Brushing up the Mind into Higher Thoughts
Yoga does not always mean
meditation with closed eyes. It means many things that are contributory to it
ultimately. A little bit of study also is very necessary. Perhaps it may also
have to be maintained as a necessary routine always. Some amount of reference
to a text on Yoga may be required to brush up the mind into higher thoughts.
Otherwise, we cannot always entertain noble thoughts. It is not easy to
accommodate in the mind lofty thoughts of God always, throughout the day. That
is impracticable. So, we take to various methods of practice in order to
accommodate the mind to this habit of lofty thinking. Discussion with good
people, friends, is a help and is something like a secondary Satsanga. Also
helpful is a study of great texts on Yoga, given by great masters,
incarnations, prophets and divinities of the past.
The
main question which engages one’s attention almost everyday is of the way to
tackle what may be called the ‘human situation’ in the world. Man’s circumstances
are very much related to what he does and what he is yet to do. And it is not
easy for him to decide what is the best for him.
Most
people come to grief due to the wrong notion that they can succeed by
‘asserting’ themselves. The truth is just the opposite. The false idea that
self-assertion can bring success is based on the ignorance of the fact that
there are also others in this world who can equally assert themselves and stand
against the assertion from any particular individual or centre of action. No
one has ever succeeded in life, who confronted the ‘others’ in the world with
his ego. All egoism is met with an equally strong egoism from outside. To take
always one’s own standpoint, whether in an action, an argument or even in
feeling, is to court ‘opposition’, while the law of life is ‘cooperation’.
Self-assertion, thus, is contrary to nature’s laws and shall stand defeated in
the end. All egoistic action, whether in mind, speech or body, evokes a similar
action from other centres of force in the world and to live in such a condition
is fitly called Samsara, an experience in which perpetually warring elements
react against one another and bring about restlessness and pain. The remedy
against Samsara is the art of ‘appreciation’ of the existence and feelings of
others who also demand an equal recognition in the scheme of creation. Whenever
you say or do anything, start it from the standpoint of the other who is in
front of you, listens to you or is concerned with what you do. You are
then more likely to succeed in life than by any other means which you may think
is really effective.
But
what is to be done when, for example, an enemy attacks you? Are you to assert
yourself, or not? Here again, the decision that you take should depend upon the
nature of the consequences that would follow from the step that you take. The
unselfishness of an action is judged from the extent to which it is conductive
to the realisation of a higher value in life. To know whether a value is higher
or otherwise, it has to be viewed both in its quantity and quality.
Quantitatively, is it beneficial to the largest number of people possible? And
qualitatively, does it tend to the realisation of the highest reality capable
of being conceived as accessible? Or, to put it concisely, how far is it
spiritual?
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