Four Pillars of Self-Development = Pujya Gurudev

Four Pillars of Self-Development – I

= Pt. Shri Ram Sharma Acharya

Translation of a discourse by Poojya Gurudev Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on Atmonnati Ke Char Adhara  delivered in 1980)

Let us begin with the collective chanting of the Gayatri Mantra:

“ Om Bhur Buva Swa, Tatsaviturvareyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi, Dhiyo Yona Prachodayat ||”

Sisters and Brothers, Our Yug Nirman mission has been organized as a laboratory. In a laboratory of chemistry, new chemicals and compounds are invented and presented to the world with a demonstration of their properties and use. Our mission is experimenting on the formulae, on the workable and viable plans for spiritual ascent and reconstruction of the world. Our Yug Nirman mission is a man-making odyssey. It is developed like a nursery to nurture good qualities, to produce enlightened talents. As you know, saplings of a variety of plants and trees are grown in a nursery and supplied to different gardens where they blossom with beautiful flowers and nutritious fruits.

Our laboratory is like an agricultural farm where varieties of crops of better health-values are cultivated based on thorough research and the beneficial knowledge and technology is distributed for wider application.
Our Yug Nirman mission is like a school for the training, development and chiseled refinement of personality. It is an academy to produce the future architects of a happier, harmonious, and integrated society. After all what is the society? It is a congregation, an ensemble of people.

 People make the society and their collective qualities and conduct shape up the character (reputation) of the society. Transformation of individuals leads to transformation of the society. Therefore, illumined ascent of men and women to a higher level of consciousness leads to transmutation of the society, thus altering the trends of time and creating a new, better, world. This is what Yug Nirman aims at. The four definite steps to achieve this lofty goal are  vyakti nirma, pariwara nirmaa, samaj nirmaa and yug nirmaa (personal, familial, social and global transformation and evolution). We firmly believe in the pledge Hama Badalenge, Yuga Badalega; Hama Sudharenge, Yuga Sudhrega (When we transform ourselves, the trends of our times will be transformed. When we reform ourselves, the world will be reformed).

 It is obvious that we cannot experiment on the entire world; all the people across the globe cannot even be reached in feasible time.
As we know, charity begins at home. So we have to begin with a small group, with our own selves, our families and friends. If all of you endeavor sincerely, the Gayatri Pariwar of our mission will become a model for others to follow.
This way, gradually the ripples of change will encompass the whole ocean. So the first and most important task before us is self-refinement, self-development. For this we will have to first identify and focus our attention on the central root that directly or indirectly governs the course of our lives.

Think and ponder over what really makes one what one is as a person? It is the force of intrinsic tendencies of the mind. The hidden desires activated by these tendencies drive the mind and generate the corresponding currents of thoughts and trigger the brain for matching actions. Although the conscious mind appears to be our decision maker and manager with the brain being its counterpart at the level of the physical body, the real ruler is our unconscious mind. The intrinsic impressions on it are so intense that these block even the voice of the soul. So, for self-refinement and self-transformation, it is essential that we first purify our inner self  especially the unconscious mind, reign in its passions and control its wayward tendencies that dominate our desires, thoughts and actions.

Transformation of the central root will transform our life in no time. Thousands of complications, adversities and problems in ones life flow from ones nature, outlook and inner personality. Negative attitude, deluded perspectives, ones own vices and infirmities and wrong thinking often invite or add to adversities and problems. It is said that one becomes what one thinks and does. Indeed, most of the present circumstances of life are the results of ones own past actions and aspirations. Well, whatever be the present situation of your life, the best you could do is to face and tackle the hardships with patience, courage and balanced reasoning. If the circumstances are favorable today, make the best use of them for a better future with farsighted vision and prudence. In any case, the process of your self-purification and improved thinking should not stop.

You might wonder what exactly is meant by self-refinement, self-transformation and self-development and how to go about it? To achieve this you will have to adopt four disciplines  samyam, swadhyaya, sadhana, and seva. These are like four essential steps of the excelsior of human life, four foundational pillars of the edifice of accomplished life, four resources of divine ascent of human self. All the fours are interwoven. We cannot expect elevating our life without anyone of them. For growing a crop, four things are crucial  seed (or sapling), soil, water and sunlight (or some source of vital elements).

 If you want to do a business, again a quadruple is a must; namely, capital, experience, demand and customer! Combination of four things  bricks, cement, iron and wood is essential for building even an ordinary house. Talent, resources, support and appropriate opportunity are required for recognizable success in this world. Paucity or deficiency on any of these four fronts hinders the success-race. What is most vital for our clinical health? Balanced food (includes water), labor, rest and excretion. Disturbance in any of these upsets the body-system. So you see! Nature has ample examples of four interdependent fundamental necessities. We cannot dream of anything worthwhile along the path of soul-evolution without accomplishing the fundamental necessities of self-ascent. We shall discuss each of them now.
(i) Samyam: Literal meaning of samyam is restraint. 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 turbulent minds and sense organs. Even a so-called ordinary person may accomplish wonderful things if he checks the wastage of his capabilities and makes constructive use of his potentials.

We have to be vigilant on four fronts and observe abstinence of sense organs, control over the turbulence of mind, and optimal uses of time and worldly resources. For the samyam of the sense organs, most difficult and important is the samyam of the tongue and the sex-organs. These two are the greediest organs vulnerable to addiction. As you are all aware, the greed of the tongue disturbs our digestive system, gulps anything edible or non-edible for taste and spoils our health. The unrestrained indulgence in sex drains out our vital energy and thus weakens our physical and mental strength. Unbridled use of tongue in speech invites animosity and insult. One cannot think of any notable progress or even having a healthy and hearty life for a long time without restraining these sense organs. There is hardly any moment in a day from the time we get up, when our mind is void of any thought. But what kind of thoughts? Most often these are hazy flashes of auto-wandering of our mind in its world of ever-new desires or abrupt imaginations and retrieval of memory as per egotist impulses. Anger, excitation, depression, etc are all offshoots of an unstable and wayward mind. I don't have to say much on how important it is to have good mental concentration. Be that study, writing, research, focused use of any skill or art, everything requires thorough mental engrossment for success.

