Leading up from my last article, I had mentioned that very often our desires and our instincts motivate our actions; and the actions that spur from vile thoughts and selfish desires are in the end the same; they are not benevolent in any way. People often feel that their acts should be transparent; that they should bear no other motive than the one that spurs that action; for example, If an individual loves a girl, that girl would expect that the basis of any relationship that they establish, would be based on nothing but pure love; however in real life, we all know that the waters run much deeper; that there are a thousand different motives to each of our actions; and indeed it should be that way.
The reason why I say such a thing is that often when a single desire is potent enough to spur an action, the gust and vigor with which we get into accomplishing such an act vanishes once the desire goes away. Thus many times, we are left with nothing but regret as we feel that everything we do is utterly pointless. The reason for such a reaction is that we never ever actually sit back and think what the motivation behind any particular act is. Motivation comes from many sources apart from desire; it can come from ambition; it can come from inspiration; it can come from a sheer determination to achieve something that requires a great deal of dedication and effort.
In such a scenario, the factor that matters the most is the source of your motivation and your determination to take any task to completion. Life is a series of unfinished stories; but it is only so because we of our own accord abandon every act before it can meet its justified end. This in the end forces us to come back to this wretched world to finish each of those unfinished stories that we have left in the book of our lives.
Thus the key to being insanely successful in your mundane lives and to be spiritually satisfied is determination. Whenever you undertake a task, be determined and resolute to take it to its completion. One can only accomplish that feat by ensuring that the factors that motivate him are not in any way superficial or frivolous; because in the end , the things that motivate you remain the driving point behind all your acts; thus once you are pure in motivation, you shall be pure in act; and with great determination, you shall definitely achieve that which you desire.
In the end the goal of human life is to attain peace and satisfaction; the goal is to attain unending happiness and bliss; that is what true spirituality is all about; it teaches you the way of life; it makes you realize that life, even though is born out of pain and incompleteness, is meant to be complete; that life in the end is meant to be a fulfilling experience. However we of our own accord fail to realize this; and in this life, we are our own worst enemies; our mind is the greatest culprit; the birthplace of all misery and regret. Determination allows us to go beyond this regret and achieve that state of peacefulness and bliss.
It’s often said that a wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. What does that truly mean? What does the word adaptation imply in terms of spirituality and the journey of life? Is adaptation some sort of compromise on part of the individual who decides to somehow settle for something else when in his heart, he truly desires something that is completely different? Does our capability and willingness to adapt to a particular situation showcase our cowardice or our inability to truly strive for something that we desire? Today we find the answers to these questions and many that shall arise through this discussion.
Change is the law that governs life. As a man progresses through the varied stages of evolution through his life, he somehow starts to experience that many things that he holds close to his heart wither away with time. Eventually, he realizes that there is indeed nothing that truly stays with him; something that he can truly call as his own; something that is constant through all the change. Man on his part, gradually discovers that if he is to truly survive the changes that occur in his life, he has to adapt accordingly; he has to change with time and he has to fall in line to the new demands of his reformed life.
Adaptability is the naught but the degree of comfort and ease that a man can bear through the varied transitions that take place in his life. These transitions are necessarily not something that he truly desires; but in a way the changes are the result of his own desires. Such is the irony of life that the moment a man gets something that he knows he has desired for long; he loses all desire for that particular thing. Desire in itself is such a fickle sentiment that it changes through time; and every single moment that it does so, it brings with itself a new wave of change. That in a way answers the first question; when you adapt to a situation, are you settling for something that you never desired? NO, because the change itself is a product of your own desire; and the reason that you no longer feel happy about it is that maybe deep down, you never truly desired it.
Such is the irony of life. Spirituality teaches us to be aware of this irony so that in the end, we learn that change is a result of desire and thus desire in itself is the cause of inconsistency. Adaptability, thus is naught but the attribute that represents our determination to cope with the change and to work pro-actively to ensure that we derive success from it. So in no way does our adaptability showcase a weakness or cowardice. On the contrary it shows great strength of mind that enables us to rise to the occasion and prove our virtue in an environment that is entirely fresh.
