The Great Secret of Mind

asked him to make the painting; she returned each day to see how the work was
progressing, hoping to surprise Prakash upon his return. On the third day, upon
returning home, she was surprised to see her husband there. “You told me you
would be away for ten days,” she said, “and only three days have passed. Plus, you
didn’t call me, and I was worried.” Prakash was furious, his worst fears confirmed.
“If you have Rabin, there is no need of me,” he told her. “You are a shameless
whore!” Babita protested her innocence and told him that she had done nothing to
offend him. He told her that he knew that she had been visiting Rabin every day
and that he did not need her any more. She swore that she had done nothing
wrong with Rabin. She begged him to back off. They had a fight, and he beat her
and kicked her out of the house. She lost hope and made a final request for her
daughter. He told her that a whore does not have any rights and refused her.
Babita left home weeping.
Believing that Babita had deceived him, Prakash was very depressed. His
daughter cried constantly for her mother and would not sleep. He started drinking
and became a little mad. After a few days, someone knocked on his door, and
when Prakash opened it, there stood Rabin. Rabin asked Prakash in a friendly
manner when he had returned from Delhi, but Prakash was angry and
immediately was sharp tongued with Rabin, asking abruptly what he had come for
and what he wanted. Rabin replied in amazement, “What is the matter, Prakash?”
“You have ruined my life, and I am not going to let you live,” Prakash shouted,
trying to take him by the throat. While they were fighting, the painting that Rabin
had come to deliver to Babita dropped from under his arm and, seeing that Rabin
had brought his wedding picture, Prakash stopped short. Then Rabin told him
about Babita’s intention, but Prakash was not convinced. “You are my best friend,
Prakash, and I don’t want to ruin your life. If you don’t believe me, then kill me—
here’s a knife.” Prakash took the proffered knife but could not plunge it into his
friend’s breast. Instead, now convinced of his wife’s innocence and realizing his
own foolish jealous delusion, he turned the knife on himself, thrust it into his
heart, and died.
Through his jealous attachment and deep delusion, Prakash ruined three lives:
his own, his wife’s, and his daughter’s. Jealousy, desire, and delusion are all
mental factors, and ignorance of this leads to our punishing the body. In this way,
second by second, the mind is making errors that result in physical pain for
oneself and others. It is vital to examine where error lies and decide what to do
about it: to eradicate it or ignore it. When storm waves of thought overwhelm us
and we do whatever comes into our mind without any consideration, we end up
with so much regret. As the saying goes, “Be slow in the busy moment!” The more
we find ourselves possessed of urgency or apprehension, the greater is our need
for a moment of recollection and consideration. Only after this should we get to
work.
Regarding the story of Prakash and Babita, in the first place, it would have been
best to avoid unworthy suspicion of the loving wife. But when suspicion arose, it
should have been examined carefully. Later on, when that suspicion was
discovered to have been ill founded, forgiveness should have been sought from the