Effort

“Don’t depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections. You are the same after death as you were before. Nothing changes; you only give up the body. If you are a thief or liar or a cheater before death, you don’t become an angel merely by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now and become angels at once! Whatever you have made of yourself thus far, so will you be hereafter. And when you reincarnate, you will bring that same nature with you. To change, you must make the effort. This world is the place to do it.” – Paramahansa Yogananda.

Imperfections are the reason why we are given a chance to reincarnate again. The experiences we encounter are the opportunities for us to either face or cure consequences of our imperfections. Even if the writings are encrypted and not readable, we need to erase them through impeccable character building. Focusing on spiritual growth is the best way to cure the imperfections. Spiritual practices are not separate from our normal day to day life and it is embedded in everyone of our actions. Regulating breath, watching our thoughts, controlling our senses, moderating eating and drinking, restraining the use of our energy for wasteful purposes like chitchatting, extending a helping hand to a fellow-being, expressing love and compassion to one and all, chanting, saying prayers, practicing yoga, performing a ritual for the well-being of the world or ancestors or devas, performing the duties, etc. are all spiritual practices.

Nothing can become cured overnight and it is a constant effort over a period until those habits become imbibed into our subconscious mind. The encryption we have gets released into thoughts (both good and bad) and our discrimination of such thoughts determine how we build our character. The only thing that we have control over is our own thoughts, feelings, emotions, behavior, reactions and responses. When things happen around us having profound impact on us, the mind can bend like a bamboo facing intense wind and become straight again in equanimity. It is hard to be unaffected when things happen affecting our rampaging ego that we had built throughout our lives. If our mind thinks we are this body, ego would continue to thrive. Suppressing ego only empowers it more as well. Every time our ego is hurt, it humbles our mind, if we make recovery efforts through introspection. Ego always hides behind our capabilities and it is never recognizable to our minds until and unless we face humbling experiences.

We need to create a fire inside of us and cremate all our bad qualities consistently as offerings. Let the light of knowledge not only remove the darkness of ignorance but also help us cremate bad qualities. We can’t become perfect overnight. Let us keep moving in the direction of complete knowledge of who we really are and what are the unwanted elements residing as encryption. Every step is an effort in the right direction. Let us learn both from our own and others’ experiences. Desires and attachments are the root of the life tree and it makes us firmly placed into the planet. They are responsible to make our mind believe we are the doer and resultant ego. The husk of the seed has to be removed in order to make it not grow again.

Let us begin disowning our thoughts unless they help us make spiritual progress. Let us consider everything we possess as a custodian instead of taking ownership. Let us perform all our actions skillfully, selflessly and lovingly with no expectation of the fruits. Accept all that happens around us as teachers sharing lessons to us. There is nothing to be proud of nor to be ashamed of. Let us achieve unwavering calmer mind. Try to remain in the present moment as much as possible. We are not here to prove anything to anyone but to refine ourselves from imperfections. We need to drop our personalities and keep focusing on understanding who we really are. Through the process of elimination, we can get to our core. That is the effort we need to make consistently throughout our lives. Therefore, it makes sense to make effort to refine our own character as though there is never tomorrow. We are here to break the cycle of birth and death as death doesn’t give closure to anything. It is just part of life that was gifted to us which we need to be grateful about. Gratitude for the chance given to live, effort to eliminate encryption, sacrifice to perform duties, attitude to accept things as it happens, aptitude for learning from life experiences, etc. are the steps in the right direction.

 

@Rihana,

Thank you for your first response to this snippet. Commencing to think about the year in review doesn't make you slow but early thinker. Isn't it a great coincidence that both of us thought about imperfections and reincarnations during the Thanks Giving holidays?

I believe imperfections are the reason why we are here and as long as we make efforts to erase those imperfections and are willing to learn from our life experiences, we are on the right track. This journey, irrespective of the results achieved, constantly builds our character.

Adi Shankara said, "Jandunam Narajanmam Dhurlabam" meaning, "It is difficult to reincarnate as a human". Whenever I contemplate on this teaching in Vivekachudamani (the crown jewel of wisdom), I used to wonder what other beings in this world needs to do to become a human being. Does it mean once we are born as a human, will we continue as human beings to fix our imperfections and become Self-realized? How does a human life deserve a special status among all living beings as a specie capable of self-realization? One other person of great wisdom said, "After being born as a human-being, if life were to be frittered away in selfishness, in pursuit of desires and attachments, it is condemning itself to a life-sentence". Those powerful words of wisdom haunts me a lot especially the word "life-sentence" to indicate the cycle of birth and death.

I agree hope and resolution spring eternal to the heart but I believe it is the effort that brings fruition to the soul.

Viswa

 

Dear Sabitha,

Thank you for your response. I did enjoy reading that quote as well. Effort to become a better being is a life long exercise and character building continues from the time of birth and until one's last breath. We are learning every second in our lives and how we make best use of those lessons changes the trajectory of how quickly we build our character. The scope for improvement is visible only when we measure ourselves against where we were a year ago.

Viswa

 

My Dearest Vani,

That message indeed is very powerful from Paramahansa Yogananda. Some like to shorten the journey of life through whatever means while others try to make the journey remarkable by enjoying and learning from the experiences it gives. Even falling down is an experience that increases the determination to climb back up. We keep building the caste of character one step at a time until it is complete where the Lord Himself could reside.

Viswa

 

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

Koti Pranams to you on this auspicious day. I miss your words of wisdom that are always filled with a lots of love and compassion.

Viswa