Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the October/November/December 2010 edition of HInduism Today magazine. "The company we keep affects our attitudes, speech and actions as profoundly as the foods we eat. Today I want to expand the idea that 'We are what we eat' by pointing out that our companions are an equally important influence on our state of mind and emotions--hence the title "We are whom we meet." The ethical scripture Tirukural, in Chapter 46, "Avoidance of Base Company," has ten insightful verses describing how powerfully we are influenced by the company we keep. Here are two of the verses. "As water changes according to the soil through which it flows, so a man assimilates the character of his associates." "Even perfect men, possessing the mind's full goodness, are fortified by pious fellowship."
