Have a goal

[Guest guest]

(I was writing some thing else, but then some thing else has asked me "Is

this necessary?", I was caught in that question. Ignored what I wrote and

started writing the following. Take it at the face value, forgive me if

you find any mistakes in it. Thank the Lord if you find any thing useful in

it - Madhava )

 

We are blessed with a boon called Intellect. We often don't realize that

we really have the power. Instead, many crusial times in our life we act

as if we were meek, vulnarable, feeble and inconsistent with out much of

thinking. We feel that we are acting after thinking where as, in reality,

we are undergoing something called "manOvikAra" (the power of the

mischievous mind). kAma (desire), krOdha (anger), lObha (greed), mOha

(lust), mada (egotism) and mAtsarya (envy) all these are classified as

manOvikAras by our great seers.

 

We often get caught by one of manOvikara and act foolishly. Ultimately

this leads to the disctuction of our very own character. Ravana brought

his own disctruction because of a manOvikara called "mOha" (Lust).

DuryOdhana brought disctruction to all KuruvaMSa because of a manOvikAra

called "mAtsarya" (Envy). Valarous Vali had been killed because of his own

greed (Lobha) towards the kingdom. Numerous examples can be sighted, from

our epics as well as from our modern day history, regarding how distructive

is the manOvikAra.

 

Blessed is he - who can witness his manOvikAra, who can watch a wicked

thought playing in his mind, yet get unaffected because of it. Bhagawadgita

claimed him as a "GunAtita". (gunAgunEshu vartaMtE iti matvA nashajjatE...

Bh.G)

 

As I see it, thought is nothing but a subjective reflection of the

objective world. We need an object in order to think of it. We can't think

of some thing which we have not seen. When we get to see some thing, we

see it wrongly... this is our mistake. When we see a rope as a rope there

is no problem, but the problem arises when we see a rope as a snake. In my

opinion, it is not necessary to think where the snake or the rope has come

from... Accept that the rope is lying on the ground.

 

We can't see, with out thinking of the object... Can we? Why do we tend to

think of it when we see anything? Why do we think suspiciously towards a

stranger? I think, this all happens because we are mortals. We can't just

avoid thinking. Thinking takes place as long as there is a monovikAra in

us. "The thought devoid of manOvikAra is nothing but truth", we call it as

truth untainted. Truth has to be accepted as nothing but truth --- devoid

of manOvikAra.

 

A bad desire, a lustfull thought, greed towards anything, anger towards

any, behaving as an egoist, becoming envious towards any.... all these

cause a man to loose his peace. Man is essentially peace, he looses it

because of giving reins to the mind. Peace is nothing but immortality.

Mind is an instrument to gather information. But we often let the mind do

many more things... For example, we have a choice whether to go to a

nightclub or not. We no that going to a nightclub is not our culture.

Yet! just to have the fun of it, we shun our intellect and go to the night

club. After visiting the night club, we get sick of seeing all those

things which we may not digest. We repent. We had a choice not to go, yet

we go just because "for the fun of it". This fun is nothing but a

manOvikAra. Recognize it...

 

It is essential to undergo a couple of questions before doing any thing "Is

it necessary?", "what is the objective?", "how is it going to help me in

achiving my objective?", "what about the possible outcome?", "is the

possible outcome some thing that I really wanted?"...

 

I often think that taking action is just like flying a Jumbojet. The pilot

uses a mandatory checklist with tick boxes. Engines checked, thrust

reversers checked, cabin pressure checked... checked... checked... there

are numerous things that he checks before taking off. Acting in the world

is nothing but the same. We need to check for so many things, before we

act. Once we act, our action is irreversible.

Of course, even after checking all these our action yields bad results, we

are at peace because we know that we did every thing correctly, and put the

outcome on daiva --- like bhagawaDgita said "daivaM caiva atra paMcamaM"

(daiva is the fifth but unseen force)

 

In my opinion there is no second chance in this life, so let us do it

better in the first itself when ever we choose to act. A pilot knows that

he should not fly if any of the checks go wrong. Same way, one should not

act if at all any of our actions might hurt somebody, might cause damage to

something, might cause disturbance of mind, might deviate you from your

goal...

 

A goal is necessary for life. Intellect is the greatest instrument that

can make us achieve the goal. An intellect, having a decisive goal, can

help one in consentration. For example, one wants to become a collector,

becoming a collector is his goal goal. So he starts studying various

helpful books, he decline his friends request to see a movie, he declines

anything that he might think could possibly stop him from achieving his

goal. Thus, having concentrated, he becomes a collector. Same way, we

have to set a goal for our life time. May it be peace, may it be

immortality, may it be seeing God, may it be achieving a noble prize...

what ever, but we need to set a goal and act upon. Intellect can perform

wonders, if you have a goal. You keep remembering the goal, it can

navigate you through the toughest time of your life. A cautious pilot can

glide his plane efficiently even at the brink of disaster. Let us be as

cautious as a pilot. Let us think many times before we act. Let our

actions help others in some way... Let all our lives be blessed by a

beautiful goal.

 

uttishTa, jAgrata prApya varAniibOdhata - kathOpanishad

Arise awake stop not till you reach the goal

 

Regards,

Madhava