The Self-Destructive Nature of Jealousy

 The Self-Destructive Nature of Jealousy

Jealousy is a corrosive emotion that can disrupt personal and professional relationships, ultimately leading to self-destruction. Individuals consumed by jealousy often sow discord and negativity, preferring to plant thorns rather than nurture positive growth. In the workplace, when one person excels, it can trigger feelings of envy in others, leading to a toxic environment where malicious rumors spread, camaraderie is eroded, and unity is shattered.

 

The roots of jealousy often trace back to an individual's emotional development, or lack thereof, during childhood. This emotion is not confined to any particular social or economic class; it is a universal affliction. Whether it’s a small shop owner envious of a neighboring business’s success or the proprietor of a luxurious hotel resenting a competitor’s triumph, jealousy pervades all levels of society. Even in corporate settings, a manager might dismiss a brilliant idea simply because it didn’t originate from him, illustrating how jealousy can stifle innovation and progress.

 

Interestingly, those who harbor jealousy frequently deny its existence. They may outwardly claim they are never envious, but this denial only masks the truth from themselves, not from others. Jealousy is often as visible and unavoidable as a glaring blemish on a young woman’s face. It manifests in behavior and attitude, revealing itself to those around the envious person.

 

There is a poignant truth in the observation that no individual is a complete failure until he begins to despise the success of others. Jealousy leads to self-inflicted wounds—like poisoning one’s own food and then consuming it. This self-destructive behavior stems from the inability to appreciate others’ achievements without feeling diminished. In essence, jealousy is a spiritual and emotional malady, likened to the jaundice of the soul, which distorts perception and drains joy from life.

 

To overcome jealousy, one must cultivate emotional growth and self-awareness, learning to celebrate others’ successes as if they were their own. This shift in perspective can transform jealousy from a destructive force into an opportunity for personal and collective growth. Only by addressing the root causes of jealousy can individuals hope to build healthier relationships and more harmonious environments.

  Lessons from the Field: Life, Sports, and Democracy

 

Swami Vivekananda famously said, “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita.” This statement serves as a powerful reminder to keep perspective when life becomes overwhelming.

 

Engaging in prayer or studying scripture often allows the mind to wander, but playing a sport demands undivided attention and wholehearted effort. There is no room for half-heartedness; one must play as if their life depended on it. This intense involvement captivates people worldwide, as evidenced by the five billion viewers of the 2022 World Cup. It’s not just the skill that enthralls us, but the passion and drive of the players.

 

The essence of any sport lies in balancing the desire to win with the acceptance of loss. A true sportsman plays to win but understands that losing is an inherent part of the game. This balance is crucial, as it embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and serves as a metaphor for life.

 

As we navigate through the results of high-stakes events like elections, we can draw inspiration from the playing field. Many have forgotten the essence of living in a modern democracy, where leaders are chosen through the power of the ballot. Even if the elected leader is not our preferred choice, we must respect the verdict, as democracy allows for the peaceful transfer of power, unlike the violent transitions of the past.

 

In choosing democracy, we must abandon tribal mindsets and cease the toxic behavior that pervades social media, where people often engage in vile speech and gang-like warfare. It is time to stop being sore losers or boastful winners. Demonizing the opposition simply because the outcome isn’t favorable is immature. A mature democracy should rise above such pettiness.

 

This doesn’t mean we lose our right to speak or protest. Democracy ensures the freedom to disagree, dialogue, and debate, but it is crucial not to let disagreement turn into hatred. For the winners, triumph should not lead to complacency. For the losers, defeat should not lead to despair. Victory should be a springboard for continued effort, and defeat should prompt an honest evaluation of actions and strategies.

 

Ultimately, concepts like triumph and loss are fleeting. In the grand scheme of life, we come into the world with nothing and leave with nothing. Some may win and some may lose in various contexts, but rising above these limited notions is the essence of life and spirituality.

 

Every event in life marks the beginning of a new experience and a new possibility. By truly accepting this, we allow our lives to blossom to their fullest potential.

IF HE EXIST

 I drive joy there was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting 7 precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

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Self Realization

 

Quote from true charm and Power of Vedanta

 

Self Realization

 

Nature has no influence on the Supreme Self of man, which is in reality one and the same with God; so Self realization and God-Vision are not two different things. Man is the expression of God and God is the reality of man Real man and God are inseparable. There is only one reality in this universe, whom the devotee worships as a Personal God, and a Jnani or wise man as his own Self. The difference is only in names and methods of reaching the goal; but when the goal is reached, both come to the same understanding –that there is but One by whom everything is pervaded. “This Atman is not to be realized by the intellect, nor by words , nor by hearing from many sources; but by him alone is the Atman is beloved, by him alone is the Atman realized” The thing necessary for us is to feel intense love in our hearts for this Supreme Self or God; otherwise He is not attainable . There is no other way that man can reach unto God, except through love-love always unites. This love for God comes unto those blessed beings who are pure in heart, from whom all attachment for unreal things, all selfish desires have vanished. This purity of heart and love for God are the sum and substance of all religious teachings.

