But he had one problem. It was a big problem. He was stuck in his head...which meant he did not show any love or compassion to others. He was stuck in his pride, thinking he knew everything, and was better than others.
He thought: ”I understand how everything works.”
But he was not kind.
One day he saw a guy with only one leg hopping down the street. He thought to himself: “Oh, this guy must have kicked a holy man in his past life, that’s why he lost one leg.”
Lets travel back in time and see what happened
Past Life
A holy man was giving a sermon “God Is in You... God Is in me....”
The (future one legged)man was angry and asked the holy man “How would you like to experience the GOD in my FOOT!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I hope you enjoyed my holy Foot!”
Present Day
Another day he was walking down the street and he saw a beggar who had no fingers. The beggar asked: “Please, do you have any money you can give me, so I can buy some food?”
The man just walked by, trying not to look in the beggar’s eyes.
He thought to himself: “I wonder what she did in a past life to deserve this? I bet she used to be a thief and this is her karma in this lifetime... to not have any fingers.”
Lets travel back in time and see what happened
Past Life
After a long days work a Merchant proclaimed “I’ve worked so hard to earn this money. Now I can feed my family! Oh Thank you God!”
Seeing the money a thief thought to herself “This will be easy, I will take his money... Yes! The money is mine!”
Finding his money stolen the Merchant cursed the thief ”OH NO! where did my money go!??! Now I cannot feed my family. Oh god...! Curse that Thief, May they be born with no fingers!”
Present Day
Another day he saw a blind man trying to walk down the street. The blind man was trying to get up some steps. “Where..... Where are the steps? Uh, oh... I think that’s the step.”
The blind man was fumbling around and couldn’t find the steps, but the man did not help him. He just walked by and thought to himself: “Of course he’s blind. He’s just getting what he deserves. I bet in his past life he refused to see something important and that’s why he’s blind now.”
Suddenly the blind man started laughing “Hahahahaahahaa.” The man stopped walking and looked back at the blind man. The blind man also turned around and faced towards him and said: “You are too funny! Hahaha.....” The man was very puzzled. He thought: “That man can’t see anything and yet he seems to know exactly where I am standing. Even though he couldn’t see with his two eyes, his third eye worked just fine. The blind man had very good intuition.
He spoke to the blind man and asked him: “Why did you just laugh? Is there something funny about me?”
“Well you were right.”
“I was right? Right about what?” asked the judgmental man.
“That I was born blind in this life because of karma from a past life.” replied the blind man.
The man was surprised to hear that the blind man knew exactly what he was thinking!
The blind man continued: “I’m sorry I just thought it was so funny. And you were also right about what that karma is. In my past life I refused to see something that was very important. Because I refused to see, now I’m blind. I got just what I asked for.... We all get what we ask for.”
The man was so surprised! Now, he looked at the blind man with respect: “Sir, there is no way you could have known that. That’s exactly what I was thinking!”
He was totally in shock.
“Well... what was that important thing that you refused to see in your past life?”
The blind man answered “Oh yes it’s important indeed. It’s very, very, very important! Be careful my friend because you are making the same mistake I made!”
The man was totally silent and humble now. And he realized: “That means that I could be blind in my next life!”
“Yes, unfortunately you most likely will be blind in your next life.
“Me! Blind!???”
The blind man replied “But let’s see if I can help you.”
Getting scared the judgmental man asked “Well what is it I’m refusing to see?? I don’t want to go blind! If you tell me I won’t refuse to see it anymore, I promise! In fact I’ll see it as much as I can. Please tell me what it is that I don’t want to see!!”
“Hah! You remind me of myself, that’s just the way I thought.”
The man could hardly wait to hear what it was, he would do anything to not go blind,
“Just like you, I judged people. I refused to see the simple things I could do to help others. Actually, I was already blind. I forgot the most important truth: The other person IS you! God is in all of us.That’s why I was laughing. You are so much like me. In fact in my last life, you were the one who had problems and I was the one who refused to see how I could help you.”
The man was amazed!
The blind man continued ”We were in the same family, and you used to get very sick all the time. I never helped you. Now you are making the same mistake. Now you are judging, not helping and not being kind. I’m not mad at you though, I understand.” The man was very humbled,
“My friend, the truth is you are already blind, you just don’t know it yet.”
At that moment, even though his eyes were wide open, everything became dark.
“OH my GOD!!! I CAN’T SEE, IT’S ALL DARK!!!”
He rubbed his eyes and then opened them again, but everything was was still black. “OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” He started crying. “I’m blind! I deserve it though. I thought I could judge others because I don’t have the struggles they have.”
“You have the greatest struggle of all. You must struggle with yourself, you must conquer your mind.
The man fell on his knees: “I’ll do anything, I mean I’ll do everything, I’ll help everyone, I will change! I will open my heart and see everyone with a loving eye.”
Happy to see his change of heart the blind man proclaimed. “Good for you! Bravo! I’m proud of you! I had to become blind to learn this lesson. I hope you keep up and and learn this without going blind!”
At that moment the man’s vision came back and he could see again!
“You have so much good to give to the world! God bless you!”
In that moment the judgmental man realized the most important thing: Kindness...
“Thank you sir! Thank you so much. A few minutes ago, I saw you and thought you were just a blind man. But really, you see more than I do! It is I who am really blind! I never see others with a loving eye. From now on I promise to see what is truly important!”
After that meeting, the man started focusing on changing himself. It wasn’t easy. He got up early in the morning for his daily spiritual practice, sadhana. He learned how to meditate. He started praying and bowing his head before God and Guru. He kept his promise and did his very best to see the good in others (instead of trying to find something wrong with them).
Whenever he caught himself thinking mean or judging thoughts about someone, he would right away change his thoughts, and do something good. He would then help that person, or be kind to them in some way.
He never again stood aside and judged other people. If someone needed help, he always helped them. He made the longest journey in the world... the journey from the head to the heart. From his judging mind to his loving heart.
So the next time you see someone sad or having a bad day, remember the blind man. Give the person a big smile, say something nice to them, and if you can... help them.