Words of Wisdom
by Master Jun Hong Lu
13 December 2015
DO NOT BE HAUGHTY OR ARROGANT
Master Jun Hong Lu: One day, a bus of students had an accident. Many were injured and moved to the road-side. Passers-by came to lend a helping hand in the rescue effort. One particular woman quickly attended to a badly injured student. A man squeezed his way through the crowd in a very rough manner and shoved the woman away, shouting at her, “Let me do it, I have first-aid knowledge”. He thought he could relieve the suffering of the injured student better than she could. The man was then surprised his first-aid knowledge caused the injured to wail in even more acute pain.
When the woman saw that the man was at a loss and did not know what to do, she went forward, patted him on the shoulder and said, “Mister, should you need the help of a surgeon, I am right behind you.”
Remember, many of us make mistakes and suffer from our own wrongdoings due to our tendency to take others too lightly. Those whom we are indifferent to may know more than we do!
As the Chinese sayings go, “There are mountains beyond mountains, Heavens beyond Heavens”, “When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teacher”, and “Within ten steps, there must be fragrant grasses.”
We must let go of our haughtiness and arrogance. Never be complacent and do not blatantly disregard the existence of others. Despising others turns us into ignorant people. That is our biggest mistake!
Think about our many wrongdoings at home. Haven’t they stemmed from our assumption that we are the most capable? Many husbands think that their wives’ efforts in cooking are nothing, until they attempt to do it themselves. Then they realise that the task is not as simple as it seems; dogs may even reject their cooking!