The Farmer's Equanimity

A devout Jain farmer worked incredibly hard, but suffered a string of devastating misfortunes. First, a severe drought destroyed his entire harvest. While other farmers cursed the sky and wept, he calmly said, 'This is the shedding of my past bad karma (Nirjara). The debt is paid.'

The next year, thieves broke into his house and stole his life savings. His wife was inconsolable, but the farmer remained tranquil. 'Whatever was stolen was never truly mine. The soul is my only wealth, and thieves cannot touch it.'

A few months later, a diseased street dog bit him, and he fell deathly ill with a severe fever. Bedridden and in agony, his neighbors visited him, pitying his terrible luck.

'Why are you still smiling?' they asked in frustration. 'You have lost your crops, your money, and now your health. Is your religion blinding you to reality?'

The farmer smiled weakly. 'My friends, reality is what is happening inside the mind, not outside. If I get angry or depressed about the crops and the thieves, I will bind *new* dark karma while suffering the *old* karma. I would be paying the debt twice! By accepting this pain with a peaceful heart, I am burning away the old karmic chains without forging new ones. This fever is not a curse; it is a fire purifying my soul.'

His unbreakable equanimity (Samata) inspired the entire village. The farmer recovered, and though he remained materially poor, his mind was an unassailable fortress of peace that no king could rival.