Magazine - Year 2007 - Version 1
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Language: ENGLISH
Language: ENGLISH
Embrace High Ideals Achieve Excellence
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In the present age, there is the pious ideal of Yugrishi Param Poojya Gurudev before us all. His sparkling tapasvi life, the supremely high level of jivana sadhana, the spirit of sacrifice for the country, and the dharma (law of righteousness) could easily be the ideal for anybody, and it has indeed been so.
Uardhvo na¡ pahya®haso ni ketuna
viïva® samatrina® dah
K—dhi na urdhvaócharathaya jivase
vida deveÌu no duva¡.
- Rigveda 1/36/14
Meaning: O Fire-God! You are the most exalted. Save us from sinning by the light of knowledge. Burn to ashes all our selfishness. Endow us with excellence for progress and happy life. Make us worthy of honour by the gods.
If we want to strive for excellence, we will have to embrace high ideals, because without noble ideals in life there can be no jivana sadhana at all. Without ideals, life becomes a meaningless meandering. What is the best course of life? How to walk this course? These questions in the mind remain in futile wait for an answer. The nagging feeling of not having realized one's potential, not having used one's capacity to the full always torments. The confused and troubled life drags on somehow but there is no joy in it, no sense of contentment.
To experience the joy of living, presence of an ideal is essential in life. This ideal could be anything – a pious thought, pious emotion or some pious and exalted personality. All the three are equally effective. Any of these can be chosen in accordance with one's aim in life, mentality, taste and circumstances. But whatever be the selection, one must have the courage to efface oneself at this altar. Without dissolving one's emotions, thoughts, mind and every breadth into it, the ideal does not become forceful.
Those in whose lives inspirations arose, sensibilities grew and blessings poured had all merged their entire beings in their ideals, albeit in varying ways. Mahatma Gandhi, for example, had chosen Srimadbhagvad Gita as his ideal and would call it Gita Mata (Mother Gita). Vinoba Bhave called it Gitai. The noble and profound thoughts of the Gita were the guiding principles of both great men. The path of their lives was niïkama karma (selfless action) which they had named anaïakti yoga (yoga sans attachment). Their love for the Gita was so deep that they used to say: "As a mother nourishes her child with her milk, so do I receive nourishment from the thought feeding by Gita Mata. Whenever I am in a fix, the Gita Mata comes to my aid and shows me the right way".
For Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh, love for the nation had become the supreme ideal. They had merged all their feelings and thoughts, and every breadth of life in it. Mother India was everything for them, the raison d'etre of their existence. They lived for Mother India, fought every moment for Her, and died for Her. By making this pious emotion their ideal, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad could make their lives meaningful, contented and great.
Like pious thoughts and pious emotions, a pious and noble personality, too, could be adopted as the ideal. It is not essential that he exists physically, because noble personalities are no less inspiring and effective in their unembodied existence than they were in their corporeal forms, nay, even more so, because their austere life-style increases these capacities manifold.
During the freedom movement of India many youth plunged themselves in the service of the nation with Swami Vivekanand as their ideal; many others did so for serving the people in general. The Ramkrishna Mission is a living monument of the collective identity of these very persons. It is to be borne in mind that those who embraced Vivekanand as ideal did not stop at merely chanting his name, but boldly proceeded to mould their lives after him. This indeed is the real meaning of an ideal – crafting of thoughts in the ideal’s mould, embracing the values of life in conformity with that, and adoption of a pious life-style accordingly. These criteria constitute the touchstone of love for the accepted ideal of life. One has to come out with flying colours, whatever be the price, howsoever great be the suffering.
In the present age, there is the pious ideal of Yugrishi Param Poojya Gurudev before us all. His sparkling tapasvi life, the supremely high level of jivana sadhana, the spirit of sacrifice for the country, and the dharma (law of righteousness) could easily be the ideal for anybody, and it has indeed been so. Millions of persons inside the country and outside, thinkers and intellectuals, the devout and the emotional, the young and the old, and even teenagers have embraced him as an ideal, and are sincerely endeavoring to lead their lives in accordance with the standards set by him. Included among them are also many who are presently reading these lines.
Those who are already pursuing the way of life as exemplified by Param Poojya Gurudev, and also those who are yet to start their jivana sadhana can move forward in this direction. They have only to follow the regimen as any idealist is required to do. The steps in this regard are:
(1) To read about one's chosen ideal personality, i.e. Yugrishi Gurudev and contemplate deeply on every aspect of his life.
(2) To establish deep emotional bond with the ideal person, viz. Gurudev. This is achieved by regular contemplation.
(3) To remain dedicated to the values of tapa, sacrifice, altruist service and love for the nation as demonstrated by him.