 

We may spend the whole of our lives searching earnestly for truth in temples, in churches and in books; but without understating the significance of these fundamental teachings all these efforts will be in vain. Religion is practical and those who observe the practical side fo it realize the Truth you may not know how to read a single book, but if you have known the Truth which is behind them, you are much better off than the so-called philosopher who may speak in beautiful language but who has no realization whatsoever, it is a dangerous things to hear the Truth from one who has not realized, for he will only bring confusion in the mind; but one who has realized will teach with very few words Swami Vivekanda says in one of his lectures that he who has something to give, gives it in most has something to give, gives it in most simple language; but one who has nothing to give, he sometimes writes two volumes to expound one word . So we see that we can gain nothing when we come in contact with such people; they only confuse our brain.

 

Become like the divine with selfless service TOI

By Rishi Nityapragya

 

Visualise a soul passing through all the yonis and entering the Homo sapiens – human kingdom, spending dozens of lifetimes, gradually evolving, experiencing extreme dependence on the illusionary games of tamasik sukh, the temporary attractions of rajasik sukh, and taking the first step into the realm of satvik sukh in the form of sadhana. As the evolution continues, an inevitable stage comes where the soul gets instinctively interested in satya-sang; it wants to know higher truths, immerses itself in self-exploration, swadhyay. As the soul approaches the extreme top of the pyramid of evolution, the final frontier is that of seva, service, being useful.

 

Gurudev often says that seva is ‘Sa Iva’, the process of becoming like Him, the Divine, the Almighty. Nature continuously, incessantly, unconditionally keeps providing everything for everyone, without prejudice, bias, or expectation of any kind. The sun shines for life to continue, the oceans provide us with clouds that bring us lifesaving rain, the wind supports pollination for the vegetation to foster, fire brings warmth that kindles fertility. This Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Divine entity called nature, existence, the universe, is in a continuous, unconditional giving mode. In the final stage of evolution of an individual soul, the training is to become like the Divine.

 

 

Drop your resistance, release your smallness and with a playful, prayerful, devotional mind, get ready to be useful to the creation, to become the instrument of the Divine – for the betterment of the collective consciousness of your society, of your nation, of the whole world. Courageously take up this higher responsibility and inspire other souls to walk on the path of righteousness, correctness, Dharma.

 

A simple definition of seva, service, is, ‘Through your effort of manasa, vacha, karmana – being, speaking, doing, if someone gets to know the higher truths of life, someone’s energy levels get enhanced and someone experiences heightened levels of joy – seva is happening.’ And if your words and actions exhibit the infinite strength of satvik sukh, seva is happening.

 

As you dive deep into your personal sadhana, you experience a tremendous blast of kundalini shakti, the life force. Your mind settles down, paving the way for deeper, higher truths to dawn. Through satsang, on the one hand, you gratefully celebrate all the gifts from the Divine; on the other hand, you explore the potentialities of the macrocosm and the microcosm, of the ocean and the wave, of paramatma and jivatma, existence and you.

 

The optimum culmination is in seva. All that empowering energy, thankfulness for having received treasures from life and meticulous understanding of your existence and your own role in it has to ultimately result in you, the individual soul, becoming the instrument for the blossoming of other souls. In short, ‘Seva is wisdom in action.’

 

As you take higher responsibility, your area of influence grows, and you get the opportunity of expanding the arena of your existence. Higher seva exposes your strengths as well as your weaknesses. But look at this benevolent design of the consciousness. When your pluses get exposed, they always grow and get strengthened. And when your limitations get exposed, they always dissolve, free you and go away. (Abridged from Celebrating Life)

 

 

 

IF HE EXIST

 I drive joy there was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting 7 precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

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How to live

Quote from the True Charm and Power of Vedanta

How to live

A community which, according to the prevailing social system , is subjected to contempt, abuse and exploitation , is likely to associate with tits self-image, the labels which the ruling class or exploiters use with reference to them to season and out of season such as wicked evil, unworthy, useless good-for-nothing, etc. distrust about one’s own ability gets established in the mind and the individual may begin to hate himself . in short these feelings deal a death blow to the whole some development of the individual.

People who are little more advanced than the rest, economically, socially, culturally and intellectually, in religion and spiritual practice, to whatever community they belong have a tendency to show off, to display their bloated ego consciously or unconsciously before other who are less fortunate than they are. They dub their less fortunate brethren ‘stupid, dull idling with contempt and scorn. The earlier they give up such a habit, the better for the whole society. this aptitude which is present in those who support exploitation and to those who are supposedly forward, characterized by arrogance and feelings of superiority deflates the self-confidence of those who are deprived of the opportunities in education and culture , and  presents them form ever trying to lift themselves up. Do they ever contemplatewhat kind of shock they cause to people lagging behind because of their contemptuous and belittling attitude. If they don’t have the farsightedness to realize that by instilling negative features in the self-image of the poor downtrodden people, they indirectly do harm to them and in the long turn pave the way for their own destruction what is the meaning of their feelings of superiority? Man’s worth should be assessed not on the basis of the limitations and weakens of the moment but on the basis of the limitation s and weakness of the moment, but on the bass of his potential and the possibility of development and achievement. we should develop the habit of respecting an individual on the basis of this possibility of achievement . Otherwise our society will go on erecting hurdles on the way of its own development. It ahs already erected enough hurdles. Do we see the signs of the development of such consciousness among our educated youth?

