”अपनी शारीरिक बनावट और रंग – रूप के बंधक मत बनो… जैसे हो वैसे ही खुद को स्वीकार करो … “

Swami ji said…

“The urgency to earn appreciation, approval and to be accepted by one and all, is experienced by nearly all of us in today’s scenario. We crave to get a thumbs up sign from those in particular who matter to us and those who have succeeded in impressing us greatly. Modern man constantly seeks validation from society. What others think of us, how others perceive us has taken front row in our hearts and minds. And, thus we endure great pains to ensure that we do not lag behind in projecting our outer self to the world in a blitzkrieg way.Be it through photos and videos on social media ; attending social functions, or other attention grabbing methods. We have to be seen everywhere, make our ‘presence’ felt everywhere.The gap between who we really our, and , how we want the world must see us – is constantly growing. This widening gap, however, is what creates an internal turmoil within us, and places great stress on the mind and soul as our physical looks begin to take precedence. The thoughts – ‘How fair or tall am I ? Am I beautiful or handsome enough ? Why am I so fat ? ‘ – plague us constantly.”

” As is often the case, we associate fame and glory with a sense of happiness and joy. And , yes, words of appreciation do make us feel good.They give our ego quite a boost. But the ‘happiness’ we experience is such cases is only momentary and superficial. As a result, we feel we need to do something to earn this appreciation again and again. And, as is often the case, this means we begin to look at ways to get the world’s attention, to do that, which would be appreciated by it. As a result, people stop living and experiencing their lives and rather ‘project’ one for the world – one that is false and full of pretence. Can we guarantee that the most beautiful person on Earth is truly a happy person within ?”

” Unfortunately, society also appreciates only ‘physical’ beauty, wealth and power. It is no wonder that people thus become obsessed with ‘looks’ and ‘money’. Sincerity, honesty, simplicity on the other hand are barely acknowledged and even ridiculed. Complex about one’s plain looks are good enough to make him lose his self confidence and maybe feel depressed too ? Is it worth it ?”

” Amazingly, just like ‘maya’, we too create a different picture of our lives for others – than what it ‘truly’ is. Is such behaviour not counterintuitive for a true spiritual seeker? How can one who depends on others for his measure of happiness ever even begin looking ‘within’? Yes, one should not strive to be a pariah in society, but, just as importantly, one must also not let one’s nature and soul be enslaved by it. God has a thousand forms – at times He takes the form of an ‘avatar ‘, when He wishes, He takes the form of a ‘vanar’, sometimes the form of a ‘tree’ – and we accept Him in all forms. Why then can we also not accept that we too are different from the others in rest of the world, in various ways, and , embrace our originality ?”

” The complex that one develops due to his physical shortcomings, seeps into his day to day behaviour too. In schools, obese but intelligent students, are wary of asking questions, as the fear of being ridiculed and being branded ‘fat’ by their peers frightens them. Young college going students spend a large amount of money, much beyond their means, to improve their complexion and skin tone – on anything , to look good – only to be ridden with debt later on. People are fully prepared to lose all sense of dignity just for a few days of fame. All this self-destruction and madness is inflicted on oneself only to gain society’s approval. Yet, in the end, happiness still eludes them ; appears to be missing from their lives.”

” ‘Suparnakha’ was a demon and in order to hide her true features, she assumed the form of a beautiful woman to win over Laxman. What did she gain by doing so in the end ? She suffered the humiliation of getting her nose cut by Laxman. We too must learn from her fate. We must accept who we are – physically, what we are and not care , if , people around us dislike us for how we look. Do they forget that we have been created by God and He loves us the way we are ? We cannot be puppets, with society behaving as the puppeteer, but , rather, we must be the master of all our actions in life – ‘As it is our good ‘karma’ aur ‘achche vihar’ joh humari ‘ruh’ ko aur pavitra, saaf karte hai ‘ – and it is on cleansing of the ‘soul’ that we must focus, as the beauty of the ‘soul’ surpasses physical beauty.”