One who can see goodness in others will experience peace and happiness in life. We view the world through the lens of our mind. When that lens is covered with the dirt of doubt, hatred and ego, we will only see everyone’s shortcomings. But when we begin looking at the world through a pure lens shining with love, faith and humility, we will be able to see good in everything. The reason is that when we look at the world, we are seeing the reflection of our own mind.
When we see mistakes in others, our mind becomes restless. When we see good in others, our mind becomes happy. Seeing the good in others is for our own benefit. One who can see the good in others can easily handle any difficult situations in life.
Once there was a one-eyed and one-legged king. One day he gathered all the artists in his kingdom and asked them to paint his portrait. None had the courage to draw the king’s picture realistically. They were in a real fix. But then, one of them got an idea. When everyone saw his painting, they could not believe how beautiful it was. What had he done? He had painted the king hunting in the forest—with one leg folded and closing one eye to aim.
Like this artist, we should be able to highlight the good side of others without focussing on their weaknesses. The majority of us have a mind that sees the bad in others. Even if someone has a thousand good qualities, we will only see their one bad one. We need to change.
A Guru had two disciples. Both were equally egoistic. Besides, it was also their habit to criticise each other. Finally, the Guru hit upon a solution. One night, both the disciples were fast asleep. Grabbing the opportunity, the Guru painted their faces in many colours, making them look like clowns.
The next morning, the disciple who woke up first looked at the other and burst out laughing. Hearing his loud laugh, the second disciple woke up. Looking up, he saw his clown-faced friend roaring with laughter. The second disciple also burst out laughing. Soon both of them were rolling with laughter, each pointing his finger at the other’s face. The first disciple brought a mirror to the second saying, “Look, you clown! This face suits you well.” The second disciple immediately caught hold of the mirror and turned it around, saying, “Look at yourself… what a sight! I see a flourishing career opportunity for you.” But as soon as each disciple saw himself in the mirror, their laughter died down.
This is how we all are. While we are laughing at and criticising someone else, someone else may be laughing at us, and criticising us.Nothing in this world is completely good or bad. There will be some good even in the most evil individual. We should have an eye that can see that goodness. If we patiently try, we will be able to recognise and awaken more goodness in them. Once a mind that can see good everywhere is cultivated within us,we will become filled with God’s grace. That grace is the basis of success in life.
The writer is a world-renowned spiritual leader