Our innate nature is both, a defining force in our lives and a formidable adversary
We are born with it. Nature (‘svabhava’) is what we have done in earlier lives and our deep desires, which are still unfulfilled. It is part of our fate and big events, both good and bad (‘prarabdha’). Svabhava defines us. Character, personality, behaviour, moods, attitude, opinions, faith, preferences, how we decide, how we interact and what we care about, all have links with our natures. Spiritually speaking, three modes (‘gunas’) constitute this. They are present in every person in different percentages.
For example, a good man will have more of the goodness mode; not a good man will have more of the mode of darkness and the rest will fall in between. However, these modes always compete for supremacy. “Goodness become predominant by overpowering passion and darkness; darkness becomes predominant by overpowering even goodness and passion; and passion becomes predominant by overpowering goodness and darkness.” (The Bhagavad-Geeta 14.10)This is what happens with good people.
Temporarily, their thinking and actions come under darkness, and they behave lustily, angrily, etc. Compare this with what happens with bad people, who naturally behave badly. Only when the mode of goodness gains ascendency they behave better. Unfortunately, a common man falls in between, and he has many faults in his svabhava. What does he normally do? He wishes to enjoy his senses as much as possible; likes to avoid duties; tries to act smart, even resorts to cheating; feels superior; laughs at others; and hates suffering, whenever it comes, blames others for it. This is not so bad as to come under negative emotions like lust, anger, greed, hate, etc. Driven by them, one acts badly and becomes deserving of punishment. For example, when lust overpowers, one crosses limits (‘maryada’) and does what will taint for life. A greedy person thinks nothing beyond gaining more and wastes precious human life. Anger raises its ugly head when lust is denied. (18.66) And hate, when it is uncontrolled, dooms a person. (16.19)Therefore, one has to be very careful at all times. Svabhava, which controls our thinking and surely our actions can be our worst enemy. What can be done to safeguard ourselves?
The very first thing is to introspect at all times. Are my deep desires faulty? Am I crossing social norms? Am I violating dharma? Am I avoiding duties? We will find that we are. Then, what is to be done? Can I control myself? Maybe, a little, but not fully. Am I stuck? Yes and no. Yes, because drastic change in nature is not possible, as svabhava is part of our destiny, just like big occurrences such as losing one’s job will come and we cannot stop them from coming. No, as God is very merciful, He has left an opening in both cases. If one takes shelter from God sincerely,
God helps one to come out of all one’s troubles (18.58) As far as nature goes, God can help change it for the better if one is determined. This is tough and a slow process, but doable.What is the conclusion? We have a problem with our natures. Whether it is lust or anger or greed or hate or overinflated ego, we are well and truly stuck.
Therefore, rush to God’s shelter, i.e. get started to please Him now. Let God be convinced that you are determined; He will surely help. And when we do that, those around us will also begin to have some inspiration from us, rather than trying to correct one another, which is an impossibility.
(The writer is a spiritual teacher; views are personal)
