DON’T BE A SLAVE TO YOUR DESIRES

DESIRES are integral to human nature. All men and women have a strong inclination towards fulfilling their desires and this is their greatest weakness. 

Consider the one who has taken his own desire as a deity, whom God allows to stray in the face of knowledge, sealing his ears and heart and covering his eyes—who can guide such a person after God (has abandoned him)? Will you not take heed?

Desire is an essential part of one’s personality. But it is like grease to an engine and not like the driver of that engine. Desire can serve as a motivating force, but mindless yielding to desire will be disastrous. To succeed, try to steer your life in a rational manner. Don’t give in to your desires. Remember that where desire is blind, reason has the capacity to discern the true nature of things.

It is said that man is a slave to desire. But this saying expresses only half the truth. The human mind is full of desires but at the same time, it also has the capacity for logical thought.

When your mind is overwhelmed by desire, examine that desire in the light of reality. Assess it for its potential returns, and objectively evaluate the feasibility and consequences of fulfilling it. Judge by all the possible effects it can have whether good or bad. If you are satisfied that its results will be beneficial, go ahead with fulfilling your desire—but with great care and planning.

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Where desire is blind, reason has the capacity to discern the true nature of things.

Don’t run after your desires. While following your desires, check, re-check and re-evaluate them as you go along. It is important to turn back if you find that you have taken a wrong step. Stop before reaching the point of no return.

There are different kinds of desires, some of which are improper too. You have to distance yourself from desires of this kind. Always keep in mind that every desire must remain within certain boundaries. Even good desires have their limits.

Right desires are helpful for the development of your character. And bad desires are detrimental to your personality. Pursuing your bad desires can ruin your future to the extent that you can never recover from their effects. Therefore live a life that is reason based and not desire-based.

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Desire can serve as a motivating force, but mindless yielding to desire will be disastrous.

Never judge a desire for its own sake—always judge it in terms of the results of its fulfillment. This is the only criterion to determine whether a desire is good or bad. Desire cannot be eliminated, but it can certainly be controlled. Don’t become a victim of your desires. Prove to be well in control of your desires and success will be yours.

Intelligent Designer

When we behold a magnificent machine for the first time, we immediately become aware of the skill of its manufacturer. In the same way, if we observe the world and ponder on the many wonders it contains, the Creator Himself will appear before us; we will gaze on creation and see there the face of the Lord.

Planning based on remnants

GERMAN statesman Otto von Bismarck observed that politics is the art of the possible. This aphorism can be extended to include planning. Planning should be done on the basis of what is available of what remains. Such planning can be termed as ‘planning based on remnants’.

In chalking out a course of action, it is preferable to do one's best and accept whatever be the outcome. Quite often unrealistic expectations to see total fulfillment of one’s expectations lead to disappointment. Discontentment with partial results makes it a case of ‘it should be all or nothing’.

This goes against the law of nature. It is sensible to accept and be content with achieving even a part or a fraction of one's expectations. Nations which launched their initiatives with great enthusiasm, ended up as failed states. They could neither achieve what they set out to do, nor retain what they already possessed. The following Hindi maxim applies to their case: “Aadhi chhod ke sajji dhave, aadhi rahe na sajji pave”– “One who runs after the whole, leaving behind the part, loses both the part and the whole”.

A contrary example is the achievements of Japan and Germany. After World War II, both nations lost large areas of land. Germany lost to theSoviet Union the eastern part of its country including part of Berlin. Japan had to surrender the Okinawa Islands, to the United States. Both countries made plans for their future economic development by first setting aside what they had lost. The result was miraculous: Germany, led by its first post-war Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, emerged as Europe’s industrial leader. Similarly, Japan under the wise leadership of Emperor Hirohito, rose to be the economic superpower of Asia.

This is the miracle of planning based on the remaining part of a whole, unlike planning which entails the pursuit of an erstwhile whole. The best principle in life is not to be concerned with what has been lost, but by planning wisely to avail of what is still extant. Sooner or later, one will emerge as a super achiever. This holds true for both nations and individuals.

Another good example is Singapore. Previously part of Malaysia, Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 and became an independent state. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore likewise adopted the policy of planning based on remnants. Singapore though a small fraction of the size of Malaysia is today far more developed than Malaysia.

All individuals and nations have ambitions which they seek to fulfil. Wise planning for the fulfilment of a goal requires adjustment between personal ambition and available resources. Good planning is realistically weighing one’s personal ambitions vis-à-vis available resources. We cannot change the course taken by the external world, nor can we master nature. Our only option is to make a realistic adjustment between our ambitions and the resources available in the real world.

Secret of knowledge

To acquire higher knowledge, you need a mindset that admits that you do not know, not a mindset that insist that you do know.

TURNING NEGATIVE INTO POSITIVE

The Art of Conversion

MAHATMA GANDHI spent twenty years in South Africa. In June 1893, he went to Pretoria in the Transvaal, a journey which took him to Pietermaritzburg. He bought a first class ticket and took his seat in a first-class compartment. Railway officials ordered him to move to the van compartment, since non-whites were not permitted in first-class compartments. Gandhi protested and produced his ticket, but was warned that he would be forcibly removed if he did not make a gracious exit. He refused to comply with the order, he was pushed out of the train, and his luggage tossed on the platform in the extremely bitter cold of the winter. Mahatma Gandhi says that this experience changed the course of his life.

He became a champion of the anti-apartheid movement, an important part of his freedom struggle that started in 1920. Although the experience was violent in nature, his response was positive. He adopted non-violence for his anti-apartheid campaign.

Mahatma Gandhi’s approach points towards the capacity of man. Man is capable of staying positive in any situation. He can manage negative experiences and convert them into positive ones. This is the art of emotion management, the great secret of success.

Man is capable of staying positive in any situation. He can manage negative experiences and convert them into positive ones

Moral Degradation

Irrational argument or using the language of allegation is the sign of an irresponsible person

 or one who has become morally deviant.

THE FAULT OF MAN

ONE of the main disclosures of modern physics has been that
the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun is the result of
nuclear reactions at the centre of the Sun. As the physicist
Fritjof Capra wrote, nuclear processes at the centre of the
Sun are of singular importance for our planet, “because they furnish the
energy which sustains our terrestrial environment.” — The Tao of Physics.

The fact that nuclear energy transmitted by the sun reaches the earth in
the form of light and sustenance shows that nuclear energy, in the hands
of nature, is a source of life for the world. But the same energy in the
hands of men becomes an instrument of death and destruction.
What is the reason for this starkly contrasting state of affairs? It is that
nature has no power of its own; whatever it does conforms exactly to the
will of God. We, on the other hand, have been invested with freedom. Just
as nuclear energy, when it emanates from nature in the form of sun’s rays,
is a source of light and sustenance for the planet, so religion, as revealed
to us by God, is a source of light and sustenance for the spiritual world—it
nourishes our souls and guides us onto the path of eternal salvation.
But just as men have mishandled nuclear energy, they have mishandled
religion. They have used it to advance themselves to positions of power,
to win esteem, to accumulate wealth for themselves at the expense of
others and to spread conflict, hate, division and suffering in this world.
The author Richard Dawkins, in his famous book, ‘The God Delusion’,
blames religion for much of the bloodshed in the world and many of the
ills in society.

It would be wrong to blame nuclear energy for the potential of destruction
it holds for us, because that would be due to its misuse, not to any fault of
its own. In the same way, it is wrong to blame religion for the evils which
men have perpetrated in its name. This is the fault of man, not the fault
of the divine religion which he corrupts.