Ultimately man has to realize that no matter how hard he tries to evade the change in his life; it is ultimately going to set in. Change is law that governs life; without change, there would be no life; for there would be no desire to justify our existence. Spirituality truly leads us towards this realization so that through the turmoil of change, we finally come to a place in our life, wherein our desires completely stand still and finally all that is left to life is peace and satisfaction. In the end, such result is only achievable if we learn to mould ourselves and adapt to the situation that surrounds us. This in a way ensures success in both the spiritual and mundane realms; an enviable balance that epitomizes the perfect life.
Life is all about achieving your dreams and fulfilling your aspirations. Indeed every man in this world survives owing to his unfulfilled aspirations and hence every single act of existence is sub-consciously directed towards fulfilling them. God has indeed ordained man with capabilities far beyond his wildest dreams. It is indeed true that each and every single human being on the face of this earth has the ability to reach out for the stars and fulfill his aspirations. The only thing that truly stops him from achieving greatness is his stunted hunger or his fear of failure.
Fear is indeed the reason why most of us fail to achieve that which we desire. Fear arises from our insecurities which in turn arise from our attachments. The sentiments that we bear for our belongings at times impair us in truly reaching out and grabbing an opportunity to convert it into success. Insecurity is something that is part of who we are. We are insecure since birth for we always fear to lose that which we have; however the one thing that we truly fail to realize is this; it’s only after we lose that which we have, would we be truly ready to acquire that which we are destined for. It’s that simple; you cannot fill a glass that is already full; you have to empty it first; only then can you fill it with something else. How you empty it is entirely up to you.
However man on his own accord never realizes this fact; for he is inherently taught to hold on to things; to cling to them; to attach his sentiments and his emotions to the most dysfunctional of aspects that form a part of his life. This is also something that is instinctive; take a baby for instance; once a kid gets a toy in his hand, he would never appreciate someone taking it away; of course in due time he will himself get bored of it and let go; but he would never like someone else to willfully take it away from him before he is through with it. Our attachments to life are much the same. We are always afraid that life on its own accord would take something away from us; and yet we do not know that we ourselves would one day let go of it. This understanding and this realization is indeed deep and is the beginning towards the transformation that leads to fearlessness.
Fearlessness is not lack of caution. It is a lack of insecurity. It is confidence that radiates from your soul and drives away all the impediments in your path. Caution is different in every aspect from insecurity. Insecurity is an illusion; caution is an exercise in mindful action. In the end, man has to realize that if he is to truly achieve something that people consider to be entirely beyond his grasp, he has to be fearless in life. Life is much like a gamble; however it’s not entirely a game of pure chance. It’s a game that is to be played with great patience and willful determination. All you have to do is bid your time, until your chances look up; and then you have to force yourself through with brute aggression backed with fearlessness and indomitable self-belief; then and only then will success be yours.
In the end a person has to realize that fear in the end will lead him nowhere. The things that are to come his way will come his way no matter how fearful he is. However the fearlessness that induces in him the confidence and self-belief to win; in the end makes the difference in the entire battle. Fear in the end will only impair you; the fact that you are fearful of someone does not mean that he won’t punch your lights out. Be fearless and confident; at times you might even get your butt kicked for it; but the same attitude would definitely make you a winner in the long term.
Man is a splitting image of imperfection. Life is but a journey towards perfection. The aforementioned lines clearly reflect the true gist of life and its purpose in a simple way. However for the man that travels along the hard roads of life, this journey in itself seems to be an arduous task. As we live through life, we often feel that life gives us little chance to evolve; that life indeed gives us little chance to progress as individuals. What we indeed find is that the better part of our life is spent in trying to find ways to sustain ourselves; in trying to find ways to make a living. In many ways life hardly seems to be the party that it is made out to be in the youth.
Life is a chance; a chance at redemption and a chance at achieving perfection. However many individuals feel that life is but a chance for indulgence. Thus many times we find such individuals, who completely pass away their entire lives simply reaping the shallow joys and hasty pleasures derived from desires. Life, for them is thus equated with desire; equated with self-satiation and a perpetual need to be self-centered. Such individuals in the end hardly make the optimum use of the resources that they get as humans; the gifts that are ordained to them, for every single resource is ultimately utilized in the bid to fulfill their own personal desires.
Now that being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong in being selfish. What we are talking over here has long passed the duality of being wrong or right. It is about choosing the path that is the most rewarding and fulfilling of all. It is about choosing a way of life that is ideal in every single way. I never propagate a denial of desire; for denial leads to depravity and depravity leads to destitution. Such an individual can never be rich in spirit; for his spirit remains craving till the end. Hence true spirituality never propagates abstaining from desire; what it does propagate is abstaining from the mindless pursuit of desire.
