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Rays of Dharma
tune with the mind and actions are in tune with the words. Having a piano does not serve any purpose if one does not know how to play it. In a temple there had been a beautiful piano, but no one used to play it. After a long time a player came and spread sweet musical notes by playing it. The people loved it and got absorbed in listening to it. That could happen because the man was an expert player and remained absorbed in it while playing the instrument.
That temple consists of our internal self. We need to pray to the Lord to enter our mind. The mind is very delicate. If we play it with uniformity of verbal and physical faculties, sweetness would emerge and that can yield the true pleasure of life. In order to make the prayer more effective, we make use of incense. The uniformity of mind,
s and actions serve the purpose of incense in this respect. Exercising those three faculties harmoniously leads to a divine tune. We need to resort to that harmony in every sphere of life. For that purpose it is not necessary to go to a sacred place or to approach some great man. In the absence of harmony, even the contact with a great man would be of little help.
A poet has said, 'One went to fifty six places of pilgrimage, but he could not give up the temperament of a dog.' Even if we bathe a dog in several sacred rivers, it does not cease to bark. Similarly, an envious person does not cease to feel sad on seeing the prosperity of others. The religious life consists of changing it and of developing generousness at heart. It is, however, not possible to achieve a real change, so long as the mind does not undergo transformation. One can afford to develop agreeable disposition, when violence and other wrong instincts are rooted out of mind.
This is, of course, not easy. When anger or rage arises in our mind or when we get upset, we should try to figure out the reasons thereof. Instead of looking outside for that purpose, we should quietly delve within. It would then be realized that the reasons lie within us. The wise men therefore used to maintain a room of peace in their home. In that room they kept symbols of peace that could quiet the
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