Hari OM
'Freedays' are the 'gather our
thoughts' days; Q&As; a general page reviewing the week so far...
Setting out the basics of making adjustments in life in order to improve our take on it has been interesting. No matter which way one puts it and at which side one begins, there is no getting round the fact that self-improvement can be a challenge. As a commenter elsewhere pointed out, "easier said than done".
It boils down to this; how much do you want to feel better about life? Even if life is coasting along relatively comfortably, is there room to raise oneself to even greater levels of contentment? The events of life cannot of themselves be changed. They can, however be managed. How we manage them will come down to experience, attitude and a better understanding of whether something is worth the emotional drag it puts on us or whether we must just 'get on with it'. In order to reach that understanding we first must take a measure of who we are now. That can be painful. By virtue of being a 'human being' we will all have 'baggage'. Some more than others, and it will take all shapes and sizes. No one can escape this fact.
.jpg) |
| Gangotri, source of the Ganges. Taken by Br. Sandeep, using YAM's camera |
Going back to source is a tried and proven method of making change. Only by gaining full and clear understanding of the 'spring' of our personality can we then seek to alter its course.
Just as with climbing mountains or taking pilgrimages, it is imperative that one is in a comparatively healthy state at the start of the climb towards congruency and total integration of Self. It is for this reason that we undertake what can seem like philosophically unrelated 'exercises'.
Just as with climbing mountains or taking pilgrimages, it is equally important to maintain vigilance and keep comparisons of one's state whilst on the climb. There will be times when rest becomes paramount in order to avoid a fall down the path back to, (or even further than) where we started.
This does not mean that we magically leave the flaws behind us. On the contrary, it is the nature of this process that the very things we now wish to drop will keep rising and making themselves known to us! This is in part due to the increased awareness. If on a journey someone points out a certain type of flower or bird to you, before you know it you are seeing those flowers and birds everywhere. Not necessarily because they increased in number, but because now you have a name for them and they have been understood for their place in the landscape.
As you rise up the mountain, these flowers and birds are no longer spotted, but that does not mean they cease to exist. They are just no longer an important part of the scene. Other things will now make their presence known.
So it goes on. Such is the climb.
