Wednesday 14 January 2015

48. Listen to Heart – Be Steady to Achieve Steadiness on the Path of Self-Realization…

Hari Bol....

48. Listen to Heart – Be Steady to Achieve Steadiness on the Path of Self-Realization…


I would like to share a story of a Hare and a Tortoise which we all studied and heard during our childhood. This story comes to my mind whenever I hear or come across the word steady or steadiness.

Once, a hare was roaming near a lake in a forest. Suddenly he saw a tortoise and mocked at him saying - "Hurry up, you slow coach! Don't you find life very dull taking so long to cover a few yards? I could have run to the other side of the lake by now." The tortoise felt teased and dared the hare to a race. The race was to be through the wood to a fixed goal. The hare agreed laughingly. In a few minutes he was away and out of sight. "What a funny race it is!" he said to himself, "I am already half -way through. But it is too-too cold; why not have a nap in the warm sunshine?" The tortoise walked steadily on and on. In a short time, he passed by the sleeping hare. The hare slept far longer than he had intended. When he woke up at last, he looked around in surprise and said to himself," Not even a sigh of the poor tortoise anywhere so far; I had better trot along and finish the race." The hare ran to the goal. He was amazed to see all the animals cheering the tortoise that had arrived just a minute earlier. How ashamed he felt indeed!

We all know that the moral of the story is ‘Slow and steady wins the race’. I would put my view bit differently. It is not the speed i.e. fast-slow and high-low matters but what matters is steadiness towards the duty with target in mind. We should continuously perform our karma with right intention without thinking of the outcome and result. We as human beings starts focusing on the result and loose our focus from karma; as result always plays a vital role in our life. It is the attitude and mindset of a person. We have to be positive in our thoughts. We should have strong will to do our karma. We need to be steady in our persistence and trials. The steadiness is not only related to the speed. It is related to many more on which our life is dependent.


Steadiness means fixed in nature. Steadiness is stable in position and is in state of equilibrium. Even if something is moving it has to move evenly with uniform and at regular speed. Steadiness is free of any change or variations or fluctuations. Steadiness is not affected or interrupted due to any change in life, situation, emotions, feelings, habits, environment and climate and so on. Being steadiness is free from excitement and agitation in fact it takes the position of being calm. We can say a steady person does not falter rather he is always un-falter. Steadiness makes a person more reliable, responsible, and dependable and a balanced matured person. Steadiness is freedom from wavering or indecision; constancy of resolve or conduct. Steadiness is the quality of being steady or securely and immovably fixed in place and regular and unvarying and predictable. On the other hand unsteadiness is the quality of being unsteady--varying and unpredictable.

 

“If you want to achieve steadiness of mind, you should remain engaged constantly in your moment-to-moment duties with attention. The discipline this attention brings, makes opposing desires, thoughts and feelings powerless to affect your mind.” – Bhagavad Gita 18:45. The Bhagavad Gita, “The Song of the Lord” is the best known of all Indian scriptures. The Bhagavad Gita opens in a battlefield. The battlefield is perfect scenery, but the subject of the Gita is the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must undertake to live a life that is meaningful, fulfilling and worthwhile.

Steadiness is crucial in the spiritual life. We need to remain steady in our struggle. We need to be strong as we face the trials and tribulations that assault us in this world. We need to be firm. Sri Ramakrishna declared, “Unless the mind becomes steady there cannot be yoga i.e. union with God.” He compares the mind to the flame of a candle. “It is the wind of worldliness that always disturbs the mind. If that flame doesn’t move at all, then one is said to have attained yoga.” I would like to re-put the statement, “Mind is never a problem, it is the Mindset.”

