Day: December 9, 2023

Swami ji said…

Any promise made by us ; any commitment given by us to someoneone else – must be honoured and must be fulfilled. The moment we utter words that convey an assurance of any kind , we are bound by them and it becomes on us – to act on them – as it becomes our ‘dharm’. Making a promise to someone ; to give someone an assurance of doing something for him ; to stand by him – should not be taken lightly. Someone’s hopes could be pinned on the promise made to him by us.
Not keeping a promise – is nothing short of ‘adharma’.

But , in today’s world, promises are rarely kept. We see it happen everywhere – with us, around us and also often by us. Why do we do this? Why does it happen? The truth is that commitments are often made while in a sense of stupor or grandiose – without much regard to the implications of the words uttered by us. Or else promises are used as a means to impress or deceive. But very rarely are they made with the intent of being acted upon.

Somewhere in our minds, we have come to terms with the thought – that it is alright to not keep promises. Society as such has made not keeping promises acceptable. Even the person who is given an assurance nowadays – is often sure that the promise that has been made to him will not materialise.

But, an unkept promise is nothing but a lie. And that is why we all unwillingly commit…कुकर्म – bad ‘karma’ – when we say things we don’t mean to adhere to.

And , while most of us might think of how others have not kept their promises to us and cheated us , a little introspection will show us how many times we cheat ourselves too.
Yes, many times, people who take money from us fail to give it back as promised , but , this financial loss does not hurt us as much as the loss our soul feels , when we fail to meet the promises we make to ourselves.

“I will not smoke from tomorrow…”, “I will not drink today…”, “I will pray daily…”, “I will call him tomorrow…” – all these are promises too. Promises we make to ourselves. Unfortunately, we unfailingly fail to keep them most of the time.
Initially, we ignore these failures on our part. But , gradually, as time passes, and we keep deceiving ourselves, lying to ourselves – the spirit within us is weakened. It understands that the words we tell ourselves are devoid of any truth or resolve. We gradually lose confidence in ourselves. We are defeated not by anyone else, not by life, but by ourselves. Since we fail to meet even the smallest of expectations from ourselves, we are unable to gather the courage and confidence to seek any bigger challenge. Life gradually becomes devoid of any sort of fulfilment.

What can thus be done to avoid this crisis? We cannot simply stop making promises. Such an escapist attitude would serve us no good. But , what we can do is to be careful about what we commit. Whether in personal or professional relationships, we must promise only that which we are sure of fulfilling. Our assurances must be honest and measured. They must not be made to only please or comfort someone, but , must also convey that which is realistic and can be truly achieved in the future.

Even the spiritual seeker makes many promises to himself or to God. Although these promises are made with good intent and meaning , they are often too challenging or difficult to keep.Thus, even promises made with a good intention for our spiritual upliftment too – can become the untruth – if they are not kept. For example, not everyone can meditate for an hour daily. This requires practice, discipline and immense effort. However, one can commit to meditating for an hour every weekend or one can definitely take out ten minutes to devote to meditation every day. It is only when we are successful in keeping these promises to ourselves – that we will start making further progress in – ” दूसरों मे यह विश्वास जगा ने के लिये कि वह अपने दिये हुए वादे को हमेशा पूरा करता हैं …” Only then can one begin to set goals for oneself – with a sense of commitment and purpose and start achieving them. Remind yourself that promises are meant to be kept – not to be broken.

If we make it a point to keep a promise ; if we put into effect the words that were said to someone that have ignited hope and belief in him ; if we make a resolve to never break a promise – we will not really be surprised to find ourselves gradually meeting people with this rare habit.This is because the ability of committing oneself to one’s word requires discipline, mental strength and honesty. And those who have such qualities are bound to find each other. Nurturing such qualities makes us excel in life and fulfills us with a sense of achievement. We need to remember that – “अगर हम ‘ईश्वर’ और ‘गुरू’ को अपने चित – मन से वादा करते हैं तो हमें उसे जरूर पूरा करना चाहिए…”