The World Is Your Own Mirror Image

A company manager asked a question to his Guru, "My workers are not true to me. My children and even my wife don’t listen to me and I feel that they are thankless for whatever I have done for them. In fact, the entire world seems very selfish to me. No body is correct. I am fed up with this cruel and selfish world."

Guru smiled and told a story;

In the community center of one village there was a room with 1000 mirrors. One day, a small girl happened to go inside that room and seeing thousands of children around her she was joyful. She clapped her hands and all the 1000 children clapped back at her. She smiled and the 1000 children smiled back at her and then they all laughed and laughed. She considered this place as the world's happiest and beautiful place and started visiting daily whenever she wanted to play, have fun and enjoy.

This same place was once visited by a sad, angry and a depressed person. He saw around him thousands of angry men staring at him. He got scared and raised his hands to hit them and in return 1000 hands lifted to hit him back. He was scared and screamed and 1000 men screamed back at him. He was horribly terrified and ran out of the room shouting that the place was a haunted one. He thought... this was the worst place in the world and advised everyone he met not to go inside that room.

The manager of the company had got the message.

“This world is also a room with say hundred and thousands of mirrors around you. What we let out of us is what the universe will give back to us. This world is a Heaven or Hell. It's up to us what we make out of it with our own actions and behaviour," the Guru concluded.

What a beautiful story!

You abuse a person and s/he hurls a mouthful of abuses back to you. You hit a person in the street and within no time, s/he comes back with dozens of his friends to thrash you back and take the revenge. You harm a collegue or a junior in your company without any fault of his or her just to show your superiority, remember that s/he will be on the look out for an opportunity to harm you. And harm you in such a way to take revenge and teach you a lesson and harm you many folds.

There are many people who take advantage of their senior position and shout at their juniors at the simplest possible pretext. Their aim is to demonstrate their authority now and then to make you realise your level compared to their own seniority. Such people misuse their position of authority even to supress, subjugate and scare the junior people. Very junior employees in the organisation like helpers, peons and security guards are treated like their personal servants by many such senior arrogant officers.

It is equally true that any good behaviour by you is paid back to you by many more times. You as the CEO of the company, enter the big hall where your employees are sitting on their work stations. You smile and say, “Hi Guys, Good Morning.” The scores of smiles flash back at you and wish you Good Morning as well. You occasionally ask the security guard about the welfare of his wife and children and he feels highly blessed that the top boss keeps track of the welfare of even his family members. Such a security guard is bound to give you a real smart salute with a smile every morning and even shall pray for your and your family’s welfare.

Let me tell you that generally people from the comparative lower strata of the society are likely to pay you back much more love and affection in exchange of a very small gesture of kindness and generosity from your side. They don’t need your money. They just look forward to a word of kindness, love and bare minimum respect from you.

Most of the people when they change their jobs, it is not because of 10% or 20% raise in salary, but because of the behaviour of their immediate superior. I have observed many times that the top management and senior managers are very polite, considerate and cooperative for the welfare of their employees. But that is not the case with the immediate senior bosses. They may not be treating their subordinates properly. So it is said that if the frequency of employees leaving the job in a particular department is high, just sack the manager/supervisor of that department. Each human being has a self esteem and it should be respected by all.

Respect others and you will be respected. For great people, it is said that you don’t demand respect from your collegues, subordinates and even your seniors but you command respect because of the way you talk, the way you behave and the way you conduct yourself under different circumstances.

The society pays us back in the same coin. Karma theory applies everywhere. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When guests come at your home and you serve them with a smile with the spirit of “Atithi Devo Bhava” that means the guest is like a God. Tomorrow when you visit them, be rest assured that they will welcome you with double the warmth.

I remember of my childhood days when we used to go for tracking in the hills, there were some spots where we could listen to an excellent strong echo. You shout on top of your voice, “I love you” and the echo comes back: “I love you” “I love you” ……… And if you say, “I hate you”, the echo comes back: “I hate you” “I hate you” ……… This type of echo happens in our day today life also.

So let us be good to everyone we meet and everyone will be good to us. One or two odd exceptions should not deter us from this noble path.