Rays of Dharma

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

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Feeling afraid of Sin
knew that man is not infallible. The saintly persons are therefore compassionate to those, who fall but are willing to avoid the repetition thereof. Since the woman was truly repenting of her misdeed, the saint saw it his duty to help her. He asked her to sit in a corner of his hut.
Meanwhile the people arrived at the hut and asked for possession of the woman. The saint patiently heard them and then said, Stone her, if you think she is unchaste; but the first stone should be thrown by the utmost chaste one. He should never have cast lustful eyes at any woman, he should have never abused any woman, he should never have been overcome with passionate instinct on seeing a beautiful woman. Contemplate over this while keeping the Lord in mind; if your inner voice says that you are chaste and have never thought of indulging in impurity, start throwing the stones.'
The people stood there in amazement. They realized that they did not belong to the true category of chastity. They were listening to their inner voice. Do we ever try to listen to our inner voice? How many of us have talked to the Self with a quiet mind? Even when we go to the temple, our mind happens to be loaded with various kinds of fancies. It is possible to hear the inner voice only when the mind is silenced.
The people assembled to stone the woman were ashamed to see their own level; they dispersed and went home. Then the saint permitted the woman to leave and advised her to lead a chaste life thenceforth. The woman thus got a new lease of life. It is possible to see the day light, when one comes out of the cave of darkness. The duel between the desire and the desirable however continues to take place in the mind; those who withdraw from the desire and go in for the desirable attain bliss.
Feeling afraid of committing sin means that one would not indulge in wrong activities; he should feel uneasy, if he happens to indulge therein. Such indulgence should make one uneasy the way we feel uneasy, if some dirt is lying in the bed. Similarly the inner
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