Do Unto Others

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.

A Rich Man Visits

The good doctor is being stubborn, not out of arrogance or ignorance, rather, he wants the other man to stop and think. The other man is namely a local businessman, important in the village because he employs many people and contributes to the maintenance of roads and public buildings and services. Doctor Krishna is listening to his congested lungs, listening for pneumonia.

"We shall get our rewards in heaven," the well-fed man puffs.
"But aren't you required to live a simple life, to give up your riches?" asks the doctor.
"Not if i contribute grandly to the well-being of this village, these people: someone must do that, surely you agree doctor? We can't all be grubbing about in the muck and praising our simplicity while dying of destitution! Surely this is not God's will?"
"It seems to me that your reward leads you like a carrot leads a mule through life, enticing you to be good and stay on the path against your natural inclinations: you can afford to smoke a lot, yet it is killing you. Perhaps some simplicity might save your lungs? And the extra money might be used for latrines in the poorer quarters of the village?" the doctor suggests, moving around to listen to his heart.
"The poor have so much free time, precisely because they don't work. With all that free time they could dig new latrines, clear their roads of rocks and litter, they might even paint their homes and show a little civic pride: i could use the tobacco money i save to sell them some paint at cost!" he exclaims, as if to himself, beaming with his new civic idea, "I might even throw in a shovel or two!"
"And God shall reward your efforts," Dr. Krishna says, "Your goodness and thoughtfulness, your tender concern for the well being of all villagers shall earn you a place in heaven?"
"Despite what you see, doctor, I am a simple man by heart."
"You might want to cut down on the rich foods and desserts, by the way, so that your heart can thank you in this lifetime", advises the thin, brown man, standing back to rethink his diagnosis, "You had best not wait until your Judgement to reap your rewards, sir. If you wish to avoid any suffering of illness, you may want to act now. The poor, the hungry and the weeping can choose to wait or know heaven now by embracing the Truth: a reward had now, is better than a reward promised in the future, i dare say."

Slightly confused, the rich man pockets the prescription that would cost any other villager a week's wages, and goes outside for a smoke.

Fundamental Goodness

"You are such a good doctor, Krishna, unfortunately i cannot in right mind have my children in your care, because you are not a Christian," the man states, a little louder than is probably necessary.

This isn't the first time Dr. Krishna is refused; no loss, as he certainly is already busy enough. Smiling, he nods and wishes the young man a good day. Watching him walking down the street, the good doctor wonders why that man, and others like him whatever their faith, feel the need to divide, create walls and lines and laws that separate people from each other. If it were to reduce the spread of a viral or bacterial agent for the public health, well, that might be a different story. But faith? He doesn't waste too much time ruminating, however, knowing that there are others who 'see God in all things'.

One universe, created, made, what have you, but one, he thinks to himself. Thus God is truly in all things, and so also in each and every human. Basic goodness, a fundamental upon which to build, Love's signature at a molecular level, this we share. All religions and philosophies of peace, well-being, love, compassion, what have you, share this basic truth, only for some reason (he grins, noting 'mind' as the culprit: ego, fear, doubt, anger) it seems inevitable that man must always add his own divisions, as if loving all beings as yourself, as God, as you neighbour is uncomfortable, impractical, undesirable ... ah, he sighs, then smiling grandly, he bows and with a sweep of his extended arm, he welcomes his next patient into the little clinic as a servant would his master.

"Welcome, brother."