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THIRD EYE

JOURNEY TO THE HIGHER SELF

BY SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA

A monkey, which leaves the tree and swims in a lake is inferior to fish. A racehorse kept in a beautiful and posh apartment, is inferior to a rat. A good swordsman given a plough to cultivate a piece of land, is inferior to a peasant. In the same way people feel inferior, if they are not summoned to a higher self.

“I am uncomfortable talking to people, I feel shy, I can’t mix with people, I feel diffident in getting jobs done by others, I am an introvert. How can you help me?” a lady asked, in one of my LIFE programs.

The art of living is about balancing. We have to balance our work, home, body, and mind. We should balance between being outer winners and being inner winners.

Reflect on this.

A woodcutter had to struggle hard to earn two meals a day. He met a monk. The monk advised him, “stop staying at the edge of the forest, and go into the forest. One day’s hours of work will fetch you one-month’s food.”

The woodcutter followed the advice. Deep within the forest, he found sandalwood trees. He was very happy. He expressed his gratitude to the monk.

The monk advised again, “Take the risk of going still deeper into the forest. A day’s work will fetch you food for six months. This time he found a silver mine. He thanked the monk again, profusely.

The monk said, “If you trust me and go still deeper into the forest, one day’s work will make you earn enough to fetch your food for a life time.” This also turned out to be true. For he found a gold mine. The woodcutter wondered, “Why then does the monk still stay at the edge of the forest and not venture into the forest, as he has been advising me?”

He expressed his doubts to the monk. The monk replied, “If you want to be eternally happy, sit under this tree and I will teach you to go within. Then you will be eternally happy.”

To be an outer winner, one has to explore the outside world. To be an inner winner, one has to go within oneself. The kingdom of heaven is within us. The balance between being an outer winner and being an inner winner is what would make us feel good. Why are you shy? This is because you are not feeling good. You are caught up in looking good. When you are not feeling good, even doing a good act may land you in trouble.

Another tale

A woman noticed a boy jumping to reach the door bell. She helped him to ring the doorbell and smiled “Is your attempt now successful?” “Yes; but now run and vanish before the door opens!” said the boy and took to his heels.

You say you are uncomfortable being with people. Your discomfort may be due to the lack of people skills. You should help people to bring out their best and that is possible only if your best comes out. Your best comes out if you balance being an outer and an inner winner. Learn to motivate yourself and others. Learn to be at peace with the imperfection in yourself and others.

One important aspect that has helped me in dealing with people is this value. The value of receiving complaints wisely. The more I listen to people’s complaints the more it appears that there are hidden agendas behind the plethora of complaints.

The system I adopt is, the other has a right to complain; but not for over five minutes.