Negative Influences

How can we get rid of negative influences in our lives?

Once, while Pandavas were in the forest, Krishna visited them. Krishna was told that the five brothers took turns during the night to keep a vigil over the activities of evil spirits and demons. One night, an evil spirit appeared before Pandava brothers, they had great difficulty in fighting it. In view of this, Dharmaja, the eldest Pandava, tried to dissuade Krishna from participating in sentry duty. Krishna, however, insisted on his share. During that period no evil spirit appeared. Then came Arjuna’s turn, Krishna watched the scene from a distance. To Arjuna’s surprise, no evil spirit appeared while Krishna was there. Krishna then explained to Arjuna that evil spirits were only a reflection of one’s hatred and fear, and when one is free from these, no evil spirit would appear or do any harm. Krishna revealed that the Divine existed even in so-called evil spirits and that if a person gets rid of the evil qualities within him, evil spirits can do no harm."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse 14.1.1998)