During World War I, the stressful conditions on the frontline (disease, death, explosions) took their toll on some people who suffered from a nervous breakdown called 'shell shock'. This breakdown manifested itself in many different ways, but one of the symptoms was called 'hysterical blindness'.
Adolf Hitler suffered from this type of "blindness" which he thought was caused by a mustard gas attack, but tests showed there was no physical reason to explain his blindness and he was sent to see a psychiatrist called Dr. Forster. After weeks of treatment with no success, the psychiatrist decided to issue Hitler with a challenge to try and make him snap out of this state. Dr. Forster told Hitler that he believed he was born with a great destiny. His mission was to save the German race and if he really focussed on this destiny, he'd be able to see a chair in the corner of the room. Hitler focussed all of his thoughts on this mission and slowly the chair in the corner of the room came into focus and his sight was restored.
From that moment on, Hitler had a steadfast belief in his destiny. Before meeting that psychiatrist he was just an ordinary soldier with no aspirations or leadership potential, but his newfound belief in his great mission caused him to lead a country into a direction that shaped the entire world both at that time and for generations to come.
As a footnote to this incident, Hitler later had Dr. Forster killed to try and hide this event that became the turning point in his life.
Einstein's Compass
When he was four, Albert Einstein was sick in bed, and his father gave him a compass to play with to occupy some time. The compass fascinated him and he couldn't understand why no matter which way he turned it, the needle kept pointing in the same direction. His previous experience was that things move when you move them and this unseen force controlling the needle baffled him.This need to understand movement and motion remained with him throughout his life and later he went on to perform experiments and write papers that revolutionised scientific thinking. Many of his findings, are still instrumental in Atomic and Quantum sciences today, and there are countless inventions and products that are either directly or indirectly due to the findings of Einstein.
"One Stone Will Create A Thousand Ripples"
In both of these cases, we can see that the smallest of actions by one person (Dr. Forster's words of encouragement and Einstein's father's gift of a compass) can have an influence far beyond what you may think is possible.
When we talk to people about Nichiren Buddhism or treat people with compassion (or even harshly)we have no idea how we may affect their future lives or the lives of countless others. Every action we take (cause) plants a seed of effect in our lives and the lives of the people we interact with, which will manifest itself in any of a thousand ways in the present or the distant future.
The two examples of Hitler and Einstein come from "The Winner's Bible" by Dr. Kerry Spackman
Excellent article!
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