Old Karma

What I see other people as, I see them as trees in the
forest. You go to the woods and you see gnarled trees
and live oaks and pines and hemlocks and elms and
things like that. And you are not inclined to say,
"I don't like you because you are a pine and not an
elm." You appreciate trees the way they are. But the
minute you get near humans, you notice how quickly
it changes. It's a way in which you don't allow
humans to just manifest the way they are. You take
it personally. You keep taking other people person-
ally. All they are are mechanical run-offs of old
Karma.

Ram Dass