Speaker 1: Equal mindedness. To be equally minded is to be peacefully minded.
For a man cannot be said to have arrived at
peace who allows his mind to be disturbed and thrown
off the balance by occurrences. The man of wisdom is dispassionate,
and meets all things with the calmness of a mind
in repose and free from prejudice. He is not a partisan,
but having put away passion, and is always at peace
with himself in the world, not taking sides nor defending himself,
but sympathizing withal. The partisan is so convinced that his
own opinion and his own side is right, and that
all goes contrary to them is wrong, that he cannot
think there is any good in the other opinion and
the other side. He lives in a continual fever of
attack and defense, and has no knowledge of the quiet
peace of an equal mind. The equal minded man watches
himself in order to check and overcome even the appearance
of passion and prejudice in his mind, and by so
doing he develops sympathy for others and comes to understand
their position and particular state of mind. And as he
comes to understand others, he perceives the folly of condemning
them and opposing himself to them. Thus there grows up
in his heart a divine charity which cannot be limited,
but which is extended to all things that live and
strive and suffer. When a man is under the sway
of passion and prejudice, he is spiritually blind, seeing nothing
but good in his own side and nothing but evil
in another. He cannot see anything as it really is,
not even his own side, And not understanding himself, he
cannot understand the hearts of others, and thinks it is
right that he should condemn them. Thus there grows up
in his heart a dark hatred for those who refuse
to see him, and who condemn him. In return, he
becomes separated from his fellow man, and confines himself to
a narrow torture chamber of his own making. Sweet and
peaceful are the days of the equal minded man, fruitful
in good and rich in manifold blessings. Guided by wisdom,
he avoids those pathways which lead down to hatred and
sorrow and pain, and takes those which lead up to
love and peace and bliss. The occurrences of life do
not trouble him, nor does he grieve over those things
which are regarded by mankind as grievous, but which must
befall all men in the ordinary course of nature. He
is neither elated by success nor cast down by failure.
He sees the events of his life arranged in their
proper proportions, and can find no room for selfish wishes
or vain regrets, for vain anticipations and childish disappointments, and
us his equal mindedness, This blessed state of mind and life,
acquired only by overcoming one's self, only by purifying one's
own heart. For the purification of the heart leads to
unbiased comprehension. Unbiased comprehension leads to equal mindedness. An equal
mindedness leads to peace. The impure man is swept helplessly
away on the waves of passion. The pure man guides
himself into the harbor of rest. The fool says, I
have an opinion. The wise man goes about his business,