Good Will vs Ill Will
By Karmayogi
People are self-centred. Some have
extraordinary Good Will. Those who act on good will witness what they do expand
in the lives of the recipient. Mother says every will in Man is ill will. Good
will is rare. A man with a 5th class general qualification had become a Tamil
Pandit. His management took a kindly interest in him. He was very poor, as in
those prewar days his salary was Rs. 25. How could he afford to pay the exam
fee of Rs. 15, buy the textbooks and pay for his tuition? After several years
of psychological endeavour of the higher type, he brought himself to memorise a
few essays, which luckily appeared as questions. He passed the exam. It pressed
him to pass the intermediate exam. He who helped him to pass SSLC refused to
help further. The Pandit persisted. It was pulling teeth. He memorised a few
essays. They didn’t appear as questions. In one of his several attempts, luck
favoured and he barely scraped through. Now the idea of B.A. possessed him as a
devil. He was ashamed of asking for help. When he did, peals of laughter came
as the answer. He forgot his wild dream. Then he met someone who was a
linguistic expert. He taught him to write correct English. That made him take
the degree in three attempts. Here begins the impulse of Good will. Those were
days when the Tamil Pandit’s name would be entered in the attendance register
at the end before the name of the peon. Good will is of the Spirit. It does not
stop at its goal. It has the capacity to grow, self-multiply. This man who,
after passing B.A., could not even write a leave letter, now passed B.T. and
M.A. in Tamil and became a headmaster. The one who had helped him on the
strength of his innate good will gave up teaching and came by a sizable
property. As the rule is unfailing, the Pandit who received help turned against
the benefactor and tried to ruin him utterly, of course, in vain. A servant
girl was good at heart. Hers was pure goodness. Her mother and brothers turned
against her, teased her, punished her, tyrannised her, and wanted to ruin her.
The atmosphere of Grace where she worked effectively protected her against the
ordeal of tyranny. Grace gave her a great marriage and wealth. Now the family
woos her. One of her well-wishers advised her to help her family rise as a
gesture of good will, little realising that ill will served by Good will would
ruin her completely. Not only that, the family would enjoy trampling her under
their feet when she fell. Family affection in the presence of active ill will
is a sure self-poisoning. It is a dangerous experiment. Society lauds it.
Spiritual experience warns against it.