We all want to behave as a spiritual person and do good to others. But sometimes it is difficult to decide what is the best way to respond to the behaviors of others. The Yoga Sutras and Lord Buddha give us the answer:
- We react with friendliness to those who do good.
- We react with compassion to those who are suffering.
- We react with good will and give our blessings to those who are high souls.
When someone is behaving in a bad way with anger and negativity, we must learn to not react and remain neutral.
This last guideline is very important, but what does it mean? If we are walking on the street and a dog barks at us, we keep walking and ignore the barking dog. This is neutrality. If we stop and react to the dog, it barks louder and wants to attack. This is the natural behavior for the barking dog. Our best response is to just keep walking on our way and let it go. Then the dog eventually stops barking and we are free of the karma.
When someone is angry towards us or doing bad around us, we just walk our way and remain neutral. If we think about what they are doing with a negative reaction, they can feel it and their behavior towards us gets worse. Our best response is no response. This is the way prescribed by the ancient masters.
A truly spiritual person has only three responses to others: friendliness, compassion and good will with blessings. Any other response can lead to more negativity and that creates karma. The only response to negativity that truly works is neutrality.
When we are neutral, the negative actions from others do not touch us. This is a lesson that we can practice everyday. It is our duty as a human being to become wise and behave in a virtuous manner to all living beings. Friendliness, compassion and good will are the highest virtues we can cultivate as a spiritual being on the path to Enlightenment.
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