Hari
Om
Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by
which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality
and become more congruent within our personality.
The next little prasaada-pushtaka (gift-book) we are
studying is Sw. Tejoymayananda's "Take Charge of Your Life". Guru-ji
is a wonderfully pragmatic personality and has a strongly down-to-earth
approach to life and application of Vedanta. These are going to be short, sharp
bursts
of applied 'shreyas-preyas' decision
making!
RESOLVE
FIRMLY TO CHANGE
We
are not able to live this knowledge because of our weaknesses; the worst part
of it is that we justify ourselves by our weakness… "oh that is my
weakness, what to do?!" The truth of this is that we enjoy doing what we
do, even when it is destructive, and simply are not prepared to make changes to
improve ourselves. The more we attach enjoyment to something, the more
difficult it is to detach from it. Deep down, we even attach to the big
negatives of life such as anger, lust, ambition and so on. It is the nature of
the negatives that they plant the seeds of hankering within us.
Not
all the worldly calls are necessarily negative in themselves - what causes a
problem with them is the value we attach to them, how secretive we may become
about them - and the fact that we just will not face the truth about their
effect upon us and, perhaps, those around us.
What
is the remedy? The analysis itself. By standing back and taking a long, hard
look at ourselves, seeing the negatives, we can begin to think in terms of
change. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna in Gita 16:24, "Let the shaastra be your
authority and in determining what to do and what not to do. Having know what is
said in the scriptures, you should act in this world." Resolve to do what the shaastra says, whether
or not you like it. You may not understand the full implication at first, but
the wise ones are know as 'wise' simply by virtue of having lived the
experience and therefore perhaps they have something to offer! In following
through this way, you begin to 'live the knowledge' and change becomes easier.
Our
understanding (buddhiH) of life tends to form from our actions and their
results. If our actions are not in accordance with our knowledge, knowledge
tends to find a way to follow the actions and thus our knowledge gets altered.
For example, we 'know' we ought to rise early as it is the best time for
saadhana. If we fail to rise on one day, we may resolve to correct ourselves
the next day… or we find that several days in a row we simply do not rise at
the appointed time. What happens is that our buddiH starts to follow suit and
starts to say 'what is the point of this anyway, saadhana can be done anytime…'
This may be true to a point, but centuries of wisdom says the optimum time is
early morning. We have adjusted our knowledge to suit our worldly tendencies
rather than raising ourselves to the spiritual standard. "Justified
knowledge" is a dangerous thing.
The
ignorant can be forgiven their mistakes for they simply do not know. Once we
know, however, to commit actions against the grain of that knowledge becomes a
'sin'. When a literate person stoops to wrong actions, s/he becomes a problem
in society. The difference between being cultured or uncouth is the congruence
between our words (knowledge) and our deeds (action).
CONCLUSION
The
points to remember are simple and clear.
Living life requires that we are prepared to face
consequences;
Life will be what we make of it;
We cannot live another person's knowledge;
To make it our knowledge, we must live it;
To assist this process, follow the shaastras,
setting aside likes and dislikes;
Do not multiply artificial needs or give
excessive importance to social status;
Live a simple life in accordance with your
knowledge;
True happiness will be the result!
At
every moment we are in a state of choice, to act according to shreyas (the path
of higher values), or to preyas (the path of ease and please). Which do you
choose?