Two Disciples

"There was once a Guru who wanted to move to a village. He sent two of his disciples to that village to enquire about the nature of the people living there.

"One of the disciples visited the place and returned. He told his Master that the people in that village were the most wicked people imaginable. They were robbers, killers and prostitutes. Nowhere else could you find such evil souls, he said.

"When the second disciple returned, he said to the guru, 'The people in that village are very good. Never before have I met such good people.' The Guru wondered how the two disciples could have such contrasting opinions about the same village. When he asked them to explain, the first disciple said, 'In the first house I entered, I was greeted by a murderer; in the second house lived a robber, and in the third house I saw a prostitute. I felt so discouraged that I didn't bother to go any further; I turned around and came back. How can I say anything good about a village where such bad people are residing?'

The Guru then asked the second disciple to describe what he had seen. The disciple said, 'I went to the same houses as he did. At the first house, I saw a murderer. When I arrived at the place, he was outside taking care of a poor man who was lying on the road. It struck me that even though he was a murderer, he still had some compassion in him; his heart was not entirely bereft of compassion. When I saw this, I felt so much love for him. A robber was living in the second house I came to. When I reached that place, he was busy feeding the poor. He was in the habit of feeding all the starving people in the village. He would find out who didn't have enough food and he would feed them. When I saw this, I was filled with joy. I then went on the the third house, which belonged to a prostitute. There were three children in the house. When I asked about them, I was told that they were all orphans and that the prostitute had taken them under her wing and was raising them. When I discovered that there were such good qualities even in those who are considered to be the worst people in the village, I couldn't even imagine how much more noble the other villagers would be! By visiting those three houses I got a very good impression about the people of that village.'

"Children, even within those who are evil, divinity lies dormant. By trying to awaken the divinity in them, we, in fact, awaken the divinity within ourselves."