SELFLESS SERVICE

The Sanskrit word for selfless service is ‘Seva' (सेवा). Man is a social being. He is indebted to society in many ways. The food he eats, the clothes he wears, the house he lives in, everything he depends on is available to him only due to the efforts of others. Whatever he achieves in life is also due to the direct or indirect cooperation of others. God has bestowed human life upon him so that he would offer his services for beautifying the planet and for making this world a better place in which to live. You, as a human, have the responsibility of offering your altruistic services to society and to the world. You are supposed to help maintain Nature’s ecosystem and contribute your level best to the healthy and happy growth of all of its animate and inanimate beings. How else can you thank Mother Nature for the enormous boons She has blessed you with? How could you be the crowned prince of the Almighty if you do not discharge your duties towards His creation?


We should all remember time and again that we are not born only to live a materialist life. We are humans. Our life should not be confined to earning and enjoying sensual pleasures. We should also be living a noble and altruistic life. Our abilities and potentials should also be used for the welfare and upliftment of others.


Your spiritual practice is incomplete without service. You must offer your voluntary altruistic service to contribute to the welfare of others.Your wealth, talents and intellect are of no use if not even a fraction of them goes towards helping to uplift someone else. And practically speaking, consider how happy a self-centered affluent person can be if those around him are poor, downtrodden and suffering? You cannot even enjoy your success or happiness unless you share your joys with others. You cannot expect love, cooperation and respect from anyone unless you learn to care and share. Every religion of the world, every spiritual school encourages charitable giving for the welfare of the needy. Even those who are poor should consider that there are others more deprived than themselves. Try to do the best you can to alleviate the pain and sufferings of others. More than material help, it is compassion and cooperation that  counts in Seva(सेवा). Selfless service is said to be the noblest of human  deeds. Service for the world is the true devotional offering to its Creator.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

The third essential discipline for human ascent is spiritual practice, called ‘Sadhana’(साधना) in Sanskrit. This is the devout endeavor of self-refinement and improvement. It includes two parts: worship and penance. Most of us understand worship to be some kind of devotional practice such as worshiping a deity, praying before it, chanting a mantra, meditating on divine attributes, and the like. Well, these are certainly steps or methods to attain the real purpose of worship. But we should also know its real meaning.

Worship of God means faith in divine values, sitting near Divine realms, inculcating Divinity. If we sit near a fire, we feel the heat and our clothing and our body also warms up, just a sitting near a glacier has the opposite effect of cooling us. The area surrounding a sandalwood tree is also permeated with the fragrance of sandalwood. The soothing fragrance also makes the nearby plants fragrant. So you see the effects of proximity. Worship is a process of mental and emotional proximity with the Almighty. Through the enhanced purity of the inner self, sincerity of devotion and depth of faith, worship gradually connects our “individual self” with the Supreme Self. Inculcation of divine virtues and awakening of our indwelling divinity is a natural consequence of devout worship.

Worship and sadhana must go hand in hand. Either is incomplete without the other. Worship induces the inspiration and strength required for sadhana and sadhana is vital for the purification and inner engrossment required for devout worship.The word “sadhana” means to perfect. It includes excellence of qualities, deeds and behavior and eminence of personality. Uprooting vices, evil tendencies and bad habits, and cultivating virtuous tendencies, good conduct and attitude is sadhana. Wild animals are trained in the circus to perform skilled feats some of which are difficult even for humans. Sadhana is also an arduous training of the mind. It is a two-pronged attack: it includes refinement through ascetic disciplines and improvement through encouraging, inspiring and illuminating the mind to the benefits of virtuous qualities and activities. The transformation of the personality through sadhana is like the tedious process of clearing wild shrubs from a field and making it into a beautiful garden; converting raw metal into shining gold by processing it in a fire.

Source: http://www.awgp.org/

SELF-STUDY

The Sanskrit word for self-study is Swadhayaya(स्वाध्याय ). It relates with the study of one’s aspirations, thoughts, attitude and conduct in light of the elevated thoughts of enlightened personalities. How will you study yourself unless you have a worthy role model to compare yourself to? And why would you study yourself unless there was a motivation to do so? What is your aim? Self-ascent. What will inspire you for this? The company of those who have achieved it.

