Besides the obvious truth (“I am a human being”) and the spiritually yet-to-be experienced truth (“I am pure consciousness, free and eternal”), what is the truth in me now, at this moment?—this is an important question that every spiritual seeker has to grapple with.
The truth in me is my values, my ideals, my principles—and my efforts to live up to them. It is these that lend authenticity to a person’s life. It is these that define a person.
The world around us may use different criteria to judge people. How others see a person may be—and usually is—very different from how the person sees himself or herself. If we allow others to define us and have no ability to define ourselves, we open the door to weakness, doubt and anxiety.
It is a helpful practice to ask these questions: what are my values? Is there anything in my life I will never compromise with? Is there anything in my life for which I’d be willing sacrifice everything else?
The answers to these questions determine the truth in me at the present moment.
3 comments:
Dear Swami ji,
I am writing to you to express my sincere gratitude.
I have been listening to your recorded lectures from various sources on internet for a few months now and practicing to walk the inward path shown so candidly and convincingly in your speeches.
I was looking for an opportunity to express my gratitude to your kind self and incidentally came across this blog authored by you.
With warmest and deepest regards,
Pankaj
Thank you, Pankaj. ... ST
Thank you for your inspiring thoughts, dear Swamiji!
Maybe it is easier to discover the truth in others (spiritual ideals) first.
Ultimately, everyone subscribes to the same ideals, everyone wants to be good and do what is good. Evil people may be sincerely convinced that what they are doing is RIGHT, or that they have, unfortunately, no other option. Thus, the real problem is not how to define one's ideals, but to discover the TRUE MEANING of these nice words. Most ideals seem to be at odds with each other in practice (e.g. being human/limited and spiritual/unlimited consciousness, being just and merciful, courageous and patient, truthful and polite etc.). If all these contradictory ideal qualities are manifestations of the One Reality, perhaps we liken ourselves and hence get closer to It by balancing them in our own day-to-day lives.
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