By Acharya Balkrishna
The past is gone, but memories never become past. Past must not be forgotten. The experiences of the past save us from making repeated mistakes. Those who forget their past, forget their own parents as well. Recollection of the scent of the soil, the solace in the arms of father, the time of entertainment with our beloved friends and that too in our mother tongue and the affection of mother can never allow us to become ungrateful to our parents and motherland. It is absolutely true that there are no substitues to motherland, mother-tongue and mother. Even after ascending the pinnacle of success, if one does not forget the memories of his past struggle, then alone can he be said to be grounded. Such a person stays away from pretence, temptations and ego.
A person learns a lot from ups and downs, hardships, pains, neglect and scarcity. Ramaprasad Bismil has composed these beautiful lines which echo the significance of the above statement :
Hai dard ba¤d niymat deta hai khalik (vara), Jo dard-e- mohabbat ke kabil najar ata hai. Jis dil me utar jaye us dil ko mi¢a Îale, har tr tera jalim katil najar ata hai. Majaruh (ghayal) na thi jab tak dil dil h na tha mer, sadke tere tiron ka bismil najar ata hai.
The blasts of greed, infatuation, fame, and pressure are such that they force a person to take the wrong path and drag him into mire beyond imagination. These blasts usually haul away ordinary people with them. Many people, who tread the path of pseudo-fanaticism lose their track and are bewildered by these blasts.
Whenever we find ourselves drifting away from our chosen path, then we should remember the mental state when for the first time the seeds of raddh (devoted dedication)germinated within us. It must be remembered and an assessment made to ascertain if there is a decline in our energy and vigour with regard to our endeavours.
A great many adversities will befall in life, but never complain; because, God is the director who gives the most difficult role to the most competant actor. Ramadhar siha dinakara has very beautifully said-
Mukilen dil ke irade ajamati hain, svapn ke parade nigahon se ha¢at hain. Hausala mat har, girakar o musafir, ¢hokaren insan ko calana sikhat hain.
Unlimited Potential
Every individual has infinite potentials, capabilities and energy in him to turn the impossible into possible.
We must not be attached to persons, rather we must attach ourselves to the qualities of these persons. We will merely become worshippers of mahpuru¦as (great personalities) by venerating them, but we can also become adorable like them by inculcating their qualities in our conduct.
God has endowed everyone with equal potential to become the foremost. God has impartially distributed equal capacity, knowledge, strength and energy to everyone. The potentialities, capabilities, talent and energy in every individual of the earth is infinite and unlimited.
Prudence and Equal mindedness
Keep samabhava (equanimity) towards everyone, be samadar (percieving everybody as equal), but remember, samavyava¤hara (maintaining equal behaviour with all) is never possible. Every living creature is the child of God and hence, God is present in each one of them. This entire universe is an extension of the self. Percieving the entire universe like our own self is called samabhava, but, due respect to a guru must always be paid. Though mother, sister, daughter and wife are all women, yet, the difference from worldly and practical perspective is evident. Similarly, God does not behave monotonously with everyone. He punishes the guilty and protects the innocent. God is generous and provider of justice. Although, sentiments are based at the level of soul; yet, behaviour is based at a physical and social level.
A self-realized person neither criticises others; nor does he ever ignore the situation when overwhelmed by more powerful things.
As long as a sense of ego persists in an individual, the lofty concept cannot take root.
Whenever somebody considers himself as the best and unique well-behaved person in the world, then his spiritual downfall due to ego, begins. We should rid ourselves of our ego and become very light, as we all know – Only lighter things get elevated.
We must be as wary of our ego, as with a sick dog. Just as we maintain a distance form poison or a poisonous snake, we should maintain distance from siddhis (extra-ordinary powers accomplished in Yoga) and even from those who support it. Let every action of your mind and heart be directed towards God.
There can be no greater enemy than ego and a bigger crime then lethargy.
There are lots of troubles in this world that we need to bear with. The physical body becomes strong due to hardwork, similarly mental strength is gained by dauntlessly facing the challenges of life. Although, because of our earlier actions, the difficulties appear to be invincible, still we have that immense power to tackle the nervoussness, tiredness and despair in work.
Perform actions to your full potential and never feel disheartened by adverse situations. We weild our right only on our actions, not of others. Hence, never criticise others and by not being dependent on them, never feel fear.
Every person who throws dirt on us is not our enemy, similarly all those who lift us from this rubbish, are not necessarily our friends.
The unforgetful formulae for success
Success is the manifestation of our self-estimation.
People who always believe in their capabilities never face failures, hence we must have faith in ourselves.
In order to achieve success in life, we need to change our methodology not our objectives.
Only determination yields success in life. Puru¦artha (perseverance) is the secret behind every success. Being always vigilant towards one’s goal, never postponing duties for tomorrow and not abandoning them even in adversities are the formulae for success.
We must not look for excuses, rather, search for the path to success.
It is impossible to reach heights with a burdened heart. Hence, we must fix bigger goals in addition to loftier thoughts, and we must reach the heights with sacrifice and perseverance as our companions.
Success in achieved, when we identify completely with our actions. The following story further elaborates the above statement.
It is a very old tale. Once the king of a certain kingdom proclaimed – “Let a new seal be created. It should depict a monogram of a crowing cock. Whosoever makes the most lively picture of the same will be richly rewarded and made the kalaguru (chief artist) of the kingdom.”
Artists from different places arrived. Everybody carried a picture of a crowing cock. One by one all the pictures were presented in the royal court. But who is going to decide which picture was the best? There was an old artist in the state. The king called him to finalise. That old artist locked himself inside a room along with the pictures. After examining all the pictures for the entire day, he said, “none of these paintings are perfect,” the king was astounded by the old artist’s statement. He inquired the old man about the criteria that he had given for the analysis of the pictures. “I put a cock in front of all these pictures, but it did not recognise any of the cocks in the pictures. If they were truely lively, then the cock would have either panicked or crowed in turn”, the old artist replied. The king then ordered that old aritist to make the picture. The old man requested a period of three years to do the job. After six months, the king sent some persons in search of the old aritst. They found the old man sitting with some wild cocks. After three years, when the picture painted by the old artist was shown to some cocks, they were frightened and ran away from the room. When the king inquired the mystery behind creating such a lively picture, the old artistsaid- “It was necessary for me to first become a cock in order to create the picture of a lively cock, I had to understand the behaviour a cock from deep inside. How can I understand a cock, if I do not completely identify myself with its innate characteristics, what its soul is?”
There should be a cheerful smile playing on your lips at all times. A smile costs nothing. Both the giver and the recipient obtain happiness from it.
Happiness is not available readymade from a place, it is to be achieved through our actions.
If we give happiness and respect to others, only then will we get the same.
There is no enemy more dangerous than idleness. Moreover, an idle person’s present and future are ruined for sure.
Soul is the charioteer of this chariot in the form of physical body, mind is the reins, and the senses are the horses running after sense-objects. The soul enjoys sensual pleasures through the senses and mind. The wise, who exercise restraint over their mind and curb the senses from wandering on the evil path of sense-objects and sincerely wish to adopt the yogic path of truth, self-control and good conduct, alone succeed in acheiving their objectives.
(Extracted from the book: “Divine Transformation: Building Blocks for Enlightened Life, Ideal Nation and Peaceful World”. Author: Acharya Balkrishna).
