In one of his very loving and guiding Satsangs, Hazir Swaroop Sai Sadhram Saheb explained that we should focus more on ourselves rather than on others. Most of the time, we pay attention to what others are doing, but we hardly notice what we ourselves are doing.
If someone says something to us, or we come to know of something, we quickly pass it on to someone else. In this way, we fill another’s ears. For every good deed we do, we earn merit (punya), and for every wrong deed, we incur sin (paap). But when we gossip about someone, and as a result, negative thoughts arise in that person’s mind about another, we bear as many sins as the number of such negative thoughts that are generated.
We may tell our gossip to one person, but it can then spread to many more, and when those people hear it, they may act based on it. We also bear the sin of the wrong actions committed by all those people influenced by our gossip. Gradually, these same problems and negativity seep into our own lives, and we begin to quarrel among ourselves.
We must put an end to the habit of gossiping. Saijan said that the kind of gossip that fills someone’s heart with hatred towards another is not just gossip — it is a sin. If, because of our gossip, someone develops hatred towards another or commits a wrong deed, we are held accountable for it, because it was our words that filled that person’s heart with such feelings.
Before using our tongue, we should think carefully about whether what we are going to say could harm someone. If, due to our thoughtless words, someone suffers loss or harm, we are the ones who must bear the consequences.
