Radhe Radhe !
This is an article by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar –
Many times in our life desires ruin us. There is a story of Mullah Nasruddin. He was on the horse and the horse was going round in circles. So people asked him, “Mullah, where are you going?” He said, “I don’t know, ask the horse.” We are in the same situation. It is like we are in the horse’s control, while it should be the reverse, that is, the horse should be in our control. We should be able to get on and off the horse when we feel like it, rather than getting stuck on the horse, or allowing the horse to throw us down.
We should not suppress desires; rather we should awaken vivek – the power to discriminate between good and bad, truth and untruth – in us. To be able to let go of desires there is a certain c code of conduct that we have to follow. This code of conduct is the fertilizer that will make the rose of love blossom. These are –
- Ahimsa or non-violence – We should be non-violent not just in action, but also in our heart, in our speech, in our thoughts. We may be non-violent in action due to fear of the Law. But in mind when we say, “I will kill them”, we have already choked them.
- Satyam or Truth – satyam means, express the existence this moment, as it is, but with sincerity.
- Shoucha or purity – Keep the purity of mind, speech and body. Observing the observer is shoucha. When we are able to make our mind witness its own actions, and make it find the gap between its own senses, and the mind does not mix with any outer objects – we call it “shoucha”.
- Daya or compassion – What triggers anger in us is when people engage in some activity or behave in a certain manner, which we don’t like. Just for a moment let’s have compassion for them the way they are. Then a shift happens. We become big. Our self expands. It stands there and laughs at the smallness of the events, of behaviors. Having compassion in our heart, we become untouched by these events, and we cross Maya (illusion).
- Astikya or Faith – Faith transcends logic and reasoning. If we could reason out all our life and all its experiences, then it only indicates that we have not lived life fully.
Let go of desires and see your love and Bhakti flowering. Every bud takes its own time to bloom : don’t force a bud to become a flower.