Manah Sodhanam -Verse 16

This one week is the longest time I have went without updating this page since I started writing on Manah Sodhanam. No matter how hectic things become, I must have the discipline to sit and write. I now understand the importance of doing sadhana regularly. It takes a lot of conscious effort to make our thoughts stick to the Truth. And regular sadhana helps in pulling my straying mind back to the state of peace and calm. As I am typing these words out, I can feel the stress and heartburns and other work related pains flow out of my mind and body. Why didn't I do this at the end of every work day?

It is so easy to get completely caught up in the process of day to day living. Also, while I theoretically try to remove expectations of the end result for the work I do, I couldn't help but feel really sad when all my efforts were dismissed as insignificant by the related parties. Whatever, all those are neither important, nor relevant. Let me move to verse 16 of Manah Sodhanam. It really is a divine grace that I am contemplating on this verse, when I really need it the most.


RAGADVESAU PRAJAYETE  TADA CITTE  VRATHAIVA  HI
TABHYAM  HYAHAM  PRAVARTE  VA  NIVARTE LOKAVASTUNI

Likes and dislikes keep arising in my mind. These drive me to either pursue or withdraw from the objects of the world.
I feel that it is really important that we do what we like. It makes us happy! For example, I really like writing about Manah Sodhanam. I enjoy it. So whenever I get time, I try to read it or write about it. I like running, so I try my best to run 3 times a week. When I do all those things that I like, I am happy. But talk to me about work...it instantly dampens my mood. I dislike it and I am trying to withdraw from it as much as possible.

 But if I view things dispassionately, without likes or dislikes, then how will my life be? Will it be placid and calm?? Or dull and bland? Or should I try and do what I like all the time, while slowly getting rid of doing things that I don't like? If I think about it a bit, I do the things that I don't like, because only if I do that, I will be able to do what I like. For example, only if I get up really early in the morning (Which I don't like. I love sleeping in), I will be able to run and see the glorious sunrise.  The same apply for people also. We try and be with people we like and avoid the ones we don't like like a plague. But, in some cases, we have no choice to put up with people we don't like, because only then we can be with those we like or have what we like.

And if I go along this line of thought for a bit, I can't help but feel how much importance I give for the likes and dislikes of others. I do many things for those I like and for me to be likable in their eyes! What a waste of time?! How much we bend backwards to gain societal acceptance? Isn't this also a dimension of likes and dislikes?

Maybe this verse is trying to tell me that I should not to give too much importance to my likes and dislikes, because, they are both two sides of the same coin? That is a thought to ponder. I should now try and analyze what I am pursuing and what I am withdrawing from and how big a role does my likes and dislikes play in my day to day life. Hari Om!

Comments

Post a Comment

And they blabbered back!

Popular posts from this blog

How much longer will India be the land of festivals?

Image
There are so many things that I want to write here, that I don't know where to start. But there was one predominant thought I had when I got up at 3.30 am on Sunday morning which I wanted to compulsorily blog about -The Karadaiyan Nombu. For the uninitiated, Karadayan Nombu falls on the first day of "Pangunii" month as per the Tamil calendar. Legend has it that Savitri, rescued her husband Satyavan's life from Yama on this day. So every year, young girls and married women pray to the Goddess to bless them with good husbands and for longevity and good health of their husbands respectively. We wear a yellow thread around our neck on this day and make a special delicacy -the jaggery adai and the salt adai. The time to tie the thread around the neck is usually the moment the month is born. As far as I can remember, it has been at convenient times. Even on those days when the month is born late in the afternoon or evening, we all managed -even if it came on
Read more

Karma Yoga -Part 1 -What and Why

Image
For the longest time, I was under the impression that the term Karma yoga only means doing social service -maybe sweating it out in a beach clean up, sweeping the temples, cleaning the animals in a shelter and doing physical work for charities and NGOs. And needless to say, I felt that Karma Yoga makes no sense because I didn't have enough time to walk around with a broom stick. Looking back, it kind of feels funny that I have always associated Karma Yoga with sweeping and mopping.  Then came my initial Vedanta classes. When our Acharya used to talk about unselfish action, not working for fruits of action, work for work's sake, working without attachment and so on, I was still left scratching my head -not because of what she was telling, but because of my limited understanding and evolvement. At that time, I was still working in corporate and I often used to wonder, what it meant to work unselfishly? It is not that I was a selfish person anyways, so where am I
Read more

