Moral Courage

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends in TBP,

Love and Love alone....

Reading the words of Swami Vivekananda, one feels so little,

insignificant and timid. But, that is what Swami Vivekananda

is/was/will be to guide many of us, at all times, so that we also

become like him sooner than later. I, for one, feel so elated to

read his roaring and resounding words of sanity and love. May the

Mother Earth be blessed with many such Vivekanandas. With tears of

joy I reverentially bow my head with all love and love alone....

 

P. Gopi Krishna

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Moral Courage

How many people have the real faith that they can attain success in

life by being perfectly virtuous? How many people have the real

faith that they can face evil or even change the minds of wicked

people simply by the power of virtue? Many people seem to believe

that they would not be able to earn more money or succeed in life,

should they become 'too good'. Though a large number of them talk

about Dharma and Karma, they do not often hesitate to tell lies, to

betray their friends, or to be dishonest. There are self-righteous

people who want to fight evil in society; however, they do it not by

increasing their own virtue but by following a tit-for-tat policy or

by resorting to various low-down tricks. In other words, what we

most frequently meet with is not moral courage but moral cowardice.

 

 

 

Religious courage

Millions of people seem to believe in God but most of them derive

their strength not from God but from their own instincts, desires,

fancies, and from their dependence on other people or wealth. If

they depended wholly on God, they wouldn't be selfish, immoral,

jealous and quarrelsome as many of them are, nor would they blame

God for all their misfortunes as many of them do. Very often belief

in God is seen to coexist with disbelieve, and many people seem to

have greater faith in stars, planets, ghosts and the Devil than in

God.

 

Real religious courage comes not from mere belief in the existence

of God or from reading books but from a pure heart illumined by the

wisdom of God. It is the result of the practice of chastity and

other virtues and the opening of the heart to divine Light and Power

through intense prayer or unceasing worship. Through this opening

the individual will unite itself with the divine Will; it is this

union that is known as total dependence on God.

 

 

 

Courage to be

When the ego is threatened with non-being, there are three courses

of action open to it. It can assert itself, its own being; this

is 'courage to be'. Or the ego can take refuge in the Deity; this is

religious courage. Instead of taking refuge in the Deity, the ego

may seek refuge in a group or society; this is collectivization of

the ego.. But the ego does not generally follow any of these courses

immediately. Instead, it reacts. The most common form of reaction is

anxiety. If we feel a constant feeling of anxiety, we should know

that our egos are facing the threat of non-being. [Vedanta and the

Courage to be, Prabuddha Bharata, May 1986.]

 

 

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