What Hatred Does…
A kindergarten teacher decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his / her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he / she hates.
So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he / she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week.
Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended…
The teacher asked: “How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?”
The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.
Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game.
The teacher said: “This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?”
Lesson from the children’s game:
Never hate anything or being, even for an isolated moment, even in the dream, so that we avoid carrying the stink of hatred in our hearts for a lifetime.
“Hating others, even enemies who harm you unprovoked, assures incessant sorrow.” – Thiruvalluvar, Thirukural
“The best thing is not to hate anyone, only to love… As soon as you have forgiven those whom you hate, you have gotten rid of them. Then you have no reason to hate them; you just forget.” – Hazrat Inayat Khan
Forgiving everyone for everything is the best attitude to take.
God gives and forgives and man gets and forgets.
