For thirty-five long years, Prema lived in a world where every number had to match, every detail had to align, and every inconsistency demanded suspicion. As an auditor and accounts officer, he was trained to look for what was wrong, not what was right. Over time, this sharp eye—so valuable in his profession—became the very lens through which he viewed life itself.
Even after retirement, the habit stayed with him like a shadow.
A misunderstanding at home? Someone must be at fault.
A delay, a disagreement, an unexpected problem? Surely there was a person to blame.
Prema did not realize how this constant searching for someone else’s error had quietly seeped into his heart. He carried the weight of these judgments without noticing the burden they created. The outer world had changed—he no longer sat among files and financial statements—but the inner auditor still whispered through his thoughts.
One morning, as he read through a collection of spiritual essays, a single quote from the Dalai Lama gently stopped him:
“When you think everything is someone else’s fault, you will suffer a lot.
When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.”
These words did not strike him like a reprimand.
They arrived like a soft knock on a closed door—the door of his own awareness.
Prema set the book aside. A quiet stillness settled around him. It was as if the years of accumulated blame and analysis suddenly rose like dust in sunlight, visible at last. He remembered the many moments he had burdened himself with resentment, the times he had held others responsible for his discomfort, and the inner turbulence that followed each such thought.
It became clear:
He had retired from his job, but never from his mindset.
Something within him softened. He felt—perhaps for the first time—that true peace is not found by correcting others, but by understanding oneself. The spiritual teachings he had read over the years, from the Gita to the Upanishads, suddenly began to reveal the same message: freedom begins when the mind stops clinging to blame.
That day, Prema began a different kind of audit—an inward one.
He watched his reactions gently, without criticism.
He noticed how often blame rose before compassion.
He allowed space for patience, forgiveness, and humility.
Slowly, his inner landscape began to transform.
He discovered that life becomes lighter when you stop carrying the burden of “who is wrong.”
He realized that people behave according to their own understanding, just as he once did.
And he learned that spiritual maturity is not about perfection—it is about releasing the need to judge.
Today, Prema still observes the world with clarity, but with softer eyes. He sees mistakes, yes, but he also sees intention, effort, and human frailty. He has learned to respond instead of react, to listen instead of assume, to breathe instead of blame.
As he often reflects now:
“Peace is not something I found outside.
It was waiting inside—hidden under years of pointing fingers.”
The auditor in him once searched for faults.
The seeker in him now searches for truth.
And in that shift, a whole new life has begun.