Manah Sodhanam - Verse 1

PARAMATMA'  DVAYANANDAH  SARVABHUTASTHITO'  PI  HA AJNANENAVRTO  DRSTAH  TATHAIVA  CA  MANOMALAIH That sounds pretty straight forward eh? The Paramatma is non dual and full of bliss...present in all beings. But then, we don't get to experience the Paramatma due to our own ignorance and impurities of the mind. The thing that really stumps me is this truth -stated over and over and over in all scriptures -that we are beings of bliss. Our true state is that of happiness. If we can actually get to experience that bliss, won't our lives be just fantastic? Our happiness is strongly associated with what we have and don't have. A good job, a steady income, health, love, children, new car, own house, vacations -we run behind all these things and much more - just for the sake of some imagined, temporary happiness. While we undoubtedly feel happy when we get what we want, our mind immediately creates another void. Then we run to fill that void to experience our nex
Read more

Love

Image
Love, such a commonly used word. We all know what it means. An intense like for something, a feeling of attraction etc etc. In today's colloquial parlance, we "love" anything and everything. Right from the pizza with extra cheese topping to the new dress that we brought. We love our new haircut, we loved the trip that we took last year, we love that actor and we love hanging out with friends.  We love the rain and we love that cup of coffee. And then, we also go around, holding this love as a precious burden in our heart for that one person we "love". Isn't this funny? If love is so easy, so commonplace in our lives, then loving should also be equally easy, right? And this so called love, as we know it, should be liberating. It should only bring us joy and peace and contentment. But many times, especially when it is latched on to people, all it does is bring heartache. Oh, the misery is all too familiar, isn't it? The way our heart broke
Read more

A Song of Ice & Fire - George R R Martin (Game of Thrones series)

Image
You might think I’m ambitious for attempting to review A Song of Ice & Fire for my very first review. To make matters worse, it is also a wildly popular TV series titled after the first book, Game of Thrones. Also, I could be shot if there are any spoilers in the review. But I can’t think of another series/book since Harry Potter that captured my imagination and obsession so effectively, so here it is. For those who haven’t watched or read it, Songs of Ice & Fire is about a power struggle of massive proportions between kings & queens, lords & knights, conquerors & slave masters, set in a land where seasons can last for years. What’s new about this story of power and politics, intrigue and ambition, murder and betrayal? The mind-blowingly intricate tapestry of characters, locations and events, to put it simply. Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character, but the storyline is in many threads, spread across many miles and gorgeousl
Read more

One Size DOESNOT Fit All

Image
It has been exactly a year since I quit my corporate job. And first things first -that does not make me a quitter. All through my 28 years of life, I have been made to believe that life follows a single course and as if to reinforce this, everyone around me was taking the same course. School, under graduation, then a post graduation or a job, buy a house / car, get married, have kids, work, work, work, then go on vacations now and then, grow old and then die. The life in between is peppered with all sorts of emotions and dramas and love and hate and gossip and expectations and gratifications and disappointments and whatnots. Well, I also embarked on the same course -school, under graduation in engineering, because only an engineering degree has job value and no one who does a BA Lit, or BA History or Journalism gets a well paying job, then a post graduation because I am not an engineer material and I wanted to escape working in an IT firm, got a job offer in a MNC bank, got m
Read more

Purpose

Image
Why we do what we do is a very important question. And I had been struggling to answer this for the five years I was working in commercial banking. Why am I doing this job? Apart from salary, there was absolutely no other answer that I could give myself. Good pay, yes. In fact, a very good pay. Work life balance, yes. It was a five day week work. Work profile, yes. I had to interact with and manage the commercial accounts. Which means, low volume and high value. So yes, it was a good profile with amazing exposure and learning. But, I hated going to work. Every morning, it was a struggle for me to go to office. Often, I just had to switch off my mind and completely ignore its protests. Because, fairly speaking, I had no reason to complain. It was a good job with good pay with a very comfortable work environment -in both the banks that I was working. But still, it didn't make me happy. I used to go through the five days of the week, looking forward for the weekend. And I use
Read more