In reading a translation of the Bhagavad Gita, I came across an interesting point about Krishna's philosophy: whether you are on the top of the mountains in peace, or in the middle of the battlefield, your goal must be at peace.
It is quite practical actually, because the other option is to complain about it (which is less practical) or find a way out (more practical).
There might however be times when we not be able to find a way just yet, so it would only help to be at ease and relaxed in all situations - whatever they may be, and after finding or creating an opportunity, get out of it.
Both the "practical" and the "more practical" solutions require effort on our part - intellectual, knowledge-based effort - where we observe what situations are holding us back, what we would rather the situation be, and taking action to overcome the hurdles.
The unpractical - and certainly more common - is to complain and expend energy on how bad things are. And how life is unfair and so on. (This is also a reason I both dislike and disregard gossip.)
Either way we are expending energy, so may as well expend it on the solutions that make our lives better.
Peacefulness at the end of it all is a state of mind. think about it: good things and bad things happen to all people in life. Some look at it and stay at peace, some break down.
To be peaceful and to know that a time will come when redemption will be a possibility, is the most practical choice. The choice is ours at all times in life, even if the control isnt.
One could argue that sometimes there just aren't any solutions. An example for this could be a post-teenage-years boy or girl questioning why, no matter how hard they try, they just cant seem the find a person they can connect with on that deep level that everyone else around them seems to be sharing already. You can talk about practical and logical and rational, but what makes us human is our emotion - the raw power it has over us and its ability to infect and affect every single action we do.
ReplyDeleteNow here is where you must be shaking your head saying "Why does he always have to argue with me?" - but I also have a counter argument to my point.
If a person is so busy looking for someone, and looking for a electric connection with another person, the consistent failure is bound to dampen their mood, and energy, and overall appearance as well. This in itself is self-destructive and counter productive. Instead what a person like this needs to do is come to the realization that if they aren't actively looking, they wont be consistently disappointed, and if they aren't consistently disappointed, their over all energy will be more positive, and thus more attractive, and will most likely be the cause of their eventual connection they were initially yearning for in the first place.
This means, not just relaxing and trying to turn the situation around, but instead, completely changing his/her focus onto something else and completely removing the situation temporarily and letting time bring the inevitable change that it brings.
With all that said, try telling someone looking for love that they need to focus on something else and not focus on finding someone, and their answer in one way or another will be "easier said than done", and that's simply because emotion isn't logical or rational and its most definitely not practical, so how can a person expect to apply a rational solution to something that cannot be controlled. Its like a person yelling at a fire and then telling it to stop burning.
Actually, that's a very valid point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying and that people won't let things happen when it's something they want very dearly. That's a reason why they want to control it, They want to make it happen "now" and in this instant.
Specially in case of love - they try to meet as many new people, and because of their preconceptions, they never really end up liking anybody.
Oh and about shaking my head, I've learnt that I have a choice, I may not be able to control what you say, but I can definitely choose to listen. ;)
That said, You should write a post for my blog!