Whoever embraces this three-point scheme in his life will automatically start casting himself in the mould of Yugrishi Gurudev. What is more, it is the experience of such persons that even though the sadhaka's outer personality remains active in the phenomenal world, his subtle consciousness hovers around Gurudev. What is needed is to increase one's self-confidence for the purpose of embracing this high ideal.
Uardhvo na¡ pahya®haso ni ketuna
viïva® samatrina® dah
K—dhi na urdhvaócharathaya jivase
vida deveÌu no duva¡.
- Rigveda 1/36/14
Meaning: O Fire-God! You are the most exalted. Save us from sinning by the light of knowledge. Burn to ashes all our selfishness. Endow us with excellence for progress and happy life. Make us worthy of honour by the gods.
If we want to strive for excellence, we will have to embrace high ideals, because without noble ideals in life there can be no jivana sadhana at all. Without ideals, life becomes a meaningless meandering. What is the best course of life? How to walk this course? These questions in the mind remain in futile wait for an answer. The nagging feeling of not having realized one's potential, not having used one's capacity to the full always torments. The confused and troubled life drags on somehow but there is no joy in it, no sense of contentment.
To experience the joy of living, presence of an ideal is essential in life. This ideal could be anything – a pious thought, pious emotion or some pious and exalted personality. All the three are equally effective. Any of these can be chosen in accordance with one's aim in life, mentality, taste and circumstances. But whatever be the selection, one must have the courage to efface oneself at this altar. Without dissolving one's emotions, thoughts, mind and every breadth into it, the ideal does not become forceful.
Those in whose lives inspirations arose, sensibilities grew and blessings poured had all merged their entire beings in their ideals, albeit in varying ways. Mahatma Gandhi, for example, had chosen Srimadbhagvad Gita as his ideal and would call it Gita Mata (Mother Gita). Vinoba Bhave called it Gitai. The noble and profound thoughts of the Gita were the guiding principles of both great men. The path of their lives was niïkama karma (selfless action) which they had named anaïakti yoga (yoga sans attachment). Their love for the Gita was so deep that they used to say: "As a mother nourishes her child with her milk, so do I receive nourishment from the thought feeding by Gita Mata. Whenever I am in a fix, the Gita Mata comes to my aid and shows me the right way".
For Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh, love for the nation had become the supreme ideal. They had merged all their feelings and thoughts, and every breadth of life in it. Mother India was everything for them, the raison d'etre of their existence. They lived for Mother India, fought every moment for Her, and died for Her. By making this pious emotion their ideal, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad could make their lives meaningful, contented and great.
Like pious thoughts and pious emotions, a pious and noble personality, too, could be adopted as the ideal. It is not essential that he exists physically, because noble personalities are no less inspiring and effective in their unembodied existence than they were in their corporeal forms, nay, even more so, because their austere life-style increases these capacities manifold.
During the freedom movement of India many youth plunged themselves in the service of the nation with Swami Vivekanand as their ideal; many others did so for serving the people in general. The Ramkrishna Mission is a living monument of the collective identity of these very persons. It is to be borne in mind that those who embraced Vivekanand as ideal did not stop at merely chanting his name, but boldly proceeded to mould their lives after him. This indeed is the real meaning of an ideal – crafting of thoughts in the ideal’s mould, embracing the values of life in conformity with that, and adoption of a pious life-style accordingly. These criteria constitute the touchstone of love for the accepted ideal of life. One has to come out with flying colours, whatever be the price, howsoever great be the suffering.
In the present age, there is the pious ideal of Yugrishi Param Poojya Gurudev before us all. His sparkling tapasvi life, the supremely high level of jivana sadhana, the spirit of sacrifice for the country, and the dharma (law of righteousness) could easily be the ideal for anybody, and it has indeed been so. Millions of persons inside the country and outside, thinkers and intellectuals, the devout and the emotional, the young and the old, and even teenagers have embraced him as an ideal, and are sincerely endeavoring to lead their lives in accordance with the standards set by him. Included among them are also many who are presently reading these lines.
Those who are already pursuing the way of life as exemplified by Param Poojya Gurudev, and also those who are yet to start their jivana sadhana can move forward in this direction. They have only to follow the regimen as any idealist is required to do. The steps in this regard are:
(1) To read about one's chosen ideal personality, i.e. Yugrishi Gurudev and contemplate deeply on every aspect of his life.
(2) To establish deep emotional bond with the ideal person, viz. Gurudev. This is achieved by regular contemplation.
(3) To remain dedicated to the values of tapa, sacrifice, altruist service and love for the nation as demonstrated by him.
Whoever embraces this three-point scheme in his life will automatically start casting himself in the mould of Yugrishi Gurudev. What is more, it is the experience of such persons that even though the sadhaka's outer personality remains active in the phenomenal world, his subtle consciousness hovers around Gurudev. What is needed is to increase one's self-confidence for the purpose of embracing this high ideal.
