Spiritual Masters and Business Leaders all over the world have agreed that the most stubborn block between me and my Happiness is Ego & Attachment. Various techniques, methods and approaches are given to overcome these most difficult-to-overcome obstacles of the sacred pilgrimage of life.
Here Shankaracharya gives a solution: Think, Discriminate, Know
So Shankara points out the 3 commonest factors which feed the ego and attachments of our lives:
1) Pleasure - enjoyment of wealth and all that which it brings with it - THINGS (Dhana)
2) Prestige - popularity, control and love of people - PEOPLE (Jana)
3) Power - personal power which comes with age, capacity and strength - ONESELF (Yovana)
The more of these makes us greater, happier, more celebrated. The less of these makes us lost in life.
Achievers and non-achievers are graded on these scales. But how reliable are our scales?
Shankara says "Barely"!
One wink of an eyelid and it can all be snatched out of our lives! And yet, how conveniently we depend our happiness, peace, self-respect on these ephemeral fancies of life.
Often we watch in the society that the rich become poor, the young get old, the famous infamous. They who have, lose. They who don't, achieve. Power, pleasure and prestige have no permanent address. Dhana, Jana, Yovana have no loyalty towards anyone. They will leave us any time - often without a notice. If life is merciful and lets them stay on with us, Death will snatch it all away in a wink. We may be devotedly wedded to them, but they belong to none at all. We all know this. But somehow we believe that ours will stay ours.
These become the source of our self-worth. People feel devastated, get into shock, become clinically depressed and commit suicide when they lose these. Why? Because we forget that these are "permanently temporary".
We can say all this in Satsangs. But the world only values those who have these. How can we not achieve them? Shankara says: Achieve, achieve, achieve. Just don't get attached. That's all.
The world may respect those who have these, but the world remembers them who live well.
Finally, how peaceful i am in life, how undisturbed I am at death, and how happy I am always - depends on how detached i am NOW.
Focus on living well. Think of the Higher, the Permanent. Develop non-dependency on these fleeting parades of pleasure, prestige and power. Achieve them and yet be detached. Never depend on them. They are like the modern-day house-servant/domestic-help... You never know when they will ditch you for a better owner!! Show them their place! Be strong enough to live amidst these but free of these.
One interesting thing is that this sense of dependency on power, pleasure and prestige has nothing to do with the the fact whether i have it or not. Story of Janak Maharaj and Shvetaketu vividly reveals this. Janak Maharaj was unperturbed even when his entire palace was so-to-say on fire. And Shvetaketu ran in despair in search of his begging-bowl lying in some corner of the palace! What an irony!! THINK.
Practice:
Write an autobiography of 200 words - describing yourself without any reference to your personality(talents, skills, physical/emotional/intellectual qualities), achievements (what you own, what you have earned, what is bought and what you have), people (family, friends, social life, popularity, staff, control). Think who are you without any of this!!! TRY! :)
TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 11.
Here Shankaracharya gives a solution: Think, Discriminate, Know
So Shankara points out the 3 commonest factors which feed the ego and attachments of our lives:
1) Pleasure - enjoyment of wealth and all that which it brings with it - THINGS (Dhana)
2) Prestige - popularity, control and love of people - PEOPLE (Jana)
3) Power - personal power which comes with age, capacity and strength - ONESELF (Yovana)
The more of these makes us greater, happier, more celebrated. The less of these makes us lost in life.
Achievers and non-achievers are graded on these scales. But how reliable are our scales?
Shankara says "Barely"!
One wink of an eyelid and it can all be snatched out of our lives! And yet, how conveniently we depend our happiness, peace, self-respect on these ephemeral fancies of life.
Often we watch in the society that the rich become poor, the young get old, the famous infamous. They who have, lose. They who don't, achieve. Power, pleasure and prestige have no permanent address. Dhana, Jana, Yovana have no loyalty towards anyone. They will leave us any time - often without a notice. If life is merciful and lets them stay on with us, Death will snatch it all away in a wink. We may be devotedly wedded to them, but they belong to none at all. We all know this. But somehow we believe that ours will stay ours.
These become the source of our self-worth. People feel devastated, get into shock, become clinically depressed and commit suicide when they lose these. Why? Because we forget that these are "permanently temporary".
We can say all this in Satsangs. But the world only values those who have these. How can we not achieve them? Shankara says: Achieve, achieve, achieve. Just don't get attached. That's all.
The world may respect those who have these, but the world remembers them who live well.
Finally, how peaceful i am in life, how undisturbed I am at death, and how happy I am always - depends on how detached i am NOW.
Focus on living well. Think of the Higher, the Permanent. Develop non-dependency on these fleeting parades of pleasure, prestige and power. Achieve them and yet be detached. Never depend on them. They are like the modern-day house-servant/domestic-help... You never know when they will ditch you for a better owner!! Show them their place! Be strong enough to live amidst these but free of these.
One interesting thing is that this sense of dependency on power, pleasure and prestige has nothing to do with the the fact whether i have it or not. Story of Janak Maharaj and Shvetaketu vividly reveals this. Janak Maharaj was unperturbed even when his entire palace was so-to-say on fire. And Shvetaketu ran in despair in search of his begging-bowl lying in some corner of the palace! What an irony!! THINK.
Practice:
Write an autobiography of 200 words - describing yourself without any reference to your personality(talents, skills, physical/emotional/intellectual qualities), achievements (what you own, what you have earned, what is bought and what you have), people (family, friends, social life, popularity, staff, control). Think who are you without any of this!!! TRY! :)
TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 11.
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