Public Satsang at Sai Anandam, Singapore – 8^th August 2017

Question: My question is about thinking positively. The Law of Attraction is based on the belief that, when we keep thinking positively, positive things will happen to us. But sometimes, even though doing or carrying out positive activities and being positive towards others around us, unfortunate incidents happen. It kind of makes one take a few steps backward and question why such a thing is happening. Is there any way to avoid not getting into an unfortunate situation, even though one is being very positive all along, so that only positive things happen? How do we handle such situations?

Swami: Everything is positive. It all depends on the way you look at it. When Buddha went to his disciples and told them to go and preach spirituality in a village which was known for notorious people, who did not listen to even one good word, the disciples got scared. They said, “Master, if we go there, they won’t listen to us, they will scold us.”

Buddha replied, “Alright, but think that they have scolded you and not beaten you.” They asked, “What if they beat us?”

He answered, “Then think that they have only beaten you and not killed you.”

The disciples responded, “What if they kill us?”

Buddha then said, “Good! The whole problem is that, when you are alive, you think you are the body. Death does not affect the soul. Therefore, you will be redeemed from the unnecessary burden of the body.”

Always think only positively. It depends on how you look at a situation. When a difficult situation arises, think that it could have been
worse than that, then you will feel better. Once, a man went to a guru and said, “I have so many difficulties and negative problems at home. What do I do?”

The guru asked, “Do you have cows or cattle in your home? Bring all the cattle inside the home, and then you will feel better.” Despite thinking that this was a strange solution, because the guru told him, he brought all the cows inside his house. He then became even more miserable as
he had to live with the cows all the time, which gave him trouble. After some time passed, he ran back to the guru and asked, “What kind of a solution did you give me? As if my wife and children were not giving me enough trouble, you told me to take all the cows inside. Now, everything has become worse!”

The guru replied, “Oh, is that so? Very well; take all the cows out of the house and back to their barn.” The man took the cows back to their shed and said, “Oh, it is so peaceful now!” Everything is yad drishti tad srishti – the way you look at it, so it becomes. Think of that which is still positive in any given situation.

Look at how it might have been much worse. Even knowing that, there are some situations which can lead to issues. Suppose you meet a person, and know you will likely get into an argument, or into some negative thinking or negative action, then first do the ‘ABC of Life’: Avoid Bad Company.

Say you are going down the street and see a set of dogs waiting for you. Would you continue to walk down that street, knowing very well that
the dogs are going to bite you? Seeing that from afar, you would take the alternate route to avoid them, so that you are not bitten or chased.

Likewise, when your mind is alert, you will be able to understand, discriminate and choose an alternative. Even then, after doing your best, if you still end up in that kind of situation, see what God wants you to learn from it. What is still positive in that situation? If you keep thinking like this, discriminating like this, you will surely see that every situation is for your good – to make you better than before.