Self confidence

What is self-confidence? Is it the ability of our mind to do anything that we put our mind to? Or is it the ability to handle any situation in life with courage? Or is it the ability to build name and fame for ourselves in the society? The answer to this question is it is none of the above.

The truth is self-confidence is our belief in our Self that it is divine and is a body of principles that makes one’s life invaluable. Our inner core is pure and unsullied and unaffected by the vagaries or dictates of our mind. Therefore, it remains unaffected by the pleasure and pain we experience. It is that which is never born and never dies. It is our peripheral that is tainted and filled with qualities that are unbecoming of our Self.

Self-confidence stems from self-satisfaction and self-satisfaction stems from self-sacrifice. The ultimate purpose of gaining self-confidence is to realize our Self. The essential first two steps in life are: a) control the senses and mind to be submissive to the Self and b) sacrifice the body, mind and intellect (“BMI”) for the common good of the world. In order to enter the realm of Self, one has to have total control over senses and mind and should be willing to sacrifice the BMI for the welfare of the fellow-beings. If there is no element of sacrifice in life, the very purpose of life would be defeated. Even in our day to day life, each one of us sacrifice something or the other at least for other family members without which co-existence becomes an issue. Sharing and caring should be part and parcel of our thoughts, words & actions. Ceiling on our desires, detachment, trusteeship, etc. is developed through sacrifice.

Self-satisfaction is a byproduct of the self-sacrifice. One should consistently feel good about one’s thoughts, words and actions. We definitely have a choice what information to receive or reject, we have discrimination faculty to determine what components of the information received by us we need to evaluate and react upon and lastly what information requires definitive response. Essentially, receipt, reaction and response (“3Rs”) function as three filters to achieve self-satisfaction. Even if some of our thoughts, words and actions were not filtered, we have another tool called introspection to evaluate and eliminate the pain we feel in our heart for a bad action. One should realize introspection should be only limited to understand the lesson, forgive ourselves and get on with the life rather than procrastinating on the subject forever. At the end of all these exercise one can achieve self-satisfaction.

Last step in the process is Self-confidence, the inherent belief that we are the divine Self, a body of principles that makes one’s life invaluable. This is the very foundation of life and our character is built based on this foundation. This confidence provides us the ability to understand that our determination to contribute to the success of this world would be energized automatically by this divine Will. Our development, strength, sense of fulfillment, making a living to support ourselves, our family, our society, etc. are all automatically built into it. Self-confidence provides us the Will to learn lessons out of experiences and consider pleasure and pain equally and understand the purpose of life. At this level, our discrimination is at its best and finds the gateway to the Self.

The ultimate goal in life is Self-realization. The simple term “I am divine and a spark of the Universal Absolute that is responsible for the function of this universe” means nothing unless one is ready to experience the divine Self inherent in us. The core inside of us is Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss Sheath), the very happiness we seek every second in life. In order to sustain the effort to achieve that, we are created with Annamaya Kosha (five sense organs (“Gnanendriyas”), five organs of actions (Kamendriyas) and five sensory faculties (Tanmatras)) (Food Sheath) to sustain a separate existence (Jeeva), Pranamaya Kosha (Vital-air Sheath) (five different breathes) to constantly recognize Soham (means “I am He”) (inhalation makes the sound “So” and exhalation makes the sound “Ham”), Manomaya Kosha (Mental Sheath), the power to express emotions and uncover unconditional love and finally Vignanamaya Kosha (Intellectual Sheath), the power to discriminate and create Will to do actions. All these five Sheaths together are called Sthula Deha (Gross Body), Shukshma Deha (Subtle Body), Kaarana Deha (Causal Body) and Mahakaarana Deha (The Super Casual Body). The purpose of these four Sheaths is to get to the fifth Sheath and at the same time, without these four Sheaths, one can’t realize Self either. That is why control of our mind and senses, Self-purification, development of our character, become essential. Our objective is to move to the fourth stage called Turya State from waking, dreaming and deep sleep (Shusupthi) state. In the previous three states, we dwell within the limits of perception and action whereas in Turya State we can cross over into the world of truth. Waking state reminds us the need for concentration, dreaming state reminds us of contemplation and deep sleep state reminds us of meditation. In order to realize our Self (“Samadhi”), we need to cross concentration, contemplation and meditation whether we adapt Gnana or Karma or Bhakthi Yoga or combination of one or more Yogas.

First, let us break the myth that self-confidence is the power of our mind and it is not. Mind like any other object in the universe is transient and not permanent. It is our confidence in Self that is called Self-confidence.

 

Dear Kamla,

I am truly surprised at your first response. Life is always full of surprises. Common man's interpretation of self-confidence is always associated with brain power and what I have explained here is the spiritual definition of Self-confidence.

You are absolutely right about this is not a new idea that I am presenting for the first time. My Guru has given fairly detailed interpretation of what is Self-confidence and there are other seers who have touched upon this subject in the process of self-inquiry. The credit should really go to those people and I am just an instrument reproducing their teachings in my own language.

Even grasping is only one part of the exercise and experiencing the glory of the Self is the most important part of the exercise.You have no choice whether you would envisage Self or not as you are destined to seek and find Self when you are wired to be a human being and sent to this planet. Everyone of us would eventually realize Self.

Viswa

 

Dear Neetu,

Thank you for your quick response and I am very humbled by your words of appreciation. Actually, I am writing my posts to elicit response from others that woud make me richer in knowledge. The objective is to increase my effervescence with handful of responses and feel intoxicated with the divine nectarine.

As I mentioned in my earlier response, I am just reproducing the teachings of the Gurus who hail from India, my holy motherland. I am only an instrument who is writing this rich spiritual content for my own good. Play with it as long as you need to and I am very eager to know your thoughts. I always learn so much from the responses to my posts.

Viswa

 

Dear Smt. Jayasala,

Thank you for your valuable response. Let us leave the intellectual part of this discussion away and focus from the point of view of our day to day life. Let us assume values and integrity to live up to the values are all created by a human mind as set of principles to adhere to. Can these values be adapted by the humans forever? Can human mind stop its vagaries and stay focused on those values? Can every one of those values become Sankalpa to be energized well? How can something transient as Mind be responsible for the principles of right living forever? Can it guide the human body to remain calm in trial and tribulations? Can it resist the temptations to excessively celebrate the happiness? Can it remain calm and achieve peace and bliss on its own? Can it find the right thing to do always? Can it develop universal love for fellow beings? Can it at least not harm anyone if it is not helping others?

Self-inquiry advise came from the seers and saints only to overcome the dictates of the instrument called mind. Control of the mind and senses are the two principles that are recommended for the spiritual path to the kingdom of Self.

In fact, development of our character with values and integrity to adhere to such values is an exercise to discover our Self. Self reveals itself when it sees the qualities of the Jeeva ("BMI") resembling the qualities of the Self.

I know you are a very learned individual much more knowledgeable than me. Your response appears to have been written with an intention to bring out more of my thoughts and read my counter for this layman's interpretation. You are making me learn more by this exercise and I am really grateful to you for that.

Viswa