Stand up, perform to your maximum potential
18th September 2020Practice Makes Perfect – Week 6
28th September 2020Dear seekers,
Hari Om!
Please click on the link below, to download your ‘journal pages’ to help you with your reflection. Please note that these are formatted to be opened in Microsoft Word; they can be filled in within the document itself.
Sadhana 1 – Righting wrongs
By practicing gratitude, we become aware of all the blessings in our life and are able to act out of a spirit of service and fulfilment, rather than desire. However, there may remain the tendency to think, speak or act in a negative way. These become obstacles for a seeker who wants to move forward.
How can we remove these tendencies? We must become aware of the negativities, understand their consequences, resolve to uproot them, and act upon that resolve.
What?
Apologise for your mistakes; seek forgiveness for any harm caused.
Why?
As Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda said, ‘sin’ is nothing but ‘self-insulting action’. It is any action done with utter disregard for our true nature, catering only to baser instincts. Experiencing the results of such actions, we suffer. Not realising why, we often perpetuate the cycle of negativity and find it difficult to move forward.
When we harbour negativities within, not only do we harm ourselves, but we also end up hurting others. The first step to uprooting these negativities is to acknowledge the harm caused. Once we have done this, we can become aware of their effect and work to remove them.
Often, we are held back by our own guilt over past actions; when we face up to this and make amends, we are able to progress. Otherwise, we are held back by our own mistaken thinking.
How?
Each day acknowledge any mistake that you make. Do not dwell on it; rather, as soon as you recognise it, apologise and seek forgiveness. It may be to another; it may be to yourself. However, do not delay.
Rather than dwelling on mistakes, seek to learn from them if possible; if not, apologise and move on.
If you have recognised a negativity within your own mind and are trying to remove it, be strict about how you deal with it. You might withdraw some daily comfort when you find your mind indulging in that negativity.
Most importantly, make the resolve not to repeat the mistake. We are all equipped to grow and evolve; no one is completely trapped by past actions or choices. We can move on, if we choose to.
