The Secret of Self-Adjustment
We have heard the saying that
the viaticum for a journey and knowledge that is obtained from others do not
last long. Our convictions should guide us, though instructions from others may
clear the way.
To come to the point, we are
unhappy not because we are not wise, but because we are unable to apply our
wisdom to suit the conditions or circumstances in which we live. Wisdom in the
wrong place and at the wrong time has led some philosophers to grief. One
should not wish to be too wise, beyond the prescribed limits. To adjust and
adapt oneself to circumstances, while giving that magical touch of utter faith
in the omniscience and omnipotence of God to all that we humbly try to do here
is, in my opinion, better than a lofty ambition to transform the earth into
heaven—which even Buddha and Christ have not done. The truly wise have often
been indifferent to many things in which most people take an avid interest; and
this is for a good reason, of course. Absorption, not repulsion, is the way in
which Nature works. Even an initial isolation is for a higher inclusion.
If we want to be happy, we
should not judge the present by a future ideal or a standard that ought to be,
for the ‘ought’ is different from the ‘is’. Though the ideal should guide our
present activity, we should not compare the two and feel despair. We seem to be
displeased with the present setup of things because we are comparing it with an
ideal which is yet to be, which is in our minds. While the ideal is good and
should be in our minds always to keep our spirits elevated, we should not
become theorizers and forget the causes of the present circumstance, which is
differentiated from the future ideal. Our duty is to understand, and not judge.
“Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Essentially, to see the good in things is real
virtue, for the so-called ugliness is a phase of God’s mystery.
Nimittamatram
bhava: “Be merely an instrument in work.” An instrument has no
right to judge or hold opinion, but to take things as they are, and when things
go beyond one’s control, leave them to Him, and not lament over the matter. But
we should do what is within our capacity without involving our emotions or
prejudices for certain things or even for ways of thinking. This is hard to
appreciate and harder to practice, but there is no other go.
Man has many passions within
him. One of the passions is the ego, which wants its ideas to be displayed
throughout the world. People should not wish that their ideas should always
prevail over the ideas of others. Ideas are not for lording over other people
or imposing on other people’s minds. Ideas should only be expressed, and
suggestions sometimes given, and if they are not accepted we should not feel
internal agony or annoyance. We should not expect that our thoughts be accepted
by others, for appreciation cannot be thrust into people’s minds. We are
cogwheels in a cosmic machine; and as the machine works, the wheels move
automatically. The Operator of the machine knows things better than we do, and
it is not the business of the wheel to intrude or butt in as if it is an
independent something. Its duty is merely to cooperate, not to assert. This, in
my humble opinion, is the spirit of the karma yoga of the Bhagavadgita—to be in
tune with a universal Be-ness.
Wholly unselfish persons
cannot be found in the world. Those who are unselfish are only conditionally
so. They are good under certain circumstances. Nature’s illusions called power
and wealth are twin monsters that gain access into both public and private sectors.
Plus, there are two gross forms in which Nature’s impulses reveal themselves in
one’s person—sex and self-esteem. The slightest interference with these weak
spots throws one into a fit of ireful retaliation. Hence, it is no wonder that
the malady of the world has a fourfold root of power, wealth, sex and
self-esteem.
Karma works in most intriguing
and often annoying ways. That all our experiences are due to our past karmas
cannot be doubted, because every event has a cause, and if our karma is not the
cause of our pleasures and pains, to what else can they be attributed?
Our karmas come back to us as
boomerangs, proving that all karma is an interference with the equilibrium of
Nature. When the results of karma return to us, we have, unfortunately, no knowledge
of their causes, and so we grieve and curse ourselves and the world around us
when we hear something that displeases us, when someone speaks ill of us though
the criticism is false, when someone imputes motives to our actions that we
have never thought of, when we are done a wrong turn for the good we have done,
when everyone turns against us for mistakes which we have not committed, when
our friends become unkind to us when they rise to power and pomp, when our
righteousness is lost sight of in the complacency and pride of those who do not
want to understand others.
Though we may be aware of
these shortcomings of human nature, we should have no complaints. Why? One’s
pleasure is not to be sought in doing something,
but in being something. Until this is
achieved, there cannot be joy either in our actions or in the things that we
obtain. These will give us only misery.
This world, which is full of
so many bad things, is tolerated by God. Even now, in this condition, it is
His. Therefore, let there be patience and understanding of even the worst of
things, so that we may be at peace within ourselves even when we are insulted
with ungratefulness for the good that we try to do to people. Pericles of
Greece raised the status of his country to a golden age, to the height of its
glory, but he was stoned to death by his countrymen. As the Lord’s ways are
mysterious, we have only to wait with the patience of a servant for the descent
of the knowledge of this mystery. We should not be displeased at heart, because
we have no business either to be pleased or displeased with anything, though we
do our duties as if we are pleased with things. We have neither the requisite
knowledge nor the power to do what we want. Then, what is the way out? Should
we cry and lament? Definitely not! The way out is to lift ourselves with the
faith that God is great always.
Our importance and happiness
should not always depend on what others think of us or feel about us. Our
destiny is entirely dependent on what we are in the eyes of God. We should do
our duty; let the world not respect us. But it is not easy to know what our
duty is at any given moment. Particular duties vary from circumstance to
circumstance, irrespective of the fact that there is one general duty for
everyone, which is God-realization. Most of our sufferings and grief arise
because we do not understand the shifting of particular duties in our daily
life, and we make the mistake of applying the same standard to everyone, to all
things and always. When God Himself adjusts His laws to the conditions of the
changing times, why should we not also do that?
This superior art of adjusting
oneself to circumstances should be distinguished from hypocrisy, which is an
artificial attitude born of selfishness.
That is why a life of real wisdom is so difficult to live; there are so many
slight shades of difference even in the apparently same dharma. Our thoughts,
feelings and actions should not defeat the highest purpose for which we are
supposed to live. Otherwise, it will not be a correct adjustment. We should not
shun the world, nor should we live in such a
way that the world shuns us. This is the secret of self-adjustment. At same
time, we should not forget our true Goal. Bravo! May God bless us!
Excerpts from:
Through
Hardship and Vicissitude by Swami Krishnananda
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