SPIRITUAL QUOTIENT – 11
THE GREAT PURIFIER!!!
A woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest. It was just a curiosity about the process of refining silver, she said.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest in order to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. She pondered about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being heated and refined.
The man answered 'yes' & said that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire, until it is completely refined. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed, he said.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy – when I see my image in it!!!"
What a significant lesson the silversmith had imparted!
We do not hand over to the goldsmith, an ornament that is quite nice - do we? We will give him jewels for repair or reshaping, the ornaments we feel have been broken or dented or gone out of fashion. Bad things happen to good people that they may grow better, nobler, purer. Even as gold is burnt in the crucible to be cleansed of its dross, even so good people are chosen to burn in the fire of suffering, so that they can become pure!
The diamond is at first just a dull piece of stone, a hard pebble. Only when it is cut by a skilled artisan does it shine brilliantly like a flame. Let us allow ourselves to be treated by the Master so that all our dullness will disappear.
We cannot welcome joy and reject grief at the same time. In our ancient books there is a story of Kunti. She had to ask for a boon of Lord Krishna. What she asked was that she might have some little suffering all the time. In suffering, she said, the Lord is remembered; in pleasures and enjoyment he is forgotten!!!
PS: Life is like a flight of steps towards the Godhead. We have your foot on the1st step when we are born; each day is a step that must be climbed; Do not count the steps ahead or exult over the steps behind. 1 step at a time is enough success to be satisfied with and to give us encouragement for the next one. Every step is a victory to be cherished; every day wasted is a defeat to be ashamed of. Slow and steady - let that be the maxim! We just WATCH our 'thoughts, words & deeds'.
This goes on & on till THE SUPREME sees HIS image in us, just like that SILVERSMITH!!!
SAIRAM
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