Daily Meditation: Sunday, July 13, 1997

A young man dreams of marrying a charming young girl he has …

07/13/1997

A young man dreams of marrying a charming young girl he has met at a party, and after a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing – because he is of course not the only one to have fallen in love with her – he succeeds in fulfilling his dream. On the face of it everything is wonderful. But as he has never learnt to develop broad-mindedness, detachment, self-control, all his lower instincts begin to reveal themselves: suspicion, jealousy, cruelty, etc. He no longer has a minute's peace. He constantly watches his wife and all those who have contact with her. He suspects her of cheating on him, so much so that one day, having been driven completely mad, he kills her, and he ends up in prison. Of course this story is slightly oversimplified, but this is generally what happens when you seek to satisfy your desires at all costs, without truly knowing yourself and without having worked on your character. Heaven only knows if your desires will indeed be fulfilled or if, on the contrary, you will find yourself in deep water. You want to marry the prettiest girl in the world, you want to become a government minister or the president, you want to win the national lottery, and indeed you can do that. But how long will the joy of success last? Already the very next day problems arise. And are you ready then to deal with them?