世界上不胜枚举的生物中，有两个最为致命：毒蛇和嫉妒的人。这两者中，你认为谁更危险？

一位伟大的灵性导师说，“毒蛇没那么危险，原因是，你能通过草药和曼陀驯服它。”但是却没有什么方法能让嫉妒的人变得友好起来。

毒蛇只有在受到威胁时咬人，它最大的杀伤力是一次杀掉一个人。毒蛇做出的反应不是出于嫉妒，而是出于自我保护。它想要保护自己，或者保护自己的后代。

另一方面，人类，在制造着一次性能杀死几百万人的炸弹，却不为任何理由，只为保护他们虚假的自我。所以，谁更危险？

Among the innumerable creatures of the world, two are most deadly: the serpent and the envious human being. Of the two who do you think is more dangerous? 

A great spiritual teacher said, "The reason why a serpent is less dangerous is because you can tame a serpent using different herbs and mantras." 

But nothing can make an envious person nice. A serpent bites only if it is threatened and the most it can do is kill only one person at a time. The reaction of the serpent is not out of envy but out of self-protection. It wants to either protect itself or its offspring. 

Human beings, on the other hand, are building bombs by which they can kill millions of people at a time for no reason except to protect their false egos. So who is more dangerous?

In either case, the ocean remains unaffected. That is because the ocean is so full and deep in itself that no external forces can disturb its stillness and equilibrium.

Compare the ocean with a puddle of water. During the summer, it becomes completely dried up, and during the monsoons, it floods over. Why? Because it lacks the depth of the ocean.

If you are full and deep within, none of the external forces can disturb you. But if you are empty, you are completely affected by everything that comes in your life.

摘自书籍《The Real You》（真正的你）

作者Radhanath Swami