Like An Echo

Therefore, whatever happens to you, correct your own self, then you will not have to fight with someone every day. If others say, “Everything is from God,” we reply: Then to reproach one’s own self and to let the world be is also from God.
This is like the story of a boy who shook down apricots from a tree and ate them. The owner of the orchard caught him and said, “Aren’t you afraid of God’s punishment?” The boy said, “Why should I be afraid? The tree belongs to God, and I am God’s servant. God’s servant ate God’s fruit!”
The owner said, “Wait and see what answer I shall give you. Fetch a rope, tie him to this tree and beat him until the answer is made clear!” The boy said, “Aren’t you afraid of God’s punishment?” The owner answered, “Why should I be afraid? You are God’s servant, and this is God’s stick. I am beating God’s servant with God’s stick!”
The moral is that this world is like an echo— whatever you say, whether good or evil, you hear the same from the mountain. If you think, “I spoke beautifully and the mountain gave an ugly answer,” this is impossible. When the nightingale sings in the mountain, does the mountain return the voice of a raven or a donkey? Know for certain then that you have spoken like a donkey!

 Fihi Ma Fihi - Discourse 40

ArtWork by Sermed Berktav