What is success?

What picture comes to your mind if I ask you to define success? A big house, a fancy car, expensive clothes, bags, shoes, watches, jewelry, vacations to exotic locations, parties.

Would you think of being at peace with yourself as an image of success? Would finding fulfillment in your job and personal life be your definition of success. The world is in a state of imbalance because we have gradually moved our focus towards only materialism. How much money is in our bank balance is the only way we have started measuring success. From the time we are small, we are taught to compete, score higher marks than our classmates and come first in class. Only those with the highest marks get admission in prestigious colleges. There is no value for kindness, empathy, respect for elders or patience. No one gains anything out of being a good human being and so these values are not given as much importance as subjects with exams and marks that can be measured.

The world is in a state of imbalance.

Forests are reducing, oceans are getting polluted, the air is unclean, the value of life, human or animals is cheap. Companies are ruthlessly exploiting whatever they can to make more profits. Once more, there is no value placed on ethics, equitable distribution of wealth or holistic growth.

The world is in a state of imbalance.

More people are dying of cancer and all kinds of illness, children are going into depression, the rate of suicide is going up and people are unable to understand the purpose of life and their existence.

The moment we are born, we come into a material life. We need to eat, cover our bodies with clothes and have the security and protection of a home. The things we own and consume become a part of us. The imbalance comes in when we starting identifying ourselves with the things we own. Instead of viewing the food and articles we need as a means for survival, we start viewing it as status symbols and measurements of our success.

Spirituality always existed within us. From the time we are born, along with our body, we have a divinity within us. With the world teaching us to focus outside of ourselves, we forget to look inside. Some of us stop and look around and realize something is not quite right. The stories of success taught to us don’t seem to make us happy anymore. That’s when we start looking inside to look for the true meaning of happiness and success and start understanding spirituality.

Materialism and Spirituality have a contradictory basis.??One is all about fulfilling desires; the other is tells us to let go of them.??One is about gratifying the senses; the other is about controlling them.??One is about the outer, the other about the inner self.??One is about satisfying the ego, the other is about subordinating ego and recognizing oneness.??However, both Spirituality and Materialism are inseparable part of human nature.?They are both our reality.??They reflect the inherent duality and contradictions in human nature and in our lives.??Therefore, we need to recognize and accept both.?

Our scriptures have prescribed four different stages of life.??Brahmcharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa.??Each stage has different goals and expectations. Materialism is the dominant value in the Grihastha stage while spirituality becomes more important in the Vanaprastha stage.??However, it is not possible to compartmentalize life into such water-tight stages.

?To balance materialism and spirituality on a day to day basis, Karma Yoga gives us the answer. We need to practise Karma yoga with a sense of anitya bhavna or a sense or dispassion. Knowing that everything is impermanent. Good or bad, it will pass. Don’t be too worried about the outcome. Samkhya philosophy also tells us to beware of Tushti or inaction under the guise of satisfaction.?