One day a saint went to a river to bathe. There he noticed a scorpion struggling in the water near him. Scorpions cannot swim, and the saint knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown.
Therefore, the saint carefully picked up the struggling scorpion to rescue it from the water. But as he was about to set it on land, the scorpion stung his finger.
The sharp pain from the sting made the saint instinctively fling his hand, and the scorpion flew back into the water. As soon as the saint gained his composure from the pain, he attempted to rescue the troubled creature again. But, as earlier, the scorpion stung him again before he could safely keep it on the land. So the affair repeated several times as the saint continued his attempt to save the scorpion while the creature attacked its savior every time.
The saint’s disciples watched the event for a while and were worried for the saint, who was now staggering from the pain. The disciple requested the saint to leave the vicious creature on its own. The saint ignored the request from his disciples and continued his attempt to save the scorpion until he finally succeeded.
The disciples carried the reeling saint to his hut, treated him for his wounds and waited for the saint to get well. After the saint regained consciousness, one of the disciples asked why the saint let the scorpion attack him several times and continued to help 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. “
In our lives, we will encounter people who may harm us intentionally or unintentionally. We should never let our actions, thoughts and words be affected by the negativity of others. We should continue to perform our duty with love and honesty, even if others do not reciprocate our righteous actions.
The darkness in others’ hearts should not be allowed to penetrate the lightness of our hearts.
