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mind, you sink in the marshy lands of illusion. On the other hand, if the mind is guided by luminous reason, you develop excellent Divine qualities and discover the essential Self through intuitive realization.
Saints and Sages—The Model for Righteous Conduct
To understand Christ’s teaching of righteousness more completely, it is important to study the minds of Saints and Sages who have attained this exalted state. A mind tuned to the perspective of Self-realization will discover thoughts that are highly ethical and moral. On the basis of those thoughts, one will automatically be inclined to all that is righteous.
Bhagavad Gita tells us:
Yadyad aacharati shreshthas tattadevetaro janah; Sa yat pranaanam kurute loka stad anuvartate (3:21).
“Whatever a great man does, others follow. Whatever example he sets, the world emulates.”
Righteous conduct is the aroma of Self- realization. As long as the mind of an individual is af icted by the kleshas—ignorance, egoism, attachment, hatred and fear of death—the venom of unrighteousness taints all the movements in life. It