Jai Shri Krishna


There are always two ways of looking at a situation: either we can look
outwards or we can look inwards. Our mind has the natural tendency of
looking outwards, searching for explanation from others, finding faults
in others, blaming the world and accusing others of shortcomings.
However, whenever an incident or accident takes place we should make
every effort to look inwards and see if we were at fault in any way.



This is indeed a very difficult exercise. We cannot easily find our
shortcomings because our mind is besmeared with the dark colours of our
wants and desires. Just as we cannot see our own reflections in a
mirror if the mirror is dirty, similarly, we must clean the mirror of
our mind so that we can look inwards effectively. How can we clean the
mirror of our mind? Through the exercise ‘self-study’.



Self-study cleans our mind. It brings light and clarity to our mind,
like a candle or a torch. In ancient times, this torch of self-study
was taught to individuals during their childhood. Children at the
tender age of 5 or 6 years old were sent to a gurukul,
an ancient form of boarding school. Here, children acquired true
knowledge of the scriptures and learnt to carry out the activities of
life in a correct manner. The teachers of those days led their students
effectively, and education was not merely the dissemination of
information like it is today.



Knowledge is the key. We must illumine our minds through knowledge
ourselves by reading, studying and understanding the scriptures. This
will lead to self-study. The mind cannot remain idle. We must keep it
busy and must keep feeding it. Self-study can feed the mind, and hence
becomes food for life. This eventually brings more saattvikta (goodness) and removes taamsikta (darkness and ignorance) from our mind.



Self-study inspires meditation, and in fact meditation inspires
self-study. They are complementary. Hence, we must meditate when we
face difficult situations and circumstances in life. Even if the fault
looks as it may be due to others, we must meditate to find our own
mistakes. We’ll find that there is no reaction without an action. Our
error, however small, must be there.



Self-study is a divine property. It is the path that leads from death
to immortality. With the torch of self-study in our hands, the often
long, troublesome and dark path of life can remain naturally
illuminated and beautiful forever.



With blessings,
Adesh kumar