Hari Om!
|| स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमादः ||
Never Procrastinate to Study Yourself!
Gnothi Seauton:
Know Thyself
Live not inattentively. ~ The Buddha
We begin this series of Podcasts on the unique philosophy of Swami Sharnānandjī with the first of the Eleven Basic Principles of Humanity. These principles are supremely essential for the creation of a harmonious society (ऐक सुन्दर समाज का निर्माण) and for living a happy, fulfilled life. According to Swamījī, a fulfilled life is a life of service, surrender, and love (सेवा, समर्पण और प्रेम). By practicing these three virtues, one’s life becomes useful to the society, to oneself, and to the Supreme Lord.
Sharnānandjī was deeply keen about creating a society where individuals are conscious about their duties and responsibilities rather than being insistent upon their rights. When everyone takes care of their duties, everyone’s rights get protected on their own accord. This simple perspective is quite revolutionary in its practical implications: It can lead to happy individuals, harmonious society, and a peaceful world. This is what we urgently need today.
Sharnānandjī was acutely aware that building such a splendid society must begin with the psychological transformation of the individual, the smallest unit of the society. Like Plato, the great Greek philosopher, he believed that ‘an unexamined life is not worth living.’ This is what all the great sages of humanity have taught since time immemorial.
Therefore, the first of the 11 Principles of Humanity begins with self-observation:
“Self-introspection or seeing one’s own faults in the light of the intrinsic faculty of discriminative wisdom (निज विवेक nija–viveka).”
Human beings differ from animals because of the faculty of discernment—viveka. When we observe the human condition around us, we discover that most problems arise due to dishonoring this faculty of self-discernment. For example, we know that eating junk food is not good for health. We know that eating healthy and exercising are good for us. Everyone knows this— based on their power of reasoning. We get into trouble when we do not respect our own faculty of reasoning (निज विवेक).
Swamījī used to say that this much reasoning is given to every human being at birth. Everyone knows what is good, what is bad and what is right, what is wrong. When we practice self-examination sincerely, we are able to see our limitations, our faults all too clearly and starkly. The goal is not to make us feel bad about our shortcomings. The idea is to help us see them in the true light so that we can correct them. The reason we are not able to overcome bad habits is that we do not see them as such in the proper light of our own viveka. When one sees evil as evil, one is already on the path of goodness. This is what viveka is all about. It is the right knowledge (यथार्थ ज्ञान) about things. This is the touchstone (कसौटी) of wisdom, according to the Bhagavad Gītā (2.11).
One way to cultivate this practice of self-introspection is to take time at the end of the day and reflect back on the activities of that day. Ask the following questions to help your self-reflection:
- Did I use my gifts for the good of others?
- Did I do a selfless deed today?
- Did I grow in goodness today?
- Did I help someone today?
- Did I make someone happy today?
Consider that day wasted if the answer to any of these questions is in the negative.
When we devote our life for the well-being of all beings (sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ सर्वभूतहिते रताः 5.25; 12.4, according to the Bhagavad Gītā), we are marching toward the creation of a harmonious society. There is one important point though that we need to be mindful of: We should be good and we should do good, without expecting anything in return. As Swamiji would say: कुछ ना चाहो, काम आ जाओ. Be useful, but do not expect anything in return.
May we all be so fortunate!
Hari Om!
Recent Comments