“YOU THROW AT ME A PEACH, I GIVE YOU A PLUM"
An ancient way of life that advocates doing good to people who hurt you….! “He throws at me a peach, I give him a plum.”
The peach has a big hard stone that can hurt easily. A plum has a soft tiny stone.
Meaning, he throws a large hard object at me to hurt me, I give him something sweet and pleasing in return- thus the desire for tit for tat violence is evaporated even before it has a chance to form.
How can one possibly be mean and nasty to anyone who gives you a deliciously sweet juicy plum?
Giving a plum- that is making your opponents life better/sweeter, takes away the poison and anger from your own heart.
From being the trodden-upon-victim, one can rise to be the giver of good things & restorer of broken relationships. From being powerless to being powerful.
Can this idea of giving a plum, work in today’s climate of prejudice, suspicion, hate and violence?
When injured by someone’s arrogance, ignorance and thoughtlessness, can we set aside our hurt and do something to make his life better/sweeter ?
Our initial reaction is to throw something harder than the one thrown at us or to stay away from them !
The word “sweet” conveys more than just superficial good deed which can be shrugged off later.
To make someone’s life better/sweeter, we have to ‘raise them’ from the pit of ugliness where they dwell now
That is the abyss of violence and ugliness that caused them to hurt you in some way.
Pulling them out of this deep horrible place and
giving them something ‘beautiful and useful’ can be a huge challenge !
Devi was a house maid who worked for tyrannical woman who ran a travel agency.
Although she worked to the best of her ability, her mistress was bitingly harsh with her words & scolded Devi with hurtful words.
At the end of the particular bad day she offered to massage her mistress feet. On another day it was to massage her head and run her a hot bath.
Devi found that she could do many little things to bring her out of the pit of ugliness, into a better place.
Over a period of time she noticed that the relation between them changed. She was no longer a maid to be scolded and hurt she was becoming a friend.
Devi got a beautiful silk saree from her mistress as ‘gift’ on her birthday.
The peach and plum attitude had transformed her relationship from being that of ‘resentment & hatred’ to that of ‘sweet friendship’.
And the beauty of it was that Devi was not even conscious of her ‘magical attitude’ . For her, it was just her ‘simple & sweet’ nature to act & react with her ‘sweet plum’ attitude !
A young teacher who had been particularly snappy and mean to one child was surprised to get a painted picture of hers from this child.
“ Have a nice day madam, I love you” the child said.
In an instant, her mood which had been miserable for a few weeks, changed. She realized she had been lashing out at her students
But, this child’s sweetness sweetened her entire being in an instant
It was a ‘perfect magical touch’ that transformed her attitude to all her students !
Devi is just a village woman who in her everyday life has worked out for her own self satisfaction; the need for making a difference in a hostile world when thrown a hard peach by someone, she returns a plum to that person; out of pure & selfless love & compassion !
This little child too had learnt how to deal with someone’s meanness.
We only need to bring a ray of light to defeat age old darkness.
So, if an illiterate woman, and a child, can make this concept work, then it should give us the inspiration and hope that we too in our families and work places can do the same thing.
In the course of a day, many hard peaches are thrown at us from every direction. We would like to throw some too. But before you do so, I suggest you buy a basket of nice sweet plums and keep them beside you, just in case, You too want to ‘experience & experiment’ the miracle of “You throw at me a peach, I give you a plum”
An ancient way of life that advocates doing good to people who hurt you….! “He throws at me a peach, I give him a plum.”
The peach has a big hard stone that can hurt easily. A plum has a soft tiny stone.
Meaning, he throws a large hard object at me to hurt me, I give him something sweet and pleasing in return- thus the desire for tit for tat violence is evaporated even before it has a chance to form.
How can one possibly be mean and nasty to anyone who gives you a deliciously sweet juicy plum?
Giving a plum- that is making your opponents life better/sweeter, takes away the poison and anger from your own heart.
From being the trodden-upon-victim, one can rise to be the giver of good things & restorer of broken relationships. From being powerless to being powerful.
Can this idea of giving a plum, work in today’s climate of prejudice, suspicion, hate and violence?
When injured by someone’s arrogance, ignorance and thoughtlessness, can we set aside our hurt and do something to make his life better/sweeter ?
Our initial reaction is to throw something harder than the one thrown at us or to stay away from them !
The word “sweet” conveys more than just superficial good deed which can be shrugged off later.
To make someone’s life better/sweeter, we have to ‘raise them’ from the pit of ugliness where they dwell now
That is the abyss of violence and ugliness that caused them to hurt you in some way.
Pulling them out of this deep horrible place and
giving them something ‘beautiful and useful’ can be a huge challenge !
Devi was a house maid who worked for tyrannical woman who ran a travel agency.
Although she worked to the best of her ability, her mistress was bitingly harsh with her words & scolded Devi with hurtful words.
At the end of the particular bad day she offered to massage her mistress feet. On another day it was to massage her head and run her a hot bath.
Devi found that she could do many little things to bring her out of the pit of ugliness, into a better place.
Over a period of time she noticed that the relation between them changed. She was no longer a maid to be scolded and hurt she was becoming a friend.
Devi got a beautiful silk saree from her mistress as ‘gift’ on her birthday.
The peach and plum attitude had transformed her relationship from being that of ‘resentment & hatred’ to that of ‘sweet friendship’.
And the beauty of it was that Devi was not even conscious of her ‘magical attitude’ . For her, it was just her ‘simple & sweet’ nature to act & react with her ‘sweet plum’ attitude !
A young teacher who had been particularly snappy and mean to one child was surprised to get a painted picture of hers from this child.
“ Have a nice day madam, I love you” the child said.
In an instant, her mood which had been miserable for a few weeks, changed. She realized she had been lashing out at her students
But, this child’s sweetness sweetened her entire being in an instant
It was a ‘perfect magical touch’ that transformed her attitude to all her students !
Devi is just a village woman who in her everyday life has worked out for her own self satisfaction; the need for making a difference in a hostile world when thrown a hard peach by someone, she returns a plum to that person; out of pure & selfless love & compassion !
This little child too had learnt how to deal with someone’s meanness.
We only need to bring a ray of light to defeat age old darkness.
So, if an illiterate woman, and a child, can make this concept work, then it should give us the inspiration and hope that we too in our families and work places can do the same thing.
In the course of a day, many hard peaches are thrown at us from every direction. We would like to throw some too. But before you do so, I suggest you buy a basket of nice sweet plums and keep them beside you, just in case, You too want to ‘experience & experiment’ the miracle of “You throw at me a peach, I give you a plum”
