‘शांति’

Swami ji said …

The wheels of restlessness constantly turn within the mind – and they should,if, they were to do so in the pursuit of noble dreams or improvement of the self. But more often than not it is in – what the other is doing, what others are achieving that causes the brain cells to be ever active. An air of disquiet blows within us – fanning further anxiety, agitation and envy – as we see others do better than us.. ‘ऐसा लगता है जैसे हमें शांत रहना आता ही नहीं है और शायद हम शांत रहना भी नहीं चाहते…’

This narrow and closed mindset of ours – of never wishing well for others, lest, good things stop happening to us – can be nipped in the bud , if , rather than praying only for our personal, our family and loved ones’ welfare, we were to say a prayer for the welfare and upliftment of all – wish well for everyone around us, rise above our selfishness and bear love for all.

But how many of us can honestly say that we wish well for others? We wish the best for ourselves; pray that everything good happens with us – but make it a point to exclude others from it. Why are we so small hearted? What are we scared of? The solution to this is that we must realise and learn to truly believe that no one can take away what is destined to come our way, and that ‘Time’ – the greatest equaliser – will bring to us and give to us what belongs to us and what we deserve. Only then can we learn to be secure in our own skin and circumstances, and begin being happy in the happiness of others.

Freedom from insecurity and being able to rejoice in the success of others is only possible if we are honest at heart. To be able to recognise that someone has deservedly gained what they have received and to be able to celebrate that and take inspiration from that frees us from the futile and draining emotions of envy and jealousy. We must learn that everyone is truly equal in God’s eyes, and that our efforts will be equally rewarded. Feeling disgruntled at someone else’s happiness and success is a sign of weak character and a lack of belief in one’s own ability.

More often than not, we feel that others are lucky and favoured in life to receive what they get. We feel that they do not deserve the gifts they receive from God and that we have to struggle a lot more – even for less. Such thinking is incorrect. We refuse to believe that someone can work harder than us ; make bigger sacrifices than us to achieve what they have ! This is only a reflection of our own inability to push ourselves and inspire ourselves to work harder when we see others succeed.

Taking inspiration from success of others leads to success in our own endeavours.
Jealousy and resentment only lead to one’s downfall, as, one’s actions then onwards will always be misguided and ill-intended. Yes, it is important to compete and a healthy dose of competition does lead to excellence; but we must be wary of becoming envious of others, as it will simply rob us of our peace of mind. And , instead of reflecting on lines of our own self-improvement, we will be only scheming against others.

We must not forget how such a negative attitude led to Duryodhan’s downfall. Despite being a capable prince himself, he was always envious of the Pandavas and constantly plotted of depriving them of their right – to and in the kingdom. He was never at peace with himself and later in life lost everything while wishing ill for his brethren. What was the end result? The Pandavas finally got the kingdom that they had always deserved, whereas, Duryodhan on the other hand, lost all his brothers and his own life in the Battle of Kurukshetra.

Only those who are devoid of love for others – fail to rejoice in the achievements and happiness of others. We must change our mentality and instead of only saying – ‘mera mangal hoye’ – let us learn to say -‘ sabka mangal hoye…’ and we will gradually begin to feel a sense of peace pervade our being.

We must always remember – ‘ ‘शांति’ उसी समय से हमारे जीवन में प्रविष्ट हो जाती है , जिस समय से हमारा मन दूसरों के लिए शुभ सोचना प्रारम्भ कर देता है …’