CHAPTER VI

To succeed, have faith in yourself

We have understood that an individual’s mechanism comprises three transactions—receipt, reaction and response. Every individual has an inherent power to gauge the inputs he receives from his five senses, weigh them and then respond judiciously. This way, we can steer our way to perfection.

You should first have faith in yourself. You should realise that your present nature is best suited to achieve great heights in life. All of us live to play a role. We should understand this role and play it well. That is the essence of life.

For instance, if you are a home maker, execute your role with pleasure. If you have children, realise that you have a duty towards them. If you realise your duty or role in life, you will never suffer from superiority or inferiority complex. No one is superior or inferior. All of you have your own strengths which you should realise and nurture.

Every one has a distinct part to play in this world, so have you. Recognise your part and play it well. Thus, you will progress to perfection.

Let me give you the example of the mountain and the squirrel. The mountain was once boasting about its sheer size, the forest and water bodies that it carries… the birds and animals which live on it. To this the squirrel responded: “I agree with all that you say, but can you shell a peanut?”

This illustrates that each person excels in one field of activity or the other. No one is superior or inferior. The potential within me and my office boy, for instance, is the same. Though I am the Chairman of the company, there are many areas of work which I will not be able to execute as efficiently as my office boy.

All good things have a difficult start

Having discussed the individual’s mechanism, let us now understand the nature of the world. The year passes through four seasons; the day passes through morning, noon, evening and night; the human being changes from child to teenager to adult. In this flux of change, how do you expect wellness? Only your Self is constant, while everything else is constantly changing. But we fail to realise this and seek happiness in the temporary things of life.

As long as the world exists you will have to struggle. You will have to keep evolving with the changing atmosphere. For instance, if our competitor wins the cricket telecast rights, we find fault with them. But we do not question ourselves. We do not introspect on where we have faltered. In the ultimate analysis, competition only brings out the best in us.

All bad things have a good beginning and all good things have a difficult start.

Let us now understand the course of life and its characteristics. They are energy and motion.

You progress in life as long as you are in motion. We have seen some of the biggest industrial houses in the country perish because they failed to evolve with time. Of the 20 top industrialists of the 1950s-60s, hardly five retain their prime position today.

What happens in family businesses? One generation starts the business. The second generation takes it to new heights. The third generation gets into maintenance mode and remains satisfied with sailing with the tide. The fourth generation becomes lethargic and then the business dies.

If you do not keep pace with life, you will devolve. You will eventually go nowhere. The society which does not progress with time will be ruined. This is the universal law.

The world attracts you with its instant pleasure. When your senses contact the external objects you enjoy them forthwith. You do not realise that the pleasure arising out of these contacts are fleeting. They diminish and gradually disappear. Conversely, you find that true happiness has a distasteful beginning but a blissful end.

The ultimate goal of life is to find eternal happiness that lies within us. I quote from a lecture delivered by Swami Ramthirth Paramahamsa on December 13, 1902, at Washington:

There was a time when India possessed probably more riches than all Europe possesses at this time. There was a time when India had more jewels and diamonds, more pearls and rubies than all America has today. India had her day in material prosperity.

Nation after nation ran over India from time to time. Greeks became rich at the cost of India. Persia became rich at the cost of India. Afghanistan has become rich at the cost of India. And at this day, England is amassing fortunes at the cost of India.

India was once really the land of gold and diamonds. We need not repent that. We are not sorry at the present material backwardness of India. We know there is a law, a divine law, a law of nature which is ruling all affairs, which is bringing upon everything. The divine hand which guides and leads our affairs, we know, and knowing that, we do not pine at material backwardness.

We understand the laws of nature. These material objects…all these were tried, experimented, weighed in the balance by Indians and found wanting. America is very young today, so is Europe. They are trying these experiments at this time. All these material things are looked upon by Indians as just a drop of water, nothing else. They are no factors in your happiness. They cannot make you truly happy. Happiness and true bliss cannot be purchased.

The words of the Paramahamsa hold good even today. These are eternal facts that do not change. The world which seems to be changing, actually revolves around the unchanging, which is the Self. Ultimately, we do not understand this because of our ignorance.

The way to peace is meditation

Ignorance may be categorised into three distinct phases: lack of information, lack of understanding and lack of experience.

In the first stage of ignorance, we do not know about ourselves. We do not know the Self, but how do we remove this ignorance? It could be through seminars, interaction and observation. However, as the first step we should reflect about ourselves.

Lack of understanding is defined thus:

You have heard about the Self. You cannot say you do not understand it. Yet, you do not understand it. This phase of ignorance cannot be removed through interaction or observation. The knowledge consumed can be understood and absorbed only through your independent reflections.

You must maintain a constant awareness of your Self. One way of achieving this is through meditation. Meditation is the fixation of thought upon the Self to the exclusion of all other thoughts. This will give you peace of mind and connect with your Self.