Once when Swamiji was traveling with Lawrence* in Europe, they went out to dinner with a married couple who are friends of Swamiji's, but not connected with Ananda. Afterwards, Lawrence exclaimed, “What a relief to get away from those two! The negativity between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife.”
“It was?” Swamiji said. “I didn’t notice.”
Lawrence was incredulous. “How could you not notice?” He rattled off several examples of the unkind and disrespectful way they had treated each other. “It is a wonder they are still married.”
Swamiji was silent for a moment, then he said, “I never saw them in that light. I don’t like to give energy even to the thought of negativity. But I see now that I did respond to it. As I think back, I see that all my comments were directed toward trying to create harmony and understanding between them. I hope it helped.”
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