A Scorpion and A Saint
A saint took a bath in a river one day. He saw a scorpion writhing in the water not far from him. Because scorpions cannot swim, the saint was aware that the scorpion would perish if he did not intervene.
In order to save the struggling scorpion from the water, the saint gently lifted it up. The scorpion stung his finger just as he was about to place it down on land, though.
The saint instinctively threw his palm away after being stung, and the scorpion flew back into the water. The saint tried to save the distressed creature once more as soon as he recovered from the pain. However, as before, the scorpion stung him before he could keep it safely on the ground. As a result, the incident repeated multiple times, with the saint continuing to try to save the scorpion while it was being attacked each time.
After seeing the scene for a while, the saint’s followers became concerned for him since he was now stumbling from discomfort. The follower asked the saint to let the evil thing go on its own. The holy man disregarded their request and persisted in trying to save the scorpion until he was successful.
The saint was carried by the disciples to his hut where they attended to his wounds and saw him recover. One of the disciples questioned the saint after he came to after losing consciousness about why he had allowed the scorpion to repeatedly attack him while continuing to aid it.
The saint replied, “My dear child, the scorpion did not sting me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is the water’s nature to make things wet and fire’s nature to burn, it is in the scorpion’s nature to sting. The ignorant creature kept stinging me because its comprehension was not significant enough to realize that I was trying to help him. But, just as it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, so it is my nature to save. Just as he did not leave his nature, why should I leave my nature? I must help any soul in need. I should not let the stings from a scorpion rob me from performing my duty as a savior. “
Lesson
We will come across people in life who could hurt us accidentally or on purpose. Never should we let the negativity of others influence our behavior, ideas, or words. Even if people do not respond favorably to our noble deeds, we should nevertheless carry out our obligations with love and honesty.
We shouldn’t allow the lightness of our hearts to be compromised by the darkness in the hearts of others.
