Good Life and Godly life

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

 

People very often fail to draw a distinction between

good life and God-life or Divine Life. There are many

well-intentioned individuals who think somewhat on the

following lines: " Well, I am leading a good life. I am

happily married. I live a clean life.I don't drink; I

don't smoke; I have no bad habits. I

am a vegetarian;I don't cheat anyone. I earn by the

sweat of my brow. What more do you want? " .

Essentially, these are good people. They are certainly

superior to the rogues and cheats and scoundrels of

this world. They follow certain ethical codes. They

pass for respectable citizens. All this is good. All

these qualities make a good foundation. But, a

foundation is not a building. It is not

enough by itself. The superstructure, the building,

has to come up.

 

Goodness is not Godliness. Goodness makes for a good

life in this world, but it will not bring spiritual

salvation. The so-called good people are often selfish

people tied down to their families and

close friends. Their heart is still constricted. They

are still followers of the path of immediate pleasure.

They have some vague ideas about the path of ultimate

good, but are afraid to step on to

the path of ultimate good , afraid to pay the price of

the path of ultimate good. They have their fears about

the sacrifices they will be called upon to make if

they step onto the spiritual path. They cannot

reconcile themselves to thoughts of making charity,

loving strangers and enemies, eating in moderation,

practicing austerities, controlling anger and jealousy

and things like that.

 

If a person wants to register spiritual progress in

life, he should first have this misunderstanding in

his mind cleared. A good life is inadequate. What

these people mean by `good life' will be found to

be, on close inspection, just a `non-evil life'. It is

negative goodness. This alone will not do.

 

Every man is a combination of beastliness, human

nature and godliness. People who boast about their

good life will generally be found to have transcended

the beastly qualities in them, but that is only a

beginning. They are still very much subject to the

innumerable human foibles, failings and likes and

dislikes. They suffer still from human vices like

anger, jealousy and lust. Quite often they will

justify their wrong actions by expressing a thought

like this: " Hey Folks! After all, I am human. In a fit

of passion, I made a mistake " or " In a fit of anger, I

committed that crime " or " Under a sudden impulse of

greed, I made that blunder " . These

good people have still to conquer the human vices in

them and cultivate the divine virtues as enunciated in

the scriptuires. That is the beginning of spiritual

practice. That is the beginning of a

divine life. That is stepping on the road to Heaven.

These men of little understanding— of meagre spiritual

wisdom—identify good life with a pleasant life. They

are men of weak will who are unwilling to face the

unpleasantness and rigours of a truly

spiritual life. You can see these people all over the

world, in all walks of life, in all religions. Some of

them openly deny the existence of God, but mostly

affirm allegiance to formal religion,because they

still have a flickering conscience. Their inner

conscience, the voice of God within them, is still not

completely stifled, is still not totally dead.

 

Not only that. These friends suffer from a false sense

of self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency. Since, by

virtue of a little meritorious action in their

previous lives, God has blessed them

with creature comforts in the present life, they feel

no need for any God, for any extraneous help. Their

philosophy is: " Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow

we die " . If you ask them, " What will happen to you in

the next birth if you don't accumulate merit by

virtuous actions in the present birth? " , they have

their ready answer which they fling at you " Who knows

if there is another birth? Who knows what happens when

you die? " For them, the present life is

all. Even if you try to tell them about the

reincarnation theory, which has been demonstrated and

reinforced by the discovery of so many real-life

instances and supporting evidence, they are in no

mood to listen. They have a closed mind. They suffer

from a sense of self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency and

self-justification are among the greatest stumbling

blocks to spiritual progress.

 

The man who is ignorant but is willing to take in

wisdom from whatever source it comes, in other words,

the ignorant but humble man, can be helped by a man of

greater wisdom. The man who is already wise, but who

is unable to practice his wisdom in daily life

because of his overwhelming pride, also has a chance

to improve, because his pride will encounter

resistance from the universe and will be quelled in

due course. Then he will become humble and will

begin to live wisely. But the ignorant man who is at

the same time arrogant, who is at the same time filled

with the notion that he is all-wise, is the most

difficult of all to reform. Even God cannot

help him. His is in a hopeless situation and bound to

suffer.

 

Regards

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

--------------------

If you have any questions or doubts concerning

Spirituality, Mental peace or problems in life,

please write to us by clicking here:

http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/askquestion.php

His Holiness Sri Sri Swamiji personally answers these

questions for you and suggests accordingly.

---------------------