Hari
OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
"Surrender does not put an end to or eliminate activity; it is no longer ego-directed or desire-directed activity. It is God-governed, God-directed activity." (Sw. Chidananda)
We
have been looking at all sorts of characteristics which are common to the human
being who is dealing with daily life at the basic survival level. What separates humans from all other animals
is the ability to self-modify these traits.
In some higher-functioning species, the habits can be 'trained' out, but
the purpose for the modification of natural behaviours comes about from the
same survival instinct. Consequences of poor behaviour bring poor results and
the best results (rewards of food, shelter, love and so on) come from modifying
instinctual behaviour. What can happen, however, is that reward-type
actions take place in an attempt to prevent poor behaviour and the imprint is
"if I act negatively I will gain what I want".
Humankind
can go one step further however. It can conceive of OM. It can
make the choice to trust in a reward which is not immediate, is not physical
and has no obvious value other than to the individual who seeks that reward.
The reward does have different levels and some are, in fact, more imminent than
others. At a social level, to have ironed out our anger or critical natures
will certainly show fairly instant improvements in responses to our requests
and points of view. Moving into the sphere of the spiritual requires a longer
investment of trust that, by making amendments to our agendas, the rewards on
Earth will be a more tranquil passage through life and has the potential for
something incredible beyond the physical plane.
Let's face it. For most of us just the first half of that equation would
be a blessing!
The
cruncher, though, is that it is up to the individual to deal with life at a
level which minimises the negatives and maximises the positives. This goes
further than the 'glass half whatever' aspects of psychology. It involves
taking inner action. It involves the
cultivation of virtues.
A
very few folk are born with a natural instinct (vaasana) for self-management
and seeking the higher. Mostly though,
we come to this from examples we see around us. We need help to raise
ourselves, others to reach out and pull us from the mire. It might be that we
read an autobiography of a truly great person and become inspired to take on
something of the example set; or it can be closer to home, through a teacher or
relative who has already developed positively in life and for whom we have
respect enough to emulate their way of living.
Without
fail this requires, firstly, the funding of the desire to alter what needs
altering within us. This comes from
knowing that, at this point in time, we are not of a standard which matches or
even comes close to those we admire.
Having
raised the desire, the will must follow. We all experience this. When it is for something like chocolate or
chips, the will is eager as the proverbial beaver! When it comes to working a bit harder,
reaching a bit higher, the will can sometimes become our hurdle. Remember, the will is yours to order
about. To do this you must strengthen
that desire. How much to you want to lift yourself to be more like Uncle
Together? The desire is built by thought. (Yes, it keeps coming back to that.)
What
do you want? How much do you want it?
Let
us take an example. Courage is a
desirable thing, but it can seem like an impossible thing to own. If we then
create a constant thought, in the form of a mantra perhaps, over a period of
time the thought of courage can become more dominant than the timidity which
was there before wishing it wasn't…
"OM COURAGE, OM COURAGE, OM
COURAGE…"
Saying
the word alone may not suffice. In
reciting the mantra, we should be able also to have a visual image of what this
represents for us; in the case of Uncle Together, it is perhaps his ability to
not take on the jibes of others as a personal thing; letting insults drop from
us as water does from the duck's back.
"OM COURAGE (image of passing by the bully) OM COURAGE
(image…)…" This is not an instant results format. It is a retraining with inculcation of a
principle. There will be much in samskaara which will reach out and try to haul
us back to our old, timid selves. Each
time we must look at the desire and make a choice; then fund the will to reach
for what we want.
In
this way, it is possible to supplant our out-dated, demeaning habits with
newer, fresher, higher benefit habits.
Courage becomes our new संस्कार/samskaara (habit/way of life) with no more
effort than changing our thinking patterns. At the greatest level, worldliness
can become life lived divinely.
SAADHANA;
Here
we are learning how to do this through the Sanskrit tradition of Vedanta. Here we will investigate our nature and, more
importantly, our minds and come to understand what holds us back and what it is
that will free us. Three weeks back you
were asked a question at the end of the post… you are asked again; what is the
one 'vice' which underlies all our negative traits and prevents us moving into
a more positive framework? What is it that keeps you from making the change and
provides the justifications for staying where you are?
Make
that your saadhana (homework) for this week's workings-day. Leave your thoughts in the comments box, make
notes in your books and most importantly of all, think, think, think!