Ability to be self-aware

According to Aristotelian theory, humans are the most evolved form of thinking and feeling beings so far. What is more, we alone have the potential to grow and evolve into the spiritual dimension. But what precisely, if anything, sets us apart from other living creatures? Is it the faculty of reasoning? But reasoning does not, and cannot, teach us anything new. Socrates was a man, a mortal being. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

You can see here that there is no new truth that the third and concluding statement expresses that is not clearly implied in the first two sentences.

The conclusion of any piece of syllogistic reasoning does not enable us to learn anything new other than what is contained in its premise. You have the same limitation with inductive logic where you arrive at general truths from particular examples.

 

The mind grasps reality by establishing relationships between entities that it perceives new and perceptions that it carries from the past. The distinguishing feature of humans lies in our capacity for self-awareness.

 

Other living creatures may have the ability to perform a greater variety of tasks or may have developed superior sensibilities in certain areas, but we have the capacity to look at ourselves and be aware of ourselves.

We can attain knowledge, but what is unique about us is that we can also get to know how we can attain that knowledge. A human being is like a computer that can see how it has been programmed and, thereby, transcend its programming.But, if He exists?

 

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

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Positive Thinking

Monday, 08 July 2019

Positive Thinking

The Speaking Tree , India | ET

By R SHIVA KUMAR

We create our entire world by the way we think. Thoughts are the causes and conditions are the effects. Our circumstances and conditions are not dictated by the world outside; it is the world inside us that creates the outside.

Self-awareness comes from the mind, which means soul. Mind is the sum total of the states of consciousness grouped under thought, will and feeling. Besides self-consciousness, we have the power to choose and think.

Krishna says, “No man resteth a moment inactive.” Even when inactive on the bodily plane, we are all the time acting on the thought plane. Therefore, if we observe ourselves, we can easily mould our thoughts. If our thoughts are pure and noble, naturally, actions follow the same. If our thoughts are filled with jealousy, hatred and greed, our actions will be the same.

Karmically, however, thought or intent is more responsible and dynamic than an act. One may perform a charitable act, but if he does not think charitably and is doing the act just for the sake of gain and glory, it is his thoughts that will determine the result.

Theosophy teaches us that every thought, no matter how fleeting, leaves a seed in the mind of the thinker. These small seeds together go to make up a large thought seed and determine one’s general character.

Our thoughts affect the whole body. Each thought once generated and sent out becomes independent of the brain and mind and will live upon its own energy depending upon its intensity.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Quote from the true charm and power of Vedanta

Let us se how what the Gita says about the characteristics of an illumined person.

The illumined sages , like all of us, use their sense organs in order to work, but unlike us, they never forget the goal. They are always aware that the senses are there servants and they the masters . it is this fact that we forget; we are pulled wherever the senses drag us. One of the Upanishads says that the Self is the maser riding a chariot. The body is the chariot; the senses are its horses and the mind their reins. The intellect, with the reins in hand, is the charioteer who is guiding the horses on the path full of sense objects. The destination is knowledge and peace, if the charioteer remains level-headed because of good training , he or she can manoeuvre these mad horses properly even on a dangerous road . Otherwise the horses disregard the reins and go by any path they like, at times even toppling the chariot upside down. The pure intellect directs the horses properly to the destination. But the impure intellect, bound by desire and greed, surrenders to the horses and advances on the path to total destruction?

Another characteristic of the illumined is that they remain serene in both joy and sorrow. In contrast , we are selfish and mad for our own personal pleasures. Even a little sorrow throws us off the balance. Taking the trouble to help strangers is out of the question-we remain carefree even if our neighbour is afflicted by the plague. Look at the numerous famines we have in India. What are we doing about it? If this were to happen anywhere in the West, the whole country would have been agitated . People would have said, “Why should there be such famines? Why should millions dies in our country for want of food?” they would have dedicated their lives to eliminate the problem. In these matters we Indians are inactive. We are full of inertia(tamas) In practical life we are utterly lazy, Someone wrote recently that the number of Indians who have died because of famines in the last nineteen years is four times those who have died in wars throughout the world in the last 107 years . how awful

But, if He exists?

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7^th Heaven moment of the week  in cwc India   beat sl by 7 wk    ,

But, if He exists?

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7^th Heaven moment of the week  in cwc India   beat sl by 7 wk    ,