Similarly, if you want to see the light of knowledge, if you want to broaden your attitude, if you want to rise beyond the insane and misguided trends of the present time, if you want to cross the barriers of your present circumstances and environment and if you want to grow in righteousness, you will have to put in extra efforts with unwavering resolution. How will you do that? From where will you get the power to move ahead against the resistance of the popular customs, against the downward pull of your social environment and against your own inclinations and habits? Who will give you adept guidance and support for it? One way to annul the negative is to assimilate the positive with greater intensity. Keeping the company of great personalities, saints and sages is the most effective and practical method for doing this.

As balanced food and regular physical exercise is necessary for bodily health, regular study and introspection is necessary for mental, emotional and spiritual well being. It is no less important than any devotional practice. It lays the foundation for the realization of Inner Light.

Proper self-study can only take place through the study and contemplation of the elevated thoughts of enlightened personalities. You should examine your convictions, prejudices, presuppositions and illusions in the light of the discerning wisdom and guidance of the thoughts and works of those who have lived glorious and purposeful lives.

However, adoption of the teachings of great souls is not so easy. Self-study gives you the direction and inspiration but it is only you who has to make a resolute attempt towards changing your deep rooted animal tendencies and your old habits and remold your ‘nature’ by inculcating the values inspired by self-study. In short, the purpose of self-study is fulfilled only through spiritual practice.

Source: http://www.awgp.org/

SELF RESTRAINT

The Sanskrit word for restraint is ‘sanyam'(संयम ).  It is crucial for us to prevent the drainage or misuse of our powers and potentials. In general, most of us consume our mental and bodily energy in haphazard activities driven by the passions of our ever churning minds and sense organs. Even an apparently ordinary person may accomplish wonders if he stops draining his capabilities and makes constructive use of his potentials. To do so, we must be vigilant on four fronts. We have to practice: 

1. Control of the sense organs(इंद्रिय संयम ), 

2. Control of the mind(विचार संयम ), 

3. Optimal use of time(समय  संयम ) and  

4. Optimal use of money(अर्थ संयम )
 

Regarding sensory restraint, the most difficult and important is the restraint of the tongue and reproductive organs. These two are the greediest and most vulnerable to addiction. As you are aware, satisfying the in discriminant cravings of the tongue disturbs our digestive system and spoils our health. Likewise, the unrestrained indulgence in sex drains our vital energy and weakens our physical and mental strength. The unbridled use of the tongue in speech invites animosity and insult. One cannot hope to make any notable spiritual progress or even remain healthy and strong for long without restraining these organs of the senses.

Equally important is the careful use of available resources. Money is a vital resource on the material plane, but unless used carefully, it will encourage extravagance and addiction, lead to a variety of health problems both physical and mental or lead to extravagant displays, which invite jealousy, anxiety and the threat of burglary. Those who are not wealthy are forced to be careful, as every penny of their hard-earned money is important. Those who have substantial amounts for fulfilling their basic needs and duties should invest the remainder wisely in projects that help others generate income, thereby increasing the future viability of those around them. Industriousness, budgeting, and thoughtful use of money is the secret of prosperity. Frugality and controlled use of resources are also essential to one’s efforts to develop the self-restraint of the sense organs. They are also important for the development of independence and spiritual progress in general.

Courtesy: http://www.awgp.org/spiritual_wisdom/blissful_life/jeevan_sadhana/self_restraint

SELF REFINEMENT - AN INTRODUCTION

You might wonder what exactly is meant by self-refinement, self-transformation and self-development and how to practice them? 

To achieve this one will have to adopt four disciplines. These are 

1. Self-restraint (संयम ), 
2. Self-study (स्वाध्याय), 
3. Spiritual practice (साधना) and 
4. Social service. (सेवा )

These are like four essential steps in the upliftment of human life, four cornerstones of the edifice of an accomplished life and four resources of human ascent. Each of these four is dependent on the others. We cannot hope to transform our lives if any one of them is missing. We cannot dream of anything worthwhile along the path of self-transformation without accomplishing these fundamental necessities of self-ascent. 

Courtesy: http://www.awgp.org/spiritual_wisdom/blissful_life/self_transformation