Spirituality is a school of thought that aims in bringing about a balance in your way of life. It is a science that aims at evolving you completely; to achieve that it necessarily has to have a broader approach towards life and towards the needs of every single individual. You can never evolve unless you are truly ready to do so with every single shred of your existence. Hence your desires, your ambitions and your karma has to flow as one in a single direction. You can hardly achieve that oneness in depravity and craving. Such a well-balanced and centered approach can only come from one who has indeed no desire left for desire.
Such a state of no-desire, only comes after an individual passes through the many trials and tribulations of life; and not just through a single incarnation, but through multiple ones. Such a state of completeness and virginity comes only through true realization. At the onset I mentioned, that if we but look at life closely, we find that the better part of life is always spent in trying to sustain it. We find that the better part of life is always spent in trying to sustain our desires; so much that after one point in time, even when you get the thing that you desired the most, it no longer holds any appeal for you. This happens owing to the fact that the hardships of life indeed wash away all unconsummated desire from the heart. The journey to fulfill desire; in the end ablates the desire itself.
Such is the mystical journey of life; you never know how you evolve through it. But rest assured, you have no choice but to evolve; for that is a honor bound duty that we have as men. Born into flesh were we, and die in flesh we shall; but living in the spirit; that is something that we can surely achieve. For in the end that is what shall lend us immortality. That in the end shall be the perfect life.
Life is indeed a great journey of sorts. It takes us through the varied experiences that constitute countless interactions with the people around us. All through this journey it makes us consciously believe in its own existence. It makes us consciously believe in its own realness. Such is life. At times, while living through life, it really does occur to me that our true identity and our true nature are both lost amidst the different experiences that we get in this world. In a way the illusions of life completely transform and mutate our own spirits until we no longer resemble the individuals that we once were.
Now maybe this change is a good thing; maybe it’s not. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. Upon closer introspection, a man realizes that even that change is not permanent. The illusion of life makes him put upon himself masks upon mask; and yet every time, he encounters a new situation; every time he goes through a new experience, his personality is altered and he dons another mask. The mask is nothing but a gloriously vain attempt at impressing upon the world the fact that “YES, I am the way you want me to be!” Living through the illusion of life, thus man himself starts to become an illusion.
Now maybe being an illusion is a good thing; maybe it’s not. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. Every illusion has its own advantages and disadvantages. Every illusions yields you some real things; things that are indeed of great value in the eyes of this world. Yet when that same illusion ends and reality sets back in, you start to realize that there was something within yourself that was lost in that illusion; that there was something real which went away. This is simply owing to the fact that every illusion has its roots in real things. When that very illusion is uprooted from its very existence, it takes away with itself some part of reality. That is why the loss of any illusion pains us beyond measure.
Now maybe pain is a good thing; maybe it’s not. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. But upon closer introspection, man realizes that pain is an inseparable part of his mortal existence. Man starts to realize that as long as he lives as a mere man, he is bound to suffer pain and misery in life. But fairly speaking, pain is an essential part of life; for it brings an individual closer to reality than anything else. We can never acknowledge reality in times when we are happy. In that phase of mind, all we yearn for are illusions; illusions that make us feel nice and happy inside. However in pain and misery, we are forced acknowledge reality; we are forced to deny the illusions; in a way we are forced to realize the truth.
Indeed pain is realization. Pain is acceptance of reality and pain ultimately is the price for every illusion. Thus being the grandest illusion of them all, life itself yields us pain and misery in the end. Many may perceive this article to be pessimistic and highly depressive. However it is always better to acknowledge the reality of life rather than the reality acknowledging you. It is always better that you get onto the bus, before the bus gets onto you. The gist of this entire journey would thus be; that even though the illusion of life may force you to become an illusion yourself, never ever lose the touch with reality. That would create a conducive balance between the illusions of your life and the reality that you seek within. Such a balance would ensure that you not only win through in the battle of life, but in the end, within yourself you find lasting peace.
The aforementioned lines brilliantly portray the nature of human life and the intricacies that it bears within itself. We as humans are ignorant creatures in our very being. We cannot understand the minute details of anything that we perceive. Incidentally, we also fail to see the big picture. So what do we see in life? What do we see in any situation? Well the answer to that question is quite simple. We only see what we want to see; we see that which is indeed very convenient to see; and hence the true gist of any story often remains beyond the scope of our understanding.
