To get an all-round exposure to life, take out five days – not too many, just five days.

Spend one day – morning to evening, with a farmer. Go with him to the farm early morning and see whatever he does all day. You will become sensitive towards the environment, towards food. Spending the day watching the farmer will let us know the hard work and resources that go into producing food and we will think twice before wasting it.

Spend one day in jail (but without committing a crime). You will realize that the people we label as criminals and put in prisons landed there due to circumstances, due to ignorance. When anger grips a person, they are not in control of their actions. If you ask the most hardened criminal, they will say, “I didn’t do it. Something came over me and it just happened.” It will become evident that inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help. Compassion will arise in your heart.

On the third day, become a school teacher. You will understand why a guru is needed. Wherever you are in life, there are so many that you can help and guide.You don’t really need a special skill to be a guru, you need compassion. Being a teacher, you can channel that compassion to people.

Spend the fourth day in a mental institution. Whatever anybody in a mental hospital says to you, whatever names they call you, you won’t take it to heart. After spending a day when anybody can say anything to you, you will develop the strength to face criticism without being shaken. Not only will you be strong enough to accept all criticism, you will have compassion for those who criticize you. You should have the courage to give criticism and the courage to receive criticism as well.

Spend one day in the cemetery or funeral home. You will have a very close and intense experience of the impermanence of life. Whatever complaints you have will vanish. Having the experience that death can come anytime will change your perspective on life for good.

What will you learn after spending a day in a mental institution?

Compassion towards each other

After spending a day in a mental institution, you would likely learn: Option 3: Compassion towards each other.

Explanation:
The passage describes that spending time in a mental institution exposes individuals to various experiences, including facing criticism and hearing potentially hurtful remarks from patients. However, despite this, individuals are encouraged to develop strength, resilience, and compassion for those who criticize them. This suggests that the experience fosters understanding and empathy towards others, particularly those who may be struggling with mental health issues. Therefore, the most fitting option is Option 3: Compassion towards each other.

Option 1: Empathy towards the victim. While empathy towards the victims of mental health issues is a valuable and likely outcome of spending time in a mental institution, the passage does not specifically emphasize the individuals as victims. Instead, it focuses on fostering compassion towards those in the mental institution, including both patients and staff. The term "victim" may not fully capture the range of experiences and perspectives encountered in such an environment.

Option 2: Encouragement. While individuals may indeed receive encouragement during their time in a mental institution, the focus of the passage is more on the development of compassion and resilience rather than the act of receiving encouragement. 

Option 4: Courage to avoid judgment. While developing the courage to avoid judgment is a potential outcome of spending time in a mental institution, it is not the central theme emphasized in the passage. The passage primarily focuses on developing compassion and resilience in the face of criticism and challenges encountered in such an environment. While avoiding judgment may be a part of this process, it is not explicitly highlighted as the primary learning outcome.