Acharya Mahaprajna
Sincerity or arjava is like a lighthouse that is clearly visible. Lord Mahavira said: "By sincerity a man gains physical, mental and linguistic straightforwardness, and harmonious tendency, that is, congruence of speech and action".
Purity is earned by a man who is sincere and straightforward. Children have a sincere heart, that is why everyone loves them. As we grow and acquire 'wisdom', layers of ignorance, doubt and deception start covering our mind.
We do not try to understand others and, therefore, we are not sincere towards them. We want to take advantage of others, which, too, prevents us from being sincere towards them.
Had there been no ignorance, doubt and insincerity in this world, people would have loved one another and there would have been no distance between one person and another. Sincerity bonds hearts while deception tears hearts asunder.
Those who have written on the science of polity say, "A man should not be straightforward. You should know that the trees which are straight are cut down and those which are warped and twisted are not cut down".
This political sentence has served to extinguish the natural light of the human heart. I want to ask you: "Do you believe a person who does not talk in a straightforward way? Do you like a person who behaves insincerely with you?
Do you like someone who is crooked at heart?" All these questions will receive negative answers, which means you do not like them. Then how can it be conceded that we should not be straightforward?
People would not have been afraid of each other if everyone's heart was like an open book. Today, people are afraid of one another because they harbour in their hearts secrecy, circumlocution, lack of clarity and darkness.
Let us not be such simpletons as not to register the reality around us. But let us also not be dishonest and fraudulent that we pass on the filth of our hearts to others. Let us be sincere - alert to the environment around us, and yet free from malice.
A person who is sincere cannot be deceived. Only that person can be deceived whose heart is unclear. Once an old woman was going somewhere. She had a bundle on her head. A young man was travelling in the same direction. His compassion was roused.
He said to the woman, "Grandma! Let me carry the bundle for some time. That would give you some relief". The old woman was convinced of his sincerity and handed over the bundle to him. After some time she took it back.
The young man's heart changed. He thought, "I had the bundle with me earlier. What could this old woman have done if I had run away with it?" He once again asked the old woman to let him carry the bundle. She refused to part with it.
When he insisted on her giving it to him, she said, "Now I will not give it to you". He said, "Grandma! Why do you refuse to give it now?" She replied, "Son! I will not part with it now. The voice you heard, I heard too".
Sincerity is that light of the mind in which nothing remains unclear. Insincerity is that darkness of the mind in which a man strays away from the right path.