Swami Kriyananda
Most people want to feel that they have some positive impact on the lives of others. You wish to make a difference in the world… but isn’t that beyond your reach? Is our planet so small that any single influence can have much impact on it?
Influences have a way of spreading like ripples in a pond. If an idea can change not only people’s minds but also inspire them sufficiently to change the very way they live, it will have that ripple effect. Alexander the Great didn’t do it, Buddha did.
The Renaissance didn’t do it, Jesus did. The change must come from within; from the heights of inner being. It cannot come from emotion or opinion, nor even from sincerely held belief.
How many public figures declaim on behalf of good causes; yet how many of them significantly change anything? Think of the fads that are embraced by millions, that fade into non-existence like waves on the ocean that rise, then fade back tracelessly into the vast body of water from which they rose.
To make a significant difference, we must realise that it isn’t we, individually, who can make the difference. Truth is what always wins in the end.
There is the story of Billy Sunday, the evangelist. When he died, he appeared before the gates of heaven, but St Peter told him he couldn’t come in since the evangelist’s name was not in the record of good deeds.
“But what about all those people I converted,” exclaimed Billy Sunday, “and sent to heaven?” “You may have sent them,” St Peter replied, “but none have ever arrived.”
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: Economic Times, Speaking Tree, 27th Feb, 2019
Swami Kriyananda
Most people want to feel that they have some positive impact on the lives of others. You wish to make a difference in the world… but isn’t that beyond your reach? Is our planet so small that any single influence can have much impact on it?
Influences have a way of spreading like ripples in a pond. If an idea can change not only people’s minds but also inspire them sufficiently to change the very way they live, it will have that ripple effect. Alexander the Great didn’t do it, Buddha did.
The Renaissance didn’t do it, Jesus did. The change must come from within; from the heights of inner being. It cannot come from emotion or opinion, nor even from sincerely held belief.
How many public figures declaim on behalf of good causes; yet how many of them significantly change anything? Think of the fads that are embraced by millions, that fade into non-existence like waves on the ocean that rise, then fade back tracelessly into the vast body of water from which they rose.
To make a significant difference, we must realise that it isn’t we, individually, who can make the difference. Truth is what always wins in the end.
There is the story of Billy Sunday, the evangelist. When he died, he appeared before the gates of heaven, but St Peter told him he couldn’t come in since the evangelist’s name was not in the record of good deeds.
“But what about all those people I converted,” exclaimed Billy Sunday, “and sent to heaven?” “You may have sent them,” St Peter replied, “but none have ever arrived.”
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: Economic Times, Speaking Tree, 27th Feb, 2019