The Purity of the Heart
"...
And similarly for ourselves, we who are God's devotees, how should we deal with the responses we receive, whether they happen to be praise or blame? No matter if people elevate or slight us, we must treat them equally in our hearts. We should not find happiness in praise or sorrow from something which is not praise, because if we do we have to accept whatever is being given out: if it is praise and we accept it, we must also accept blame. We have to be equally happy with both because God does the same thing, He treats both sides equally. He does not have the qualities of anger, hate, bitterness or enmity. He does not feel hostility nor does He hold one person in higher esteem than any other. He behaves the same way with everyone, He treats everyone with equality. The One who creates, the One who provides nourishment, the One who protects us without divisiveness does not treat anyone differently from anyone else. He makes every life, exalted or debased, as precious as His own, He trusts every life as He trusts His own and He offers love equally to all living things.
This is the kind of compassionate heart we must have, and for that reason we must rid ourselves of the dirt lying within ourselves. My precious children, jeweled lights of my eyes, suppose you wear a very clean, very white piece of cloth and one tiny particle of dirt or a tiny drop of ink falls on it. This stands out quite clearly, the dirt or the black dot of ink is very visible, very evident. Now suppose there is a black cow, any mark which is darker black, or even a tiny dot of white is not very noticeable, you don't talk or wonder about it much, but you can't make the cow white. And so in our hearts, in hearts that are perfectly pure, if there is even an atomic particle of envy or doubt, an atomic particle of divisiveness or a sense of differences, an atomic particle of anger, even if it is so tiny, just as small as an atom, it is readily seen, as a tiny black dot is clearly evident on a white cow. In the same way, this tiny stain on the heart is very evident to God and His justice, it is readily seen there, even though you have to look intently at other people to detect what is there. This is the reason why God immediately notices the slightest thing that happens to any of His devotees and says, "That is not good for you, get rid of it at once, there is a tiny thing in you, throw it away." This is the way God cautions them. He warns them, telling them to wash it away and rid themselves of even such a tiny stain, bringing them to a good, clear point. We have to think about this and make every point in our heart perfectly pure, we must always keep it clean.
..."
M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen: The Purity of the Heart
And similarly for ourselves, we who are God's devotees, how should we deal with the responses we receive, whether they happen to be praise or blame? No matter if people elevate or slight us, we must treat them equally in our hearts. We should not find happiness in praise or sorrow from something which is not praise, because if we do we have to accept whatever is being given out: if it is praise and we accept it, we must also accept blame. We have to be equally happy with both because God does the same thing, He treats both sides equally. He does not have the qualities of anger, hate, bitterness or enmity. He does not feel hostility nor does He hold one person in higher esteem than any other. He behaves the same way with everyone, He treats everyone with equality. The One who creates, the One who provides nourishment, the One who protects us without divisiveness does not treat anyone differently from anyone else. He makes every life, exalted or debased, as precious as His own, He trusts every life as He trusts His own and He offers love equally to all living things.
This is the kind of compassionate heart we must have, and for that reason we must rid ourselves of the dirt lying within ourselves. My precious children, jeweled lights of my eyes, suppose you wear a very clean, very white piece of cloth and one tiny particle of dirt or a tiny drop of ink falls on it. This stands out quite clearly, the dirt or the black dot of ink is very visible, very evident. Now suppose there is a black cow, any mark which is darker black, or even a tiny dot of white is not very noticeable, you don't talk or wonder about it much, but you can't make the cow white. And so in our hearts, in hearts that are perfectly pure, if there is even an atomic particle of envy or doubt, an atomic particle of divisiveness or a sense of differences, an atomic particle of anger, even if it is so tiny, just as small as an atom, it is readily seen, as a tiny black dot is clearly evident on a white cow. In the same way, this tiny stain on the heart is very evident to God and His justice, it is readily seen there, even though you have to look intently at other people to detect what is there. This is the reason why God immediately notices the slightest thing that happens to any of His devotees and says, "That is not good for you, get rid of it at once, there is a tiny thing in you, throw it away." This is the way God cautions them. He warns them, telling them to wash it away and rid themselves of even such a tiny stain, bringing them to a good, clear point. We have to think about this and make every point in our heart perfectly pure, we must always keep it clean.
..."
M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen: The Purity of the Heart
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