Art of Right Contact In the Real World

Art of Right Contact In the Real World.                                                                                           Janki Chopra, Speaking Tree, Mar 9 , 2005, 12.00am IST

Vedanta is the art of right contact. “It is not the world that distresses you but how you contact it”,  says Swami Parthasarathy. Milton says that the mind is its own place and can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven. The world troubles you not because there is something wrong with the world but because you don’t know how to contact it . Electricity is a great boon if you know how to contact it; it is tragedy if you don’t. Since Vedanta is the art of right contact, certain principles need to be followed to facilitate the connection. Here are some Vedantic principles on how to contact the world:

Unselfishness:

Our attitude to the world is self-centred. Hence the world agitates us. We are constantly making demands of it instead of holding the attitude of ‘in the service of all ‘. We are more interested in what happens to us rather than the welfare of the community. This attitude causes stress and tension.

Non-attachment:

Attachment is an excessive liking towards some aspect of the world. A refusal to be happy unless things are exactly the way I want them to be. The world is ever in a flux of change. This changing world can never constantly cater to the individual . If we insist it do, we will only get agitated. Nothing else. The world stays the way it is.

Intellect rules:

The body performs actions. These actions can be propelled by either our mind or intellect. The mind is the seat of emotions, likes and dislikes, impulses. The intellect is discrimination, reason,  judgement. We must endeavour to make all our actions emanate from the intellect instead of the mind. Like a diabetic being offered sweets. His mind likes them, but the intellect must decide the course of action. If we do not do this, we will constantly be meeting consequences which are not palatable to us.

Goal:

Without a goal life becomes a feather in a summer breeze. At the mercy of all sorts of things. The higher the goal, the more unselfish it is, the greater the energy it will generate and the greater the fulfilment. We should have lifetime goals. Anticipate how many years we probably have to live. A normal person can well subtract his current age from hundred for a rough estimation. Then decide what would I liketo use the rest of my life to do. Make a plan of action for the years and thereby decide what needs to be done today.

Swadharma:

Whenever we take up any field of action we must ensure that that is in alignment with our inherent nature. To take up something just because it is convenient or has scope is asking for a life of frustration. The majority of our life is spent in work. We must ensure that the work we take up is something we will enjoy doing. This will lead to both material and spiritual growth.

Solitude and study:

One of the most important things of life is learning about it and reflecting on that information. How well our life proceeds depends much on what is the knowledge or theory that supports it. If this theory or understanding is wrong, life is destined to go awry. Hence to make the time for its study and reflection is one of the most important aspects of living. This is one thing that cannot be delegated. A deep study of Vedanta will yield all the principles that go into making life a truely fulfilling experience.

 

7 Responses to Art of Right Contact In the Real World

  1. Shilpa says:

    thank you so much to give us such a lot in a such a concise form.

  2. Ana says:

    Thanks for trying to describe the terminlogy for the noobs!

  3. Bhavin Patel says:

    Thanks for such a nice article….

  4. v k jain says:

    wonderful

  5. CHANDRAN says:

    Thank you for a wonderfull and usefull article for all

  6. MAYANK says:

    Good Analysis of my mind can be seen in this.

  7. Balu says:

    nice short summary on vedanta

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