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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
erractic. A mentally healthy man will never lose the balance of his mind in adverse circumstances. He will impress others with his modesty, tolerance and behaviour.
Abraham Lincoln was a spiritually inclined man. He would behave with his visitors in a very courteous manner. He would treat them as his equals. His friends thought that he was making himself cheap and advised him to maintain the diginity of the office of the President of America. Lincoln told them that as the President he would not like to be less courteous than any body. He would not like to appear to be snobbish before modest and courteous citizens. The diginity of the President lay in his modesty and courtsey. A mentality healthy man would not give up his courtsey even if some one behaved with him discourteously. He is good to the good as well as the bad. There is no reason why one should behave with mentally unheathy people discourteously. Those who behave in the wrong way are mentally unhealthy and weak. Tit for tat is the policy of the weak. If your opponent is mentally unhealthy and weak, you should show to him the strength of your mind by behaving with him in a healthy way so that he may realize his own weakness.
The third test is thoughts. One of the causes of the lack of peace of mind is that people do not know how to think rationally. Thoughts do not stay long in an unhealthy mind. He starts thinking of one thing and soon switches over to another, The nature of a man is known by the thoughts he thinks. His mental health is also ascertained by means of his thoughts. Only a mentally healthy man thinks in a sound manner.
Let us consider what is meant by sound thinking. Once Acārya Bhikṣu was sitting under a tree alone. A caravan happened to pass by that way. A few people from the caravan came to him and asked who he was. The Ācārya said that he was a monk and that his name was Bhikbana. The men began to wonder if he was the same man who was being praised everywhere. They had drawn a different image of him in their minds. They had imagined him to be a highly impressive personality surrounded by a crowd of followers. Seeing bim alone and very modest they fell into a dilemma. Ācārya Bhiksu showed no concern with what they had been thinking of him
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