Every experience is a lesson

Viswamitra · Apr 13, 2015

[FONT=&amp]“The saddest part of the story is that man, though he sees and hears, suffers and falls, does not get quite convinced that sin is a dangerous experiment; that it unmistakably brings on its harvest of tears. The thamo guna of ignorance and delusion draws a veil over the truth and hides the mouth of the pit into which the unwary sinner falls again. Of course, when grief overtakes you, and pain has you in its grip, the Lord does not always announce the exact sin for which that particular experience is the punishment. You are left to deduce in a general way that every experience is a lesson and every loss is a gain. You have got to learn that you bind yourself and you liberate yourself. You entangle yourself in the three gunas and by your struggles, you only pull the world and tighten it round yourself. You are endowed with viveka, even the most illiterate among you; you have a conscience, whispering dharma into your ear; so you yourselves must choose and select.”[/FONT] [FONT=&amp]The above quote from our Guru was discussed in today’s study circle session with two specific questions: a) how do we practice the hearing the inner voices from heart that are leading us towards dharma? and b) how do we overcome sad experiences and practice that every experience is a lesson and every loss is a gain?

[/FONT] Every human being has three gunas knowns Satwic, Rajasic and Tamosic and it is very common that we move from one to another throughout our life time. It is suggested that predominant Satwic guna helps us to listen to our inner voices from the heart that are leading us towards dharma. Many seers have indicated that early morning hours before the Sun rises and late evening when the Sun sets are when a human being is overwhelmed with Satwic nature. During the time when Sun is around, Rajasic guna dominates as we perform our duties on day to day life and Tamosic guna dominates during the night time.

It is unfortunate that our mind chatters throughout the day preventing us from identifying the feeble voice of conscience. Unless we make concerted effort to quiet our mind, the voice of inner conscience would be drowned in the noise that our mind makes. However, when we seek help from our inner conscience faithfully, focus on our breath well and listen to our heart carefully, the guidance comes automatically. Our intellect has the closest resemblance to the voice of conscience and therefore, learned people ask us to use our discriminating power to find dharma. Silence does not only mean a place that is quiet but also the mind that is tranquil. We need a lot of practice to convert an agitated mind into a tranquil mind. Viveka is with every human being that is created and one need not be educated. The experiences that unfold in front of our form, whether they are good or bad, are all meant to teach us something. It is only our mind that determines what is good and what is bad for us. The Law of Karma has to be respected and adhered to as our life is created to not only fulfill our desires but also to face the consequences of our actions.

Daewoo in his famous book, “All the roads are paved with gold” wrote that he would always consult everyone who worked for him before making a decision. But all the inputs that comes to him will remain as information only until he sits down alone to make his decision consulting his conscience. He also mentioned that he not only listened to the words of people who worked for him but also watched their body language and life style to determine how they could contribute to the general well-being of people associated with them. It does not matter whether we look to the east or west, wisdom flows from every direction and all it takes for us to take the information and process them when we can quiet our mind.

The voice of conscience could be heard if we can quiet our mind and practice to keep the mind tranquil even during trials and tribulations. If we understand every experience is happening for a reason, we have a tendency to learn the lessons out of each experience.

Balajee · Apr 13, 2015

Viswa the concept of sin, unlike that of crime or vice, was invented by religious establishments to give people a guilt complex. The sense of Guilt is the nourishment for religions for it makes people insecure and insecure people tend to rush towards, temples, churches and mosques. Instead of bothering about God concept I think we should try our best to be good , according to our understanding of good. As Confucius ut it " We have to be good because we are human", While goodness defines humanity,what is good is decided by the individual conscience.

jayasala42 · Apr 13, 2015

Dear Viswa,
As usual you have dealt with the subject'conscience' elaborately.Whatever you have written relates to ideal situations where an individual is involved.But man is a social animal. He cannot take decisions of his own except for his own family.
Man seems to have different shades of conscience according to the role he plays.
Take marketing. His individual self conscience may say

"It shouldn't be just sell, sell, sell, no matter what. Tricky marketing techniques that manipulate people into buying something should not be used."
But as a marketing manager of an institution, your responsibility is marketing the goods even under false claims of advt techniques.You have to be honest to the institution and your conscience must advise you to reach the target at any cost.

Where is conscience when meritorious students are denied admission under political circumstances?

Where is the conscience when a financial product is sold only magnifying the favourable factors to the customer.A few years back Unit Trust of India, the Pitamaha of Mutual Funds in India, suddenly withdrew a scheme after 7 years( some Rajalakshmi Scheme for minors,in which parents had invested huge amounts for the education/marriage expenses of the children in which full rebate of income tax was allowed.When customers got wild they showed a two line clause printed in microscopic letteres at the end of the appln form that the institution, at its will, may close down the scheme, without , citing any reason.
Not to talk of law. Judgement does not seem to be related to conscience.The innocent are punished, the criminals escape on the basis of circumstancial evidence.
A decision can be according to conscience only when the subject matter pertains to one individaual. Otherwise it is multi level conscience which forces one take any direction according to the situation.
This is named as 'smartness'acting under what is popularly known as 'social consciousness'.On such occasion all wrongs become right.

Political and social conscience over rule us setting aside all the individal ideals behind.

Conscience is only at the knowledge level. On application side ,it is only Krishna's conscience and not Rama's.

Jayasala 42

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Apr 13, 2015

Dear Viswa,
Every experience good or bad teaches us a lesson. There is no doubt about it.But a person who has sathva guna only can realize it and make the best use of it if he is not bound by any fetters due to his circumstances.

All the three gunas are in the nature and I believe each one of us have all the three gunas and we expose them according to the situation and the environment.

Though the voice of conscience could be heard at times we become deaf to hear it due to our personal gain or when we are bound by the chain of faithfulness or love and attachment.

PS

shyamala1234 · Apr 13, 2015

Dear Viswamitra,
I do not have enough knowledge to present myself to all the aspects that you touched. but I want to express myself on a couple of points.
Yes, every experience teaches us some lesson...how to be and how not to be also.
Voice of conscience..we do hear it but do not want to listen or obey it many times. We ask the inner voice to shut up.
Life is really speaking is simple as I mentioned in my other FB but we do not want it to to remain simple. Clutter our mind over various thoughts and then declutter it also sometimes but it gets tangled like thread and difficult to make it straight.
Reminds me of a quote of Vivekananda in a calender in my living room...Be good , do good and that is the essence of all religions. What is good or what is bad..Our inner voice is always there for us to guide.
Syamala

suryakala · Apr 13, 2015

Dear @Viswamitra ,

As usual a very thought provoking post from you.

Without going very deep into the absolute definitions of the words "Sin" and " conscience" we may accept the meaning as they are from the point of view of a good social order. Once accepted this approach helps maintain a 'sin' free /reduced environment for the members of the society in which they are accepted based on the concept of " voice of conscience", for a day today life. Your post provokes these thoughts very nicely on "Sin and conscience". Of course on a spiritual plane, these words can raise very far reaching discussions!

And learning from experiences?

I can just quote T.S. Eliot: "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood".

One who understands the lessons probably understands the purpose of one's life.

Viswamitra · Apr 13, 2015

Dear Balajee,

Whether you call it as bad action or a sin, as you rightly said, one needs to refine and transform himself to be a better human being and that can be done by only listening to the conscience. I am a big believer that individual conscience plays a big role in the welfare of the society. No matter how many laws are created to punish the criminals or how the society ex-communicates people like in the villages, one would never refine himself unless one is ready to adhere to righteousness willfully.

Name and form are irrelevant if everyone adhere to righteousness. Those concepts were brought in to bring decency in the interaction among people. There is no need to worship God, if one is perfect in his thoughts, words and deeds.

Viswa

Viswamitra · Apr 14, 2015

Dear Smt. Jayasala:

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my post. You always bring a different perspective from the practical view point and I become that much knowledgeable about those aspects.

No matter how many Better Business Bureaus are formed to suggest best practices in selling the products and no matter how many Investor Protection Laws are passed by the Government, corporate world and fund managers would find ways to make people buy substandard products and invest in toxic financial products or assets. That is why I carry an impression that unless each individual listens to his/her conscience, no legislation will have any effect for the common good of the people.

When bad laws are made that are not in the interest of people, great Souls like Mahatma Gandhi showed ways to violate the law to communicate a message to oppressing rulers. Unfortunately, those who don't listen to their own conscience find ways to use the loopholes in the laws to cheat the people.

A society that listens to their own conscience creating their own rigor and discipline only will eventually succeed. Duty, Discipline and Devotion are revered by the learned people and suggested that as a path for human to achieve their goals. Political and business people know fully well, deceptive practices would succeed only for a while and eventually the brand equity of the product would erode from the market forever. Without Viveka, listening to conscience is out of question. If one needs to achieve peace of mind internally, he needs to think, say and act in tandem to only for the common good of the fellow beings. How good is Viveka, if we don't apply them in real life? "Ettu choorakai Karikku udavadhu" is the proverb in Tamil indicating one should apply one's knowledge in real life without which knowledge that is accessible is of no use. Whether one has Rama's conscience or Krishna's conscience, as long as they apply it for establishing righteousness, they are okay.

Viswa

Viswamitra · Apr 14, 2015

Dear Mrs. Srinivasan:

Thank you for your response. You are absolutely right about Sathva guna. Without that one can't even listen to his/her conscience. Circumstances make people to make decision using head instead of heart. When love is added as an ingredient to every decision, it opens up the ear to listen to the conscience.

We keep moving from one to another all the time depending on the mind and the time of the day. Sometimes, one may be compelled to listen to the views of the people around him/her even though his/her voice of conscience guide differently. That is why one can take advice from any number of people including seers but one needs to investigate and listen to his/her conscience to find the right decision.

Viswa

Viswamitra · Apr 14, 2015

Dear Syamala,

All your responses prove how knowledgeable you are. I always look forward to your response for everyone of my post. When I don't get it, I evaluate my post as one of poor quality.

Not only every experience teaches us a lesson but also are customized towards our goal. You are right about the voice of conscience. First of all it is feeble and drowned in the noise of the mind second even if it louder, we fail to listen to it sometimes.

Many times, unlearning the habits is as important as learning new habits. Quieter the mind, the better it is. Decisions made on emotions are rush of blood always results in problems for us. Whenever we want to listen to our conscience, it is important to quiet the mind from agitation even if we are facing a turbulence in life.

Viswa