GREETINGS OF JANAMASHTMI !! LORD KRISHNA BHAGVADGITA AND ME (PART 4) - sudhanshu

AUM !! Hi !!

MY JOYOUS JANMASTAMI GREETING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY !!

MAY YOUR LIFE BE A JOYFUL EXPRESSION OF EVERYTHING LIKE KRISHNA !!

My SERMON ON THIS WEEKEND ?–

ONE SHOULD SHIFT ONE’s LIFE FROM PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS TO AN EXPRESSION OF JOYFULNESS !!

MAY KRISHNA BLESS AND GRACE YOUR LIFE !!

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How to Set a Goal?

Should goal-setting be based on the natural strength that has already been discovered or should it be based on the larger purpose we strive to attain in our lives? There is no absolute right answer. If you have already invested significant time learning or developing certain strengths, it’s best to start from there. If you are a beginner, identify what you want to achieve and start developing your strengths around it. The only caution in the second case is to ensure that the goal isn’t merely a fancy or something that is inspired by someone else’s success.

In the Mahabharata, Arjuna went on to become the greatest warrior and the best archer of his time. He was destined to fight and win the great war of Mahabharata. Krishna knew Arjuna’s goal and prevented him from losing focus on the war, the conversations and advice that have come to become the Bhagavad Gita. Not everyone may have a friend like Krishna, but we hope that ‘The Gita Way’ may help to fill this gap. Arjuna’s story is an example of realising one’s goal from the best of one’s strengths developed over a period of time. However, if we dig deeper, Arjuna’s journey might have started when he chose to learn archery. Was that mere a fancy, a natural inclination, or just a coincidence? It is difficult to answer this, thereby proving that it is even more complicated to identify a goal and work towards it so early in life. Nevertheless, whenever your inclinations are clear, start.

The starting point of goal-setting is to realise one’s natural strengths. The best way to discover natural strengths is through introspection. Introspection cannot be a task limited by time; it must be a continuous exercise. The following framework is useful to understand and inculcate sound processes of introspection:

1. Self-Examination: Start observing yourself in detail. Your language, your thought process, your temperament, your view of yourself. We develop a habit of examining and criticising others. Use this habit to analyse yourself. You will discover a list of critical facts about you. Try to get to the roots of those facts. You will discover some things you do not like about yourself and others that you do. The thing you like the most about yourself is a clue to the direction of discovering your unique strength. An effective way to examine yourself is to start recording everything you observe about yourself and the things that happen around you. Use a notebook or a voice recorder. Although this should be a continuous process, start by trying it for at least 30 days. The results will be life-changing.

2. Meditation:

Verse 38, Chapter 4

In this world there is nothing as purifying as knowledge. In due time, a person who is successful in yoga will find this knowledge within himself through himself alone.

[Sutton, Nicholas (2014-10-22). Bhagavad Gita: The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.]

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. Indian culture has given us a very effective tool to exercise in the form of yoga to both purify the body and balance the thoughts. Meditation through yoga gives us an opportunity to connect with ourselves and the universe. Establish this connection and follow it up with self-examination.

3. Self-Questioning: Challenge your belief system. Question everything right from your thinking to your decisions. Ask yourself all possible whys and what-ifs. You will find many clues to discover something new about yourself.

4. Unlearning: Sometimes our learning becomes bottleneck to out of the box thinking and approach. The problem is that most of us do not know about our own prejudice. Are we open to question our own belief? Therefore, the first step is to unlearn while introspecting.

The above methods, if carried out effectively and honestly, will enable you to get adequate information about yourself. If you have derived that one strength, question yourself whether that strength is convincing enough for you to devote your whole life to developing it further. If your answer is yes, then congratulations! You have discovered your natural strength. Test it; it must be free of fatigue, stress, and desires. However, if you are still not clear, don’t give up introspecting.

Once you have discovered your natural strength, all you need is a firm resolution to commit your whole life to developing it. Sooner or later, your goal or purpose of life will be visible to you.

Doubt in any form is the Biggest Enemy to Self-realisation:

Even after effective introspection some natural doubts may appear:

1. Suppose I changed my profession and started working on certain skills with a conviction to devote my whole life to them, and I cannot reach the peak?

2. What if, even after achieving expertise in a certain skill, my purpose of life is not clear?

?3. I am confused, because I have identified more than one natural strength. What should I do?

Verse 40, Chapter 4

If a person is devoid of knowledge, has no faith or is beset by doubts he will meet with destruction. Neither this world nor the world to come is for the doubting soul, and he can never be happy.

[Sutton, Nicholas (2014-10-22). Bhagavad Gita: The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Guide.]

The state of indecisiveness comes when our knowledge and intellect fail to differentiate between two choices. Indecisiveness leads to poor resolution which is the reason we procrastinate. Procrastination does not allow us to move forward. We get lost on the path to our ultimate goal. Undoubtedly, we have to kill the doubt first.

Let’s now discuss the Gita Way to the doubts mentioned above:

1.????? Suppose I changed my profession and started working on certain skills with a conviction to devote my whole life to them, and I cannot reach the peak?