Even the daily chores can't proceed smoothly unless our mind is calm and stable to some extent. Success in mental control and constructive channelization of thoughts opens up the doors to all-conquering win-win achievements along any chosen walk of life. Time is the most precious resource gifted by Nature to us. But we spend most of it in sleeping or in laziness. We shun hard work and don't do things in a planned systematic manner. When there is some pressure or something of our immediate interest, we get over-enthusiastic and spend all the time in one particular task. This is an extreme, which often burns out our energy or puts us under stress. And, the moment the pressure or interest is gone we just slip back to the other extreme  become dull and aimless; don't even care for how our time is flying in haphazard activities, arbitrary thoughts and daydreaming. Look at the lives of those who have attained success in some field of life. You will find one thing in common  prudent management of time. Equally important is the adept use of available resources. Money happens to be a vital resource on materialistic fronts of life. But unless utilized cautiously, it only encourages addictions, luxury driven life-style leading to a variety of physical and mental health problems; extravagant show-off, which in one form or the other, invites jealousy, anxiety or threats of burglary etc. Those who are not wealthy need to be more careful, as every penny of their hard earned money is important. Those who have substantial amounts for fulfilling basic necessities and duties should invest the remainder wisely in projects that help many others in a viable manner and generate more wealth for wider use.

Industriousness, planned budgeting, and thoughtful use of money is the secret of prosperity. Assiduity and controlled use of resources also lend essential support in ones efforts of self-restraint of sense organs and are therefore important for self-dependence and self-development.

(ii) Swadhyaya: Swadhyaya is a wonderful method of purifying the mind and righteous molding of the thoughts and attitude. Our attitude and thoughts are expressions of what we have accumulated in the mind. The activities around us, the nature and conduct of the near and dear ones, the ambience we are exposed to or what we have been experiencing, learning or grasping, knowingly or unknowingly via the automatic process of nature, continuously create subtle impressions on our mind. This accumulation, together with the consequences of what we have been desiring, feeling, thinking and doing remain inscribed in the unconscious mind life after life. What we have inherited from the earlier lives and what has been assimilated so far in the present life accounts for our sanskaras (intrinsic impressions and tendencies). Unless we make an extra effort, our outlook and thoughts and hence our persona is shaped up by our sankaras and our present ambience and training. Swadhyaya is an attempt to choose an enlightened aura of influence, superior ambience for our mind. How? Swadhayaya literally means self-study. It deals with the study of ones own self (ones aspirations, thoughts, attitude and conduct) in the light of elevated thoughts of enlightened personalities. How will you study yourself unless you have a guiding measure for comparison? Why will you study yourself unless there is a motivation and an aim to do that? What is your aim? Self-ascent. What will inspire you for this? The company of those who have achieved it. It is human nature to compete with, to copy, or to follow others  especially the more influential ones around. This is why parents are advised to maintain good conduct in front of the children. This is why you are advised to choose your friends carefully. If you are in the inspiring company of great personalities, you are bound to be motivated to improve and illumine yourself, to rise and experience the fulfilling and glorifying horizons of life.
The present times and environment of life are such that more often than not they encourage and aggravate our negative tendencies, sensual passions and vices. Even our relatives and friends often divert us from the path of self-ascent. They do so because of their ignorance. For them, likewise for most people around, following the popular trends, viz., earning money, comforts, higher worldly status and power are the major goals in one way or the other. They would even criticize, hinder and oppose ones efforts for self-restraint, simply because they are not familiar with such things, or, because these do not fit into the common framework of life-styles they have adopted or desire for, or they don't see any immediate gain in attempts of self-control. Our own tendencies are also not much different from them so we also get attracted by the suggestions of people around us. Then what do we do? Should we let ourselves be entangled in the vicious cycle of downward trends? Certainly not! As you all know it is the nature of water to flow downwards. Water naturally flows, by the law of pressure-gradient, from higher to lower level. Additional force (e.g. by the motor of the pump) of higher magnitude is required to draw it upwards. 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 or wrong trends of the present time, if you want to cross the barriers of your present circumstances and ambience and want to excel in the righteous sense, you will have to put in extra efforts with unflinching 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 surrounding ambience and against your own convictions and habits? Who will give you adept guidance and support for it? One possibility to annual the negative is by assimilating the positive with greater intensity. Satsang (good company) of great personalities, saints and sages is most effective and practical method of doing this. But how often do we get this opportunity to attend their discourses or to meet and discuss them? Even if their discourses and meetings are organized in your neighborhood, sometimes, you may not be free in those particular hours. Then? Therefore, swadhaya is the only means which is feasible in the present circumstances and which can serve the purpose of satsang. As balanced food and regular physical exercise is necessary for bodily health, regular swadhyaya is necessary for mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. It is no less important than any devotional practice. Swadhyaya is given utmost importance in the science of spirituality. It is stated in some Vedic scriptures that  a person is equivalent to a beastly human on the day when he/she does not do swadhyaya. As washing and scrubbing is necessary for the cleanliness of the clothes, bathing is essential for the hygiene of the body, similarly, swadhyaya is necessary for the purification of the mind. The untoward accumulations in the mental field are cleared out and elevating sanskaras are strengthened by the trenchant thoughts and inspirations induced by swadhyaya. It lays the foundation for realization of Inner Light.         (To be concluded in next issue).

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma