Do not react.

"A Master received a visit one day from a young man who wanted to

become his disciple. So the teaching began, and the first lesson

was as follows. The Master said to the disciple, ‘Go for a walk

in the cemetery and insult the dead; pay attention to what they

say in reply, and then come back and report to me.’ The young man

went obediently to the cemetery and began walking among the

graves uttering terrible things: never had the dead in a cemetery

heard anything like it! Soon, running out of inspiration, he

stopped to listen for a reply: nothing. On his return to the

Master, he had to admit that his insults had had no effect; the

dead hadn’t reacted. ‘Ah,’ said the Master, ‘perhaps they didn’t

think your insults were worthy of reply. Go back to the cemetery,

but this time sing their praises. If you do that, they are bound

to respond.’ The young man returned to the cemetery, and in a

different tone of voice said the most flattering things to the

dead. But again – nothing, silence…

Really disappointed, and feeling guilty that he hadn’t been

eloquent enough, the young man went back to his Master. ‘They

didn’t react then either,’ he said. The Master smiled at him and

replied, ‘Well, learn that you must be like them: whether you

receive blame or praise, you must not be affected; do not react.’

  "

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov