In plain words
To Make the Heart Wide for the Good of Others Is True Sādhana
In the Tamil land there lived a sādhaka called Māṇikkavācakar. He would go on following everything. In a tranquil heart, compassion too must grow. Only when one is full of compassion oneself can one turn all others into people full of compassion. Only then can one recognise the truth that one has a heart. A heart without compassion is not a temple of God. A heart with compassion is itself the temple of God. One day Māṇikkavācakar was travelling along a road. Rain was pouring down in torrents. He began wondering where he could take shelter. Close by, a house came into view. There was no one in front of that house. It was raining. The place was just enough to stretch out one's legs and sleep. Meanwhile another person was walking along in that downpour. Then Māṇikkavācakar called out: “Brother, come, come! Come here and escape the trouble of the rain,” he said. This man went. He: ‘My coming may disturb your sleep; there is room enough for you to lie down. But if room is to be given to you as well, the two of us must sit. That is enough. There is no need to lie down,’ he said. A little later yet another man went by, getting soaked. ‘Brother! Brother! Come, you too sit here,’ he said. That man looked. “Sir! Brother, there is room enough for you to sit. If I come, it may cause trouble,” he said. Then Māṇikkavācakar spoke. “It is no trouble at all for us. If you come, the three of us shall stand,” he said. A spirit of sacrifice of this kind must grow in man. Where one alone thought of lying down and enjoying Ānanda, let two of us sit and enjoy Ānanda. Rather than two sitting and talking, let the three of us stand. This is help ever, hurt never. Only when you make the heart wide for the good of others is it true sādhana, they said. In this way, in daily life, if you want to do good to man, you can do so many kinds of good. There is no other good greater than this.