achieve the ends vary with the mental and moral characteristics of each individual. What then are the characteristics of a person with black thought-paint? He is wrathful, always hostile, wicked, violent, unmindful of the consequences of injuring six kinds of living beings, devoid of piety and compassion, uncontrollable, unprincipled, slow, lacking in common-sense, unskilful, given to sensual pleasures, proud, deceitful, mischievous, lazy and mysterious. The person with the blue thought-paint is extremely sleepy and deceitful, ignorant, rude, wicked, careless, intensely greedy towards worldly possessions and riches, engaged in sinful undertakings and easily irritable. The person with the grey thought-paint is irritable by temperament, talks ill of others, boastful, troublesome, morose, frightful by nature, envious, insults others, crooked, vile, heretical, jealous, dishonest, distrustful, indifferent, vainglorious, unmindful of loss or gain to others, desires to die on the battle-field, generous to flattery and indiscreet in his actions.
The three kinds of good men have varying thought-paints. • The person with the yellow thought-paint knows what to do or not to do, dutiful, steady, knows what is fit or unfit for enjoyment, is free from anger, pride, deceit and greed, self-controlled, impartial, compassionate, charitable, calm and gentle. Gentler qualities characterise the person with pink or red thought-paint : charitable, kind, benevolent, ever ready to do good to others, humble, steadfast, well-disciplined, restrained, forbearing, devoted to saints and teachers and strives after the highest good. The person with the white thought-paint is impartial, engages in meditation to the Law (dharma) and Truth, not desirous of enjoyment of any kind,
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