Thought for Today

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" When a man becomes steadfast in his abstention from harming others, then all

living creatures will cease to feel enmity in his presence. "

 

-Patanjali

" How to Know God "

The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

 

Commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood:

 

" We are accustomed to use the word " harmless " in a rather derogatory sense;

it has become almost synonymous with 'ineffectual'. Yet the perfected

harmlessness of the saint is by no means ineffectual; it is a positive

psychological force of tremendous power. When a man has truly and entirely

renounced violence in his own thoughts and in his dealings with others, he

begins to create an atmosphere around himself within which violence and

enmity must cease to exist because they find no reciprocation. Animals, too,

are sensitive to such an atmosphere. Wild beasts may be temporarily cowed

with whips, but they can only be rendered harmless by the power of genuine

harmlessness, as every good trainer knows. A lady who was accustomed to

handle deadly snakes used to explain: 'You see, they know I won't hurt them.'

 

" The test of ahimsa (harmlessness) is absence of jealousy, " said Swami

Vivekananda. 'The so-called great men of the world may all be seen to become

jealous of each other for a small name, for a little fame, and for a few bits

of gold. So long as this jealousy exists in a heart, it is far away from the

perfection of ahimsa. "