CHANGE YOURSELF FIRST

To change one’s own self first is a difficult task but that is how we can effect a change around us. By expecting others to change themselves without taking any step to change oneself will result in dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

For making a change, you have to act in this world. Think of the reality (Brahman) and do whatever you want to do. Change comes when you move from self-centeredness (inability to accommodate anything beyond your own interests) to unselfishness and then finally to selflessness. The formula of success is to move from selfish desires to unselfish desires to selfless desires. By your own acts, make your home become a centre for happiness. Then the world will compliment you.  You are the architect of your fortunes. You are the architect of your misfortunes. Eradicate your Vasanas (Unfulfilled Desires) so that mind and intellect is absorbed in the truth. Then you merge with the reality. If you are determined to be healthy, your mind will think about being healthy. Mind and intellect get absorbed in this reality and you merge with the truth. We could be called “Brahman - proof”. Brahman is a word for God. Brahman is Allah in Islam and Jesus in Christianity. God is beyond human conception. He has no birth and death. You cannot perceive god. You can only become God.

Human – Desire = God.

You have got to use life to find the truth. For this to happen, Change yourself not the world.

Tell yourself “I will change myself every day in every way”. If told with Bhakti and devotion, you will find a change in yourself and further notice the changes happening around you. Whatever happens in life happens with a reason. God wanted to teach me a few lessons. I believe in hard work and God. I know god is always with me and I think of him wherever I go.  “What is the difference between school and Life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson”.

President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address in January 1961, mentioned to the fellow Americans, “Ask not what your country can do for you – Ask what you can do for your country”. JFK told the fellow citizens of the world, “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do to the freedom of man”.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the Change you wish to see in the world”. We should remember; where there is Love there is Life.  Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. In order to bring about positive change in the world we need not only engage with the outer world but also engage with our inner world. If we want to see greater awareness in the world, we have to cultivate awareness. If we want to see greater harmony and less strife, we need to learn to become more adept at handling our emotions and learn to respond to frustrations with more patience and kindness than we do at present.

Meditation helps us to recognize unhelpful emotional patterns and to develop the mental freedom to choose responses that are more helpful. Among the virtues that Lord Krishna mentioned to Arjuna, at the foremost was, ‘Never hate anyone’.  The cultivation of love and kindness helps us to find alternative and more compassionate responses. Meditation helps us to be the change we wish to see in the world. The thought of Change comes from within. When you have understood the benefits of Change, you have to do Nidhithyasanam and be an example for others to follow.

We should know that nature cannot be changed because what cannot be changed is nature. Wisdom or intelligence is preparing the mind to accept the choiceless or helpless situations without any resistance. Success is not conquering the whole world. Success is accepting everything you get as a gift from God. By repeating to ourselves (meditation / Nidhithyasanam) and repeating to our mind that I am willing to undergo the choiceless situations, we get freedom from stress. Examples of choiceless situations are old age, incurable disease, separation from someone etc. The only one who can be changed by me is myself. Pray to the Bagawan, “O Lord; give me the courage to change what can be changed i.e. myself. O lord give me the serenity to understand the difference that others cannot be changed and that I should only change myself”.

Begin with yourself and be the change agent. You can set an example for others to follow. This positive approach will definitely yield good results.

The following words are said to be written on the tomb of an Anglican bishop in the crypts of Westminster abbey in London, England.

“When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change –

So I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country, but it too seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now I realise as I lie on my death bed, If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country,

And who knows, I might have even changed the world”.  

Let us be the factor of change. Change yourself first, and see the change in the world around you thereafter. Start with yourself and you can find your life peaceful and joyful. It is difficult to change but not impossible. Every human being can make a life for himself.

Be blissful

S.SEKAR

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com