Such is life. To understand it completely, we need to look minutely at its intricacies. At the same time, we need to be aware of where we lie in the big picture. Ultimately the intricacies of life are reflected in the big picture; and hence through conscious and relentless self-introspection, can we truly understand life. I have often looked at life and quizzed about its strange occurrences and the way in which it spans out . Often life seems nothing more than a compilation of unfinished stories. It simply seems as a chain of unfulfilled events; a series of unsatiated desires. Every time we introspect, we understand that we can never truly derive fulfillment from life; that we can never derive complete happiness from it. Why does it so happen? Why does life bring with itself a sense of unrequitedness and yearning?
As I started to introspect further into the aforementioned questions, I came upon the realization that human beings indeed have very diverse desires in life. Desires spur from impulses; and the impulses in turn are rooted in the instincts. Moreover, man is also driven to a great extent by his intellect and to a small extent by his intuition. Both in a way contribute to his desires. This makes up for a very conflicting flux of desires, wherein the instinctive desires, overbearing that they are counter the intellectual and the intuitive desires. These desires act like forces, influencing the human spirit to action. Thus the actions that the human being exerts on his part, are also conflicted.
Consequently the results that he acquires through such mixed set of actions is always incomplete. It can never be absolute and fulfilling. Thus does the human existence transform into a chain of such unfulfilled experiences on part of the seeker. Every story seems like an unfinished one, for no desire gets fulfilled in its entirety. The human being sways between the impulses generated by his random desires and thus in his life, he loses all sense of bearing and direction.
Such a misguided human being is always prone to make hazardous decisions in his life. In the end, he is bound to get nothing but perpetual regret and unhappiness. The only way out of this is to control your impulses and to watch your desires. An individual’s sense of awareness indeed needs to be so high that he can be intuitively aware of all his impulses and the varied desires that spur from them. In doing so, he would be able to willfully navigate himself away from the conflicting desires, in the end striving to fulfill those that are creative and productive.
This wholesome approach towards life, would ensure that no person would ever encounter unhappiness and despair for most of the times, our uncalculated actions alone are responsible for our turmoil. Watch your thoughts, be aware of your desires; through such willful meditation, life can indeed be a wholesome and fulfilling journey in itself.
Man is necessarily a complex entity with multiple layers to his identity. As man lives through in this world, he accumulates a different identitiy for himself. He no longer remains the same person that he once was. This is necessarily owing to the fact that the worldly strife completely transforms an individual. It renders him into an entity that is completely suited for the worldly needs; whilst erasing the original identity with which he came into this world. Thus we often see that whenever we meet anyone after a lapse of many years, we find that the person has indeed changed so remarkably that he no longer resembles the individual that he once was. This is essentially owing to the fact that the human being evolves with his surroundings and adapts to the ever-changing world outside.
Evolution, even though a relative term in itself is defined precisely. Evolution is a journey of self-enrichment; it is a journey of progress. Progress is once again a relative term. What I may term as progress might not sound so great to another person; for ever person values different kinds of achievements. The worldly strife is but a means to turn some of our dreams into reality. However in this process of apparent progress; in this process of self-enrichment, many times it occurs to us that we indeed forget our true identities in the pursuit of new ones. We forget who we truly are as we go on incessantly seeking more and more. In a bid to find the perfect way of living in this world, we forget that within ourselves, our spirit dies a silent death.
The world is essentially a hostile place. It is a place where every decision is taken based on shrewd intellect. It is a place that demands you to be as hostile as itself; for in order to survive in the jungle, you have to be an animal. Thus man is slowly transformed into a ruthless, self-centered beast; and the noble and benevolent spirit, which once rested in regality within, now finds itself to be a prisoner of greed and lust. Thus man on his own accord kills the noble child that resides within him; to surivive in the world outside; he voluntarily murders the innocence within himself as he prepares a new identity to help him survive the worldly strife.