The answer is simply reiteration of what already discussed. If you have discovered your real strength, even a series of failures would be more fulfilling than a series of successes with no goal. Conviction is another important aspect. Conviction must be real, not a fancy or a wavering thought. Remember that working on your strength will give you exponential improvement. There is no doubt that you will reach a satisfying and fulfilling level. Ideally, there should be no scope for doubt. If doubt still exists, keep revisiting the process of introspection till all doubts are cleared. It is better to take time to discover that unique strength than choose one in hurry, but have lingering doubts.

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2.??? What if, even after achieving expertise in a certain skill, my purpose of life is not clear? The???? purpose of life may appear at any point of the journey. There is always an unexplored peak in each and every field. The Gita says even failures in pursuit of your goal is fulfilling.

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3.??? ?I am confused, because I have identified more than one natural strength. What should I do?

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The biggest reason for doubt in the first place, is availability of choices. The problem here is not that you are confused; the problem is that you have not discovered your real strength. The answer is the same: Continue to introspect till your one true path is clear. There are two possibilities in this case:

1. You are close to your natural strength but have discovered a group of strengths that are highly correlated and not mutually exclusive. In such a case, you must choose the one more appealing to you. Since such strengths are correlated, you will automatically develop your unique strengths in all those areas. In due course, you will find clarity.

2. The discovered strengths are mutually exclusive. This simply means that introspection is incomplete.

In either case, indecisiveness kills your thought process and you will start procrastinating. There will not be an ideal point from which to launch yourself for the Gita Way greatness. Our skills and knowledge are not helpful if we are not in one side of a decision. We will either end up spending our whole life without any purpose or will be sacrificed. The story of Barabarika elucidates this possibility.

The Story of Barbarika: Why was Barbarika Sacrificed?

Barbarika was one of the greatest warriors during the time of the great war of Mahabharata. Unfortunately, due to his indecisiveness, he did not have the chance to prove this point.

Barbarika, grandson of Bhīma, was among the youngest to participate in the great battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had an exceptional skill: he could destroy an entire army with just one arrow. Just before the war, when the polarisation of the armies and individual warriors was taking place, Krishna wanted to evaluate individual talents. The best of the warriors claimed to be able to finish the war in a week or a month. Barbarika, the youngest among those surprised everyone by claiming that he could finish the war in a few minutes. When asked how, Barbarika revealed his exceptional skill. Krishna seeking a demonstration, asked Barbarika to pierce all the leaves of a Banyan tree. While Barbarika was chanting the mantra just before releasing the arrow, Krishna took one leaf of the tree and hid it under his foot. Barbarika released the arrow and it did what he intended. After piercing all the leaves on the tree, the arrow made for Krishna’s feet. The demonstration of this skill surprised everyone who witnessed it.

The interesting aspect of the story was Barbarika’s pledge to always fight for the losing side. Krishna now knew that this warrior had the capacity to diminish any side and, if Barbarika was to change sides, he would kill everyone in both armies. Krishna foresaw the consequences of using Barbarika in the war and decided that Barbarika should be sacrificed. He asked Barbarika who his guru was. He replied that all the skills he earned keeping only lord Krishna in his mind, so he, lord Krishna, is the prime guru. Then Krishna asked for gurudakshina (fee or gift asked by teachers for their teachings). He asked Barbarika for his head. Barbarika lost no time in cutting off his head and giving it to Krishna. In return, Krishna granted him his wish to live till the battle of Mahabharata had ended, along with permission to watch it from a nearby mountain.

Why was Barbarika sacrificed? Was that the only alternative Krishna had? If the outcomes were different, could Barbarika have proved to be the greatest warrior of all time, perhaps even better than Arjuna?

Barbarika’s pledge was self-defeating. If Krishna had allowed Barbarika to take part in of the Mahabharata, he could have ended the war only by killing himself, because any side represented by Barbarika would be the winning side. Krishna, sensing Barbarika’s indecisiveness, decided that Barbarika had to be sacrificed ahead of the war, for the larger purpose of the war.

Verse 53, Chapter 2

When your intellect, confused by hearing conflicting statements, will rest steady and undistracted in meditation on God, you will then attain Yoga.

[The Bhagavadgita, English Translation, Gita Press, Gorakhpur.]

To resolve any conflict or indecisiveness, the best tool Nature has given us is our intellect. Intellect works best with steady and undistracted mind when it is in everlasting union with your supreme goal. The challenge is in ensuring that it is steady and focused on the path to our goal. Gita suggest various methods to stay on the path. All these methods require us to be a yogi.

Yogis are not ascetics. As per the Gita, a yogi is one who has a steady mind. A steady state of mind comes with having control of one’s senses and acting only out of right duty. To understand the concept of right duty, right knowledge is required. All of us can become yogis by following principles of karma yoga and gyan yoga or yoga of knowledge.

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That’ it !!! I hope you enjoyed it. I was in a very serious piece of writeup. Today is Krishna’s birthday. But I was bit in a solemn mood. So it was a straight, serious knowledgeable piece.

So have a good celebration of Krishna Janmastami. Make your life Joyful as Krishna !! And stay Blessed by HIM !!

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Much Love, Affection and kindest Regards,

Sudhanshu?