The wounds are many and deep. The naked man on the table of Doctor Krishna's clinic has been severely beaten. His feet are a mess of blisters, scabs and street waste. Emaciated, the little man is probably also under-fed, starving, notes the doctor. And yet, the man lies here with eyes wide open, as if not to miss a moment of life, serene, calm, he smiles to no one, to everyone.
"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you," he says in a parched voice, "My father taught me how a man must live. Many years i did as i pleased, lost in selfishness. Then little by little, i saw the darkness and terror, the sorrow and the loss creep into my life: this is not the world! i said to myself. I changed."
"Who has treated you so badly, then?" asks the busy doctor, now stitching up a gash as neatly as possible, all the while wondering how he is going to protect this man from infection, from sepsis.
"My enemies, i guess. Though i declare now that i have no enemies. I hate no one, because i see who they really are, behind the fabricated masks that they themselves believe as their personal truth. If only we can see the world as it truly is. Larger than us. Magnificent. All reflections of perfection. My father recommended that i do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me and pray for those who mistreat me. I do this now, regardless if i am shown compassion. If i let my compassion be conditional, then i judge. If i let my compassion be determined by another's actions, then i can never be free from doubt and fear."
Doctor Krishna smiles as he cleans the man's feet. He nods. "I have heard it said that 'To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic."
"Yes, yes! That's it! The woman was ill, shamed by her nakedness, thus i gave her my own clothes. 'Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.' We are asked to do the impossible, but the impossible lives only in our mind. Such freedom to know that fear, exclusion, arrogance and doubt can be let go. Life is easy, if you dare live it ... i would gladly suffer more of these scrapes and bruises than to live in the darkness created by my own mind," he says, sitting up and looking directly at the doctor. Tears of joy stream down both their cheeks.
Doctor Krishna remembers a teacher's simple answer to all of life's perceived problems: Do to others as you would have them do to you. One had a moment to memorise it and a life-time to practise and perfect it, the teacher always added. Doctor Krishna knows that this glorious man is almost home.
"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you," he says in a parched voice, "My father taught me how a man must live. Many years i did as i pleased, lost in selfishness. Then little by little, i saw the darkness and terror, the sorrow and the loss creep into my life: this is not the world! i said to myself. I changed."
"Who has treated you so badly, then?" asks the busy doctor, now stitching up a gash as neatly as possible, all the while wondering how he is going to protect this man from infection, from sepsis.
"My enemies, i guess. Though i declare now that i have no enemies. I hate no one, because i see who they really are, behind the fabricated masks that they themselves believe as their personal truth. If only we can see the world as it truly is. Larger than us. Magnificent. All reflections of perfection. My father recommended that i do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me and pray for those who mistreat me. I do this now, regardless if i am shown compassion. If i let my compassion be conditional, then i judge. If i let my compassion be determined by another's actions, then i can never be free from doubt and fear."
Doctor Krishna smiles as he cleans the man's feet. He nods. "I have heard it said that 'To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic."
"Yes, yes! That's it! The woman was ill, shamed by her nakedness, thus i gave her my own clothes. 'Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.' We are asked to do the impossible, but the impossible lives only in our mind. Such freedom to know that fear, exclusion, arrogance and doubt can be let go. Life is easy, if you dare live it ... i would gladly suffer more of these scrapes and bruises than to live in the darkness created by my own mind," he says, sitting up and looking directly at the doctor. Tears of joy stream down both their cheeks.
Doctor Krishna remembers a teacher's simple answer to all of life's perceived problems: Do to others as you would have them do to you. One had a moment to memorise it and a life-time to practise and perfect it, the teacher always added. Doctor Krishna knows that this glorious man is almost home.
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