However, the key factor that man overlooks is the fact that the worldly identity cannot provide him with any peace and satisfaction; for inherently it is a personality that is based upon incessant desire, greed and self-centered aspirations. Thus the derived personality in itself has subtle undertones of perpetual dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction is a desirable aspect in worldly life, for it enable a person to go ahead and strive for excellence. Yet when the moment comes to finally sit back and enjoy the benefits of the hard labor that the individual accomplished through the years, he can hardly do so. The derived worldly persona does not know what it means to be at peace; for it is always at war in the world outside. Thus the individual himself can get little satisfaction even after working his whole life to gain the comforts and luxuries that he so desired. In the end, the individual realizes that he was much happy when he had none of those luxuries; atleast at that point in time, he had himself; he had his spirit; he could experience the joy of the simple things in life;
Thus the point of the matter remains, that even though the world expects you to be someone else, never forget who you truly are. For in the end, that inner self is going to be your lasting mate in this journey of life…
Many times, when the spiritualist tries to get an overview of life, he finds that there is indeed little that he can cognize through the scope of his puny intellect. When the seeker tries to get grasp of his own karmic alliances in order to get a greater insight into his own life, he indeed comes to a complete blank. Many pseudo-intellectuals feel that spirituality teaches a person cowardice; that it preaches inaction. The point of the matter is that the truth could not more opposite to the aforementioned perception. Spirituality is a way of life that necessarily imbibes the realization in the seeker’s heart; that all that he does in the life, in one or the other comes back to him. Spirituality teaches an individual that each and every thing that he experiences in life is owing to some past karma; that every effect is owing to some cause that was responsible in triggering it. Spirituality in the end, gives the seeker a complete overview of his own journey, as the soul traverses through countless incarnations; through multiple instances of life and death to come to a point where it can truly move on from that recursive grind.
However the knowledge that accompanies that realization comes to the seeker at a very advanced stage of his spiritual journey. In that one moment of blinding realization, all the veils of illusion are laid bare before the seeker’s eyes as he cognizes the complete scope of his wondrous journey. All his previous incarnations instantly manifest before his own eyes and thus he receives the entire knowledge that he once gained in each of those lives. That stage of realization however is a very advanced stage. The problem arises when the seeker, in contemplation of his previous karmas, starts to lose his bearing in the present moment. It is a state of much confusion and contemplation on part of the seeker, for he indeed sees himself in a delicate position. On one hand, through the intuitive glimpses that provide him a spiritual insight into his own life, he starts to realize that there indeed is more to life that what meets the eye. However on the other hand, the seeker is not yet matured enough to truly gain the cognition of the knowledge that resides in his past. Thus in that tricky part of the spiritual journey, the seeker spends much time contemplating on his own journey.
The master in these circumstances admonishes the seeker as he tells him to always remain in the present. The seeker on his part is always attracted to the past, but he does not realize that the past is long gone and dead. The knowledge that he would gain from that past, would not salvage his ship in the torrential seas of life. It is only in the present moment that he can truly make a genuine effort to evolve and to proceed further ahead on the path. The seeker must always realize that whatever has transpired in his life is the result of his own karma; he cannot change the past; but he can definitely secure for himself the hope of a better future. The seeker can only accomplish this through the present; by keeping his acts chaste and his heart pure.
The spiritual journey is a process of evolution. It is a process that occurs with every single breath that the individual takes. As the seeker proceeds through life, learning through his mistakes, adapting with the circumstances, succeeding with steadfast efforts, a great spiritual change takes place within him. Unknown to him, his own spirit undergoes many transformations, each of which brings him ever closer to realizing the final truth; towards attaining the zenith of evolution.In the end the seeker, must realize that his karma is like a catalyst that adds fuel to the fire. How the fire burns and to what end does it burn is a question that I shall leave to you…
In the third chapter of the Satsang series of audio epistles, Rutugandha recounts the day when the master spoke of the correct way to live, in the process giving overview of the connection that exists between human life and human karma. In the following epistle, Rutugandha narrates the compiled dissertation of Shree Milindji Moghe as he elucidates and elaborates on this key concept…
P.S. The audio snippet is in Marathi interspersed with Hindi. We shall be providing you with the English transcript. Expect it on Wednesday.
A Spiritual Revolution added to Articles. Embracing Reality added to Articles. Rebellion added to Articles. The State of Liberation added to Articles. Hypocrisy in Spirituality added to Articles. Pointless Spirituality added to Articles. Two Bytes of Life added to Articles. Change, Consistency & Success added to Articles.
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March 10, 2011 9:26 pm | 
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