Do you believe in the goodness of people?
There are basically two types of attitudes or two kinds of people in the world. Those who that all people are intrinsically bad. And those who think that basically everyone is good deep inside, even if their behaviour is a little bad; the bad behaviour is only at the periphery.
The first kind of people cannot trust anybody, and the second type of people does not doubt anyone too much. Do you see the difference? If you think intrinsically everyone is good, then your doubt is only superficial. You don’t deeply doubt anyone, because you know there is goodness in everybody. You believe in the goodness of everybody.
The other set of people have this big issue of trust because they think intrinsically everybody is bad. Even if they appear to be good outside, deep inside they are not good. This attitude—this assumption in your mind—causes you to not trust anybody.
Wisdom is to be able to see that negativity is only at the circumference.
It is so interesting to see that if you find something wrong in a person, you think that is the true nature of that person.
I want to share one incident with you. Last year, I went for a big Satsang in one of the northern cities of India. At the satsang, there was this notorious person who came in, climbed on to the stage and started moving around. All the journalists and everyone else said, “This guy is a criminal, how did he get access to Gurudev? How is he standing with Gurudev?”
This man was so notorious; he would say, “I can make a call and stop any airplane.”
He would just tell any taxi driver to get off the car and he would take the taxi and go. He was someone with a big criminal record. So when he came on to the stage, everyone was wondering, “How did Gurudev allow this?”
He would just tell any taxi driver to get off the car and he would take the taxi and go. He was someone with a big criminal record. So when he came on to the stage, everyone was wondering, “How did Gurudev allow this?”
You know, this same person, who has not done any course or anything, three months later came to the Bangalore Ashram on Shivratri to meet me. He took my picture out of his pocket, and said, “Gurudev, since I kept this picture in my pocket, I am not able to do my work. What has happened? What have you done? My life is all topsy-turvy; my whole life has changed. There is so much joy here! Now I want to take this joy to my state, and to every home.”
This is the same man who was considered to be the most anti-social element by everyone. Even journalists are afraid of him. Journalists, usually, are not afraid of anybody. But they said, “This guy is horrible.”
The world is as you see it.
You know, how we perceive people, is how the world becomes. In Sanskrit, there is a proverb that goes, Yatha Drishti, Tatha Srishti. As you see the world, that is how the world becomes for you. If you see the world as full of horrible people, in your experience, only such type of things will happen. If you see the world as full of good people, even in the worst criminal, you will see there is a very nice person hiding deep inside him. You will recognize that.
So, don’t judge people, or label them as bad people or good people. There is only one Divinity that expresses itself in so many ways, in so many people, in so many moods, and in so many colors. It is one light. If we can recognize this, then we will have such deep peace in our hearts, such trust and faith that nothing whatsoever can shake us.
Everyone has light in them.
A seeker is one who should know that, intrinsically, every human being is a spark of God, so they cannot be bad. There is no bad human being created by the Creator. Take it from me – no bad person at all. Everyone has light in them. Somewhere it is hidden, somewhere it is sleepy, and somewhere it is more in action.
So these are the two paths. See in your mind which side are you going. Are you going towards trust, or towards doubt? If you are going on the side of disliking others or disliking yourself, then it is time to give a shift to it, and say, “No, intrinsically everybody is good.”
