Daily Meditation: Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Someone declares, ‘I feel strong; no woman can seduce me, …

06/23/2009

Someone declares, ‘I feel strong; no woman can seduce me, whatever tricks she uses’, and he thinks he’s an ascetic. But surround him with pretty young girls, and see how he acts then. And then there are others who claim to be honest and good, but if you give them access to lots of money or great powers, can you be sure they won’t take advantage of it by getting rich dishonestly or cutting off a few heads? Those who are truly strong show their strength in situations where they are most exposed to temptation, when they become even stronger, more enlightened and nobler. These situations are a kind of test, and instead of undermining them, these tests allow them to discover unsuspected resources inside themselves. So long as people have not proved them­selves, you cannot really know them; what’s more they cannot know themselves either. It’s only afterwards that they know themselves, only afterwards that they become aware of their strength or weakness.