849. Consciousness is Pure....... What about the mind???

I regularly stop by a tea shop en route my factory. The owner of the tea shop from coastal Karnataka brews perfect tea and I normally won’t miss it. Last week as the routine I was having tea in his shop when a woman came asking for tea dust pack of 100 gms. She was particular about one brand and the owner of the shop handed over a pack to her. She gave him an Rs.100 note. He gave back the change, two Rs.20 and one Rs.10 note. The women looked at the Rs.10 note and asked the owner to give her another note. The owner gave a frown look at the note and muttered something to himself. He gave another note to the lady and looked at me and said, someone has given him an oiled soiled note. I smiled at him with a “it happens buddy” look.  

The value of the note did not change; it was only the oily and soiled note which the woman did not want to accept. The owner too did not throw away the note; he kept it aside in his cash box. He would take it to his bank and exchange it for a new one. Now the woman did not consider the value of the note and wanted another which was better than the oily soiled note. The appearance of the note had overshadowed the value of the note here. When the notes were dispatched out of the RBI they were crispy and no one talked about the appearance as it was Sahaja (Normal) for a new currency note to be fresh and crispy. So as the days passed some of those fresh and crispy notes lost their worth in terms of appearance though its value remained intact.

Consciousness in every one of us is like the face value present in the currency note; it will remain the same and no one can appreciate or depreciate its value. Knowing that this Consciousness present in a person is ever pure, we do not respect a person. Why is it so??? What is the one which is making it soiled; yes, it is the behaviour in us. Our attitude, arrogance, ego, pride and audacity overshadow the limpidness of the Consciousness.

Some say that the dualities of good and bad exist and one has to accept them both. When just a soiled note is not acceptable in this society how can one expect to be arrogant and think that people will look beyond the trait???  Yes, I do agree that I need to look beyond the behavioural character of a person but can I expect the same from the others???  Is it not my efforts to have an ability to empathise with others around me, to feel compassion for and to put their needs before my own??? Is it not necessary to sacrifice my own well-being for the sake of others??? Is it not correct for me to practise benevolence, altruism and selflessness - all qualities which stem from a sense of empathy???

Purity of the Consciousness is never polluted just as the value of that currency note; it is the attitude which shrouds its value like the oil on the note. There is no need to do anything with the Consciousness which is eternally pure. That which needs attention is our mind…….Keep it calm and clean.