What Is The Spiritual Root Of Jealousy?

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Narrow-mindedness is the root of jealousy

Any negative thought arising in us towards anyone is usually due to our narrow-mindedness. We not only think negatively but very often we spread this negativity to others too! For example, one young girl says to her friends, “Priya had her birthday party at an ice cream parlor. But I will have mine in a 5-star hotel because my Dad is rich and successful.”

It is very important to be aware of the symptoms of narrow mindedness so that going ahead, we do not develop jealousy to the extent that we do not hesitate to even hurt the other person. The common symptoms of narrow mindedness are:

• You dislike when that person achieves more accomplishments than you.
• You don’t like it when everybody applauds that person.
• If any damage happens to that person or if he falls down then you feel bestial happiness within and you wish that this keeps reoccurring.
• Whatever that person does, you want to do the same thing.
• You keep seeing faults in the person and you start disliking him.
• You start saying negative things about that person to everyone.

The majority of us may have experienced at least one of these symptoms. But which one is the primary one? How does jealousy begin?

SEE ALSO: The Amazing Power Of Thank You

Comparison initiates jealousy

If someone has better things than us, we immediately start comparing. This could later lead to intense jealousy. For example, a housewife says to her husband, “Do you know Uncle bought a 2-bedroom apartment? Let us buy a 3-bedroom apartment now. There are 4 people living in our home, so we need more space.” And when Uncle comes home, the housewife humiliates him and says, “My husband earns a lot. So we are about to buy a 3-bedroom flat now. We cannot live in a 1-bedroom anymore. We need more space.”

Once there was a student. His best friend used to come first in the class and was very brilliant as compared to him. Hence, the student was very jealous of him. At the time of exams, he locked up his best friend in a bathroom so that he cannot appear for the exams. Being marked absent in the exams, his best friend failed and lost one academic year! Just imagine, how dangerous is this jealousy? Luckily, the best friend maintained positivity and continued his academia with a great spirit, and now he is a very successful businessman. But if he would have been of a weak mind, he could have committed suicide or would have got depressed.

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So, what should one do to avoid jealousy?

Be satisfied with your situation

Accept your current position and try to remain satisfied with it. When you keep this inner satisfaction, you will never be sad or negative. If you have lesser things, don’t complain. Rather, stay positive, work harder, and pray to God for strength. Accept that this is a result of your own past karma and that you want to pass through the situation, remaining happy and content.

Appreciate and see the person’s positives

Always see the positive side of others and appreciate their qualities. When you do that, you will automatically gain their qualities, and hence you will not have to become jealous. This is how Nature is! The more you appreciate, the more Nature will give you. So always behave heartily with others and remain sincere in your work.

Apologize for your jealousy

If you see yourself suffering from any of the symptoms of narrow-mindedness, apologize to the people affected by your behavior. For example, if you’ve been jealous of your friend, remember your friend and pray to the God residing in Him, “Dear God, I am sorry for being narrow-minded. I will not be jealous of my friend again. Instead, I will work harder and remain satisfied with whatever results I get. Please give me the strength to not hurt my friends or anyone else due to my nature of being narrow-minded and jealous of others.” Continue doing this small prayer daily, remembering every person who got hurt because of you. This will eventually uproot the jealousy inside you, forever.