Constantly discriminate between the Preya-Marga and the Sreya-Marga,the Pleasant ath and the Good Path. You will have to do this again and again every time the mind tempts you to follow the ways of the world, to imitate others. This desire to imitate others is exceedingly powerful and overpowers even a wise man. Worry not about finding money to buy a scooter (when you have no need for a scooter)just because all your friends come on scooters. Do not bother about how to send your son to the States only because your neighbors have sent their kids to California and Cambridge. Keep away from temptations of all sorts. Do not walk into places of temptation and then struggle to resist temptation. It will tax your will unnecessarily.
Even if you succeed in resisting the temptation, it may leave a craving in the mind. Craving induces restlessness.
Do not multiply your wants and then feel like a beggar. Reduce your wants and feel like a king. Why should you enter a cloth shop and see many varieties presented before your eyes when you have enough clothing at home? Either you will buy unnecessary things. Or feel sad, "Oh, I don't have this. Ah, how I wish I could buy that!" Peace of mind and material greed are incompatibles. They do not go
together. Make your choice.
Reduce your wants to the barest minimum consistent with your general external activities. The fewer the wants and possessions the greater the peace of mind. Possession gives pain. The point is so obvious that it needs no explanation. Hire a taxi rather than own a car. Live in a rented flat rather than possess your own house.
Most of us suffer, not for want of right knowledge or wisdom, but for want of exercise of that wisdom in our daily life. If you want peace of mind, at once stop doing all those things which you know you should not do. And, equally important, start doing all those things which you know you should do. This will set you on the right track, and when you are on the right track, God's Grace will flow into your life and make it more and more sublime. You will gain peace of mind and radiate peace all around you.
Faith has to be exercised.
Love has to be exercised.
Selflessness has to be exercised.
Charity has to be practiced.
Dispassion has to be practiced.
Devotion has to be cultivated.
These qualities, these virtues do not arise, in you over night. They have to be assiduously cultivated before they can become a natural, a habitual, an integral
part of your being.
Even if you succeed in resisting the temptation, it may leave a craving in the mind. Craving induces restlessness.
Do not multiply your wants and then feel like a beggar. Reduce your wants and feel like a king. Why should you enter a cloth shop and see many varieties presented before your eyes when you have enough clothing at home? Either you will buy unnecessary things. Or feel sad, "Oh, I don't have this. Ah, how I wish I could buy that!" Peace of mind and material greed are incompatibles. They do not go
together. Make your choice.
Reduce your wants to the barest minimum consistent with your general external activities. The fewer the wants and possessions the greater the peace of mind. Possession gives pain. The point is so obvious that it needs no explanation. Hire a taxi rather than own a car. Live in a rented flat rather than possess your own house.
Most of us suffer, not for want of right knowledge or wisdom, but for want of exercise of that wisdom in our daily life. If you want peace of mind, at once stop doing all those things which you know you should not do. And, equally important, start doing all those things which you know you should do. This will set you on the right track, and when you are on the right track, God's Grace will flow into your life and make it more and more sublime. You will gain peace of mind and radiate peace all around you.
Faith has to be exercised.
Love has to be exercised.
Selflessness has to be exercised.
Charity has to be practiced.
Dispassion has to be practiced.
Devotion has to be cultivated.
These qualities, these virtues do not arise, in you over night. They have to be assiduously cultivated before they can become a natural, a habitual, an integral
part of your being.
No comments:
Post a Comment