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III.
HOW TO THINK (3)
It is very plcasant today. Drizzling and light snowers. How dclcctablc is a drizzlc after sizzling heat! It is the nature of weather to change. Sometimes it is hot, at other times cold. Nothing in the world is ctcrnal; cverything undergoes a change. Man too is somctimcs calm, at other times inflamed. Such is the inevitable law of change. Everything changes. Our thoughts too change. Some people say that thought is, eternal. There is a contradiction here, for thought and ctcrnily do not go together; no thought lasts for ever; It cannot stay for long: it gives way to another. It is variable and what is variablc cannot be constant.
Changc and fixity may coexist in matter, but whatever is in molion cannot be stationary and what is stationary cannot be in
on. What is ctcrual is not subject to change, and that which is subjcct to change cannot bc cternal. Thought is inconstant, ever on the move. It is said that a particular man has changed his mind. There is nothing surprising about it. On the contrary, it would be surprising is thic mind did not change. It is the nature of the mind to change. Thc rcigning idca of yesterday gives way to some new thought. The present conception will not last till tomorrow. Ifa man clings lo onc idca all his lisc, lic is said to be a fanatic. It is the nature of thought to movc constantly, to bc variable and transient. Some pcoplc acccpt a bclics and stick to it for life. They even feel proud of it, saying to thicmsclvcs, "I am a man of strong character. I don't cliangc. I stick to niy vicw at all costs." Such people think they are being very wisc: however it is foolish to be so rigid. A stone is hard, not pliable, and onc's boncs too may grow rigid and hard like stone. In this is involved great danger. If the boncs are flexible, a man keeps in good hicalth: it is a sign of ill-lıcalth when the bones grow rigid. The morc pliant onc's boncs, the healthier one is. The hardening of the spinal cord significs loss of hcalth. So clinging to one thing may be shocr obstinacy. In the absence of right thinking, one cannot differentiate between right and wrong. What is right appears to be wrong and vice versa. Some people never discover that they have becn behaving foolishly all through.
A young wis said to licr neighbour, "Many women these days find fault with their husbands. This is wrong. One should not criticisc onc's husband bcforc others. My own husband is a lazy lubber, a thorough good-for-nothing. He is also very foolish, but I never talk of it!"
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