People Of The Sacred Books

A ten-year old-boy, full of mischief, picks up his grandfather’s magnifying glass. While he’s playing with it, his three-year-old brother comes along.

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HINDUISM
The thraldom of Maya
By Prarthna Saran

The naughty ten-year-old wants to tease his younger one, and so he makes him sit and takes his hand and exclaims loudly, “Oh, oh, see, see, you must rush to a hospital, you have a terrible disease. I’ll show you.” So saying he shows the little one his thumb under the magnifying glass. The thumb is magnified beyond all proportions and the little one screams and cries. The child is deluded in his misapprehension, seeing a totally nonexistent shape and size. Soon the mother rushes to his side, and picks him up in her lap, wipes his tears, but the child holds up his thumb and can’t stop crying in imagined pain and terror.

Then the mother takes the glass and shows the little one her own thumb, first under the glass then over the glass, then keeps repeating it a few times.

Then she shows the little brother his own thumb, under the glass then over the glass till he is convinced. Soon the boy stops crying and begins to laugh, as it becomes a new game. He begins to experiment the trick with his eyes, nose, tongue and stomach. What fun! He begins to enjoy the delusion.

Similarly, the Guru sees you crying and like a loving mother, takes you under his wing, tries to first calm your mind and slowly, through Satsang, shows you how your fears are delusions.

He gradually shows you the ultimate reality of who you truly are. You begin to grasp the fears to be totally non-existent, and you understand how can one be scared of that which doesn’t even exist? Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi. This was first published on 04 August 2024.

ISLAM
The beginning of realization
By (Late) Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The Quran states: “We have created man into a life of toil and trial. Does he think then that no one has power over him?” (90:4-5)