Respecting others is the basis of all noblest relationships.
– Mr. Ikeda

Money cannot but respect.

There was a man who couldn’t gain the respect of others even though he was very rich, and because of this, he became very bothered about it that he constantly asked himself every day of what he could do to gain people’s respect. One day as he saw a raggedy beggar as he was walking along the street and he thought, now is the chance, so he tossed a shiny gold coin into the beggar’s bowl. The beggar didn’t even look up at him instead he was busy picking lice. The wealthy man got angry and shouted: ‘Are you blind? Didn’t you see the golden coin I gave you?’

The beggar didn’t even turn to look at him and replied: ‘It is up to you to choose whether you want to give or not, if you’re not happy you can take it back.’ The wealthy man got even angrier and threw ten golden coins into the beggars bowl and thought that this  time the beggar will kneel down to thank and apologize to him but again, the beggar remained apathetic.

The wealthy man almost flew into a rage and said: ‘I gave you ten gold coins. Look here, I am a wealthy person. You better respect me, don’t you have any sense of gratitude.’
 The beggar nonchalantly replied: ‘You’re wealthy, that’s your problem, whether I want to respect you is my problem, you cannot force me out of it.’
The wealthy man became very anxious and said: ‘If I give you half of my property, would you respect me?’
The beggar rolled his eyes, looked at him and replied: ‘If you give me half of your property, it would make me as wealthy as you. Why should I respect you?’
The wealthy man became even more anxious and said: ‘Okay, I will give you all my property, will you respect me then?’
The beggar laughed out loud: ‘If you give me all your property, then that makes you a beggar and I’m a millionaire and for what reason should I respect you.’

In this story, the wealthy man wishes to gain others reassurance and respect but upon encountering the obstinate beggar, it clearly explained that wealth and respect can’t be leveled on a par. If the wealthy man could understand this point, it wouldn’t be difficult to gain people’s respect.

Respecting others is a form of virtue, one who respects others in turn will be respected. Respect enables one to establish self respect, gain back confidence as well as enable others to see one’s own desirable quality and caliber where along with it, attain success through their own effort. Respecting others will make your life happier, richer in character and prolific in spirit.

Someone said, respect is a kind of gentility, a character, respect is treating people equally with neither overbearing nor self effacing, neither veneration nor compliance. It is in giving people the strong sense reassurance of the nobility of their character and values. Nobody is perfect and flawless. We have no reasons to judge people and all the more no rights to show contempt and laugh at others. Respect doesn’t mean to adore blindly, it isn’t insincere praise or fawning devoid of moral principles or about being servile. Merely understanding the importance of respecting others doesn’t mean that you learnt how to respect others. From this viewpoint, respect is in fact another area of knowledge.

Fawning, flattering, sweet talking isn’t respect. We could only say that it is disloyalty against ones conscience. Respect is expressed through ones words and deeds; it is expressed in ones sentiment and in the charm of how one handle matters.

By respecting people, others will be a mirror of you to rectify yourself, to judge truth from false and to have clear correct judgment. People will repay with you with their sincerity and smiles when you respect them. Respect also makes you more attractive. Regardless of any level or class, everyone should be treated equally and not easily affected by outward appearance or social status. Everyone possesses a unique and precious mission; say for example, the cleaner works hard to maintain cleanliness, the farmer works hard carefully harvesting rice so that we could all eat and parents works tirelessly to maintain a sufficient budget for the whole family.

We mustn’t overlook children too. Children have higher sensitivity and sympathy as compared to adults. Children also possess ‘adult hearts’. There was an incident where Mr. Ikeda presented cherries which are in season especially for the students and teachers of his son’s kindergarten. At that time, he just came back from his trip where he don’t get to see his son, hence, he asked the teacher to call his son to meet him. Mr. Ikeda was very grateful and waited anxiously to see his son. However, when his son saw him, his son said: ‘I thought it was something else but it’s just dad.’ And so he ran off to continue playing with his friends. Mr. Ikeda was really disappointed at that time, he hurtfully realized that children have a world of their own and adults cannot simply barge into children’s world disrupting their play. We must respect children and treat them with the same level of fairness and equality when we communicate with them.

Labels: e. Words of mentor