Way of life

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 colors 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.