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Sahasrāra---Pure Consciousness of Self
to himself, “Why should a saint be wearing such a costly shawl? I could get a lot of money for a shawl like that." He quickly snatched the shawl away from the saint.
Now the saint again opened his eyes and blessed the thief saying, “Here is my blessing. You will do it again and again." The thief went on his way.
Meanwhile, there was a man sitting in a nearby tree, watching all that went on. He was overcome with curiosity. “What kind of blessings are these?” he asked the saint. “The good man and the thief both received the same words -'You will do it again and again.' Doesn't a saint make any distinction between these two men? Don't you realize that one man gave you a generous gift and the other man stole it away from you?"
The saint answered, “The traveler who gave me the gift has a rich heart. Until the last day of his life, he will give over and over again. Inwardly, he is a wealthy man. The thief, in his turn, will steal again and again. He will know poverty until the last day of his life.” "What does it all mean?” asked the man.
The saint replied, “People's actions are dictated by the way they perceive themselves and the world. Men like the thief have lived in the same conditioned thinking—the same rut--until their inner sense of lack has become a part of their nature. They do not give up this acquired nature easily, but cling to it until the last day. Only pragnā, the light of inner wisdom, can transform them; so it is pointless to criticize or be upset by them.”
When you understand and accept mankind as the saint in the story did, the pure flow of love from your heart will
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