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Transformation
clothes. As a few drops of water fell on his body, the monk reproached the washerman and abused him. The latter reciprocated by asking why the monk was roaming there and rudely pointed out that drops of water would inevitably fall, if one moves by the side of a washing place. While saying so he gave a push to the monk.
The monk moved from the place and sat under a tree. While contemplating over the incident he realized that it was his fault to abuse the washerman. As such, he went back and begged the washerman to forgive him. That prompted the latter to see his mistake in abusing a holy man. He fell at the feet of the monk and humbly requested to forgive him for the rude behavior. When one thus gets agitated, foul words are likely to turn out of his mouth. We should therefore carefully restrain ourselves and manifest our nobility by overcoming anger.
One normally likes to bow to a holy man; but when the latter forsakes his monastic code and resorts to rage, he comes to the level of an ordinary man. Unrestrained ego leads to arrogance, and the purity can be regained when one realizes his fault and overcomes the ego. If one listens to this truth and contemplates over it, he would start changing himself. Thereby he becomes conscious of the inherent purity of the soul and tries to manifest it.
Considerable emphasis has therefore been laid on right listening. Listening to the enlightened talks helps in realizing the true nature of the soul. Listening to such words is thus essential for one's internal purification. When we sprinkle water to cool a heated pan, the initial 100 drops may evaporate and seem to have gone waste. But that is not true; all those drops had their impact which becomes apparent with the 101st drop. Similarly listening to truth leads to internal transformation. That may not be apparent initially. Our job is to continue to listen and contemplate over it. Even if no result is seen for some time, we should pursue it. Every time we do so is a step in the direction of transformation that would become manifest in due course.
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