Favourable conditions are not supposed to be God’s gift to us; we are required to work hard and build our own peace and happiness with Him as our eternal guide, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
What are these assumptionsIJ I am referring to the most common ones. One, things should be favourable to us. When they are not, as is likely to happen not infrequently, we get upset. Two, we should be naturally healthy. This does not happen in practice unless one is applying oneself seriously in this regard. Even then, one gets sick sometimes helplessly. Three, peace is our birthright. It is not easy; we have to do a lot to gain it.
As a matter of fact, we have to do a whole lot to achieve what we assume. To begin with, we have to go to the root of our problems; we have to assess our desires very carefully. I am addressing some common desires and what damages they inflict upon, and what we can do about them. The first and foremost desire is for lustful enjoyment. This has no age barrier except when one is a child. Such enjoyment spans over eating, seeing, hearing, talking, sensuousness, etc. Such enjoyment continue throughout one’s life and inflict a lot of damage in the form of diseases unless one is very disciplined. Therefore, one has to be extremely careful in desiring what one wishes to enjoy.
The next harmful desire is to accumulate unlimitedly. Yes, this is not a problem of the masses but those who are in a position to do so sacrifice much in order to do so including a risk to the freedom by using unfair or downright illegal means. Such a desire requires a strong check. The third desire, which hurts much like accumulation of wealth is for power. In this case, it happens at all levels. People try to establish their superiority even with one’s married partner. And we know what it does to the family life. Similarly, in the lust to gain attention, fame, etc, some of us are so crazy that we make fools of ourselves. The last harmful desire is to perpetuate the material body, which is impossible. It takes away our peace of mind.
Next come our decisions. How do we decideIJ Do we decide to be disciplined in our livesIJ Do we know what being disciplined meansIJ It is the discipline of the body, mind and words. Body’s discipline is covered by the verses 6.16-6.17 of The Gita, in which lord Krishna speaks about appropriate eating, sleeping, entertainment and efforts. Many of us may be doing alright on the eating, sleeping and entertainment fronts but where most of us are found lacking are in regard to efforts. Because it also involves action on four fronts. These are body, mind, intelligence and soul. I have already referred to The Gita regarding the body. The mind requires control, which gives peace. The Gita is full of details about how this can be done to gain peace. The most important instructions in this connection are about practice and detachment.
Intelligence requires spiritual knowledge in addition to the material knowledge many of us already possess. Such intelligence helps us to know what to do and what not, what to fear and what not, etc. (18.30) The soul requires connection with God, being small. Without such a connection the soul is incomplete, which many realize during the current life and make some effort to bond with God. (18.65) We must go to the entity, which controls, whereas we are unable to do so.
Continuing with our decisions, we all have to decide about what kinds of emotions we are going to embrace. Are these going to be good emotions like love, compassion, truthfulness, sacrifice, etc. Or bad ones like hate, greed, lust, jealousy, self adulation, etcIJ Connected are our decisions regarding following rules and laws which determine our future. There are many options to choose from. How do we use over freewill is very important in this connection. This is where spiritual intelligence has an important role to play. Those who are spiritually wise make the right decisions. (18.33) Because such decisions are tough to make. WhyIJ These are like poison in the beginning but the result is like nectar. Returning to our assumptions of life being kind to us, our being healthy and being peaceful, I have covered the healthy part adequately. let me shed more light on being peaceful. Because peace of mind as different from calm before a storm, comes from God. He is the repository of it.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com