The Rust Devours the Iron It Came From
As rust born of iron devours that very iron, so evil born in the mind, in the end, destroys its own owner.
Is the hatred or resentment grown in my mind eating away at me myself?
📝Reflection
Rust does not come from outside. The iron itself makes it. And that rust grows until it crumbles the iron. The chill of this simile lies exactly there: what destroys us most deeply is not the outer enemy but the negative mind grown within. Hatred toward someone corrodes the insides that hold it before it ever harms its target. Resentment, envy, regret, self-blame — these rusts all arose in my own mind, and so they know it best, and so they gnaw the deepest. Then the answer, too, is within. As well-polished iron does not rust, a mind looked into and wiped often washes away bad thoughts before they take hold. To guard myself is not to fight an outer enemy, but to notice and wipe away the single fleck of rust just blooming inside.
🌱Apply It Today
When hatred for someone grows today, recall: "this rust gnaws my own insides before theirs," and wipe away that single fleck.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