We need to develop steadiness not only in regard to our fears and worries, we also need to be steady in the face of the reactions of others. We cannot let the thoughts and emotions of others affect how we feel ourselves. People will praise our actions one day, and then on another day, the same people will un-praise the deeds that we have done. There is nothing that we can do to change this except “Change yourself rather changing others….” it is the way of the world. Our steadiness needs to come from within. Spiritual steadiness, therefore, also means a steady faith. Our faith in God tends to be spasmodic and erratic. We are great believers if matters work out to our liking, but we quickly lose our faith when things start to go wrong. We need to cultivate a firm faith that remains steady no matter what our circumstances. We will develop this type of faith when we realize that the only one we can truly rely on is God who is our true and real friend, father, mother, brother, sister, teacher, guru and so on and in fact He is all for all of us. We need steadfast friends who will support us when we are weary of the struggle, who will strengthen us when we feel that we cannot go forward another step. True spiritual friends are a real blessing. They are a gift worth more than any object or experience. Spiritual friends will help us to be steady in heart and mind. They will aid us in being consistent in our devotion and learning. They will encourage us to learn and grow. They will stand on either side of us.

If we take example and try to learn from successful people we will find that everyone has something in common and one of them is ‘Steadiness’. They all have chosen their path according to their interest and ability. They all have moved on that particular path with right intentions to perform their Karma. One of the learning from Srila Prabhubadaji is that he was very steadily and continuously working for ‘Krishna-Consciousness’ and able to form ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) thus bringing different people from all parts of the world at the common platform of ISKCON.


I would like to share teachings as ‘Lecture on BG 5.17-25 - Los Angeles, February 8, 1969of  His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada  on Steadiness of mind is called ‘Sthira-Buddhi, or ‘Self-Intelligence’ below;
He is not joyful in achieving something, nor does he lament in losing anything which is related to this body. This steadiness of mind is called ‘Sthira-Buddhi’, or ‘Self-Intelligence’. The symptoms of the self-realized person are given herein. The first symptom is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perfectly well that he is not this body, but is the fragmental portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is therefore not joyful in achieving something, nor does he lament in losing anything which is related to his body. This steadiness of mind is called ‘Sthira-Buddhi’, or ‘Self-Intelligence’. He is therefore never bewildered by mistaking the gross body for the soul, nor does he accept the body as permanent and disregard the existence of the soul. This knowledge elevates him to the station of knowing the complete science of the Absolute Truth, namely Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. He thus knows his constitutional position perfectly well, without falsely trying to become one with the Supreme in all respects. This is called ‘Brahman Realization’ or ‘Self-Realization’. Such steady consciousness is called ‘Krishna Consciousness’.


Just like the sunshine, the sun disk and the sun-god within the sun disk. They are the same thing, light. But there is difference of degrees. The light and temperature which you feel in the sunshine is different from the light and temperature in the sun disk. And the light or temperature in the sun disk is different from the light and temperature of the sun-god. But they are all light. Similarly, Absolute Truth is one, light, but there are degrees. If you become attached to impersonal Brahman, you simply enjoy the eternity feature of the Absolute Truth. If you simply try to understand the Super-soul by meditation, then you realize the eternity and knowledge aspect of the Absolute Truth. But if you realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you realize eternity, knowledge, and bliss, three things, because without being connected with Krishna or the Supreme Personality of Godhead there is no possibility of enjoying transcendental bliss. In the impersonal Brahman you can remain there eternally. In Paramatma you can have knowledge but in Bhagavan you have eternity, knowledge and transcendental bliss.

Krishna says to Arjuna, “O best among men (Arjuna), the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation”. Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation. Immortality means death-less and birth-less. It is the state of ‘Self-Realization’. Krishna address Arjuna as ‘Purusarsabha’ meaning ‘Bull among men’ Bull is sacred as per Hindu mythology as it lives with the principle of service and sacrifice. Arjuna also followed the same principle of service and sacrifice in life. Being one of the best people in mankind, he qualified to rise above the world of pleasure and pain and gain immortality for self.

All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy: Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) , Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 15, www.google.com, Wikipedia. www.krishna.com, www.krishna.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.glossary.com, www.vocabulary.com, www.shortstoriesshort.com,www.kidsgen.com/moral_stories/hare_and_tortoise.htm,www.daatelyon.org/2011/10/steadiness, http://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Steadiness_of_mind_is_called_sthira-buddhi,_or_self-intelligence

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