A kid was playing marbles, not confident of himself, wondering whether he would win his game or not. The movement of his body was a reflection of his parents’ diffidence. He was carrying the genes of his parents. The marble accidentally fell from the terrace to the ground on which was a fire lit by the villagers. The flame of fire mysteriously conveyed to him a message: “Be like me; I am not attached to diamond or marble, both are the same. I know how to burn and at the same time give light and warmth.” The boy was amazed at the clarity which was showered on him.
People become what they encourage and not what you nag them to be or what you expect them to be. It is better to err when you act out of encouragement than to be indifferent. If you didn’t have the fire of encouragement within you, how can you warm others?
The most anti-social element in us is a lack of encouragement. It stops giving warmth to oneself and others. Our inner self-talk is a great source of our strengths and weaknesses. Our affirmations should come from powerful beliefs. If you believe you are not lucky but go on affirming that you are lucky, then that self-talk gets diluted by your belief. It is like putting one step forward and two steps backward. Let your self-talk be backed by your positive beliefs. Your belief should be based on good values, which do not harm you and others. If you do all this, you are encouraging yourself.
A lady came to me with tears and asked me, “I find my teacher to be too strong and tough and I can’t hear even his good advice. Who is wrong, the teacher or me?”
One should learn to become stronger in difficult situations. Actions are expressions of one’s thoughts and thoughts are an expression of one’s belief system. To change one’s actions, it is necessary to change one’s thoughts and to change one’s thoughts, one must change one’s beliefs. The source of one’s action is one’s belief.
So, change your belief that you are weak. When you have a weak belief, you cannot experience the loving coaching of the master. Kabir says, “A master is like a pot maker, a student like a pot. He puts one hand inside the pot and with the other, he hits it outside.” This is the style of teaching; you are seeing the hard words of the master, but deep within his intention is like the potter’s hand in the pot.
When you are hurt, the master’s words don’t reach you and touch you. Encourage yourself not to be hurt.
If you are open, you can get encouragement from animals too. Look at the crow; it wakes you up in the morning. Before sunrise the energy levels are high. Hence all animals are active just before sunrise. The crow is waking us up to the miracle of the morning. The crow also acts as a scavenger, removing the dirt so that we can enjoy things clean. Thirdly, the crow, whenever it gets food, calls other crows to share its food. I wonder how many of these qualities men have.
Keep yourself in an encouraging mode and even animals will encourage you to live life wisely. Hence in yoga, there are animal postures.
In loving memory of our beloved trustee, Devki Jaipuria, Swami Sukhabodhananda is offering around 15 seats free in a five-day online Boot Camp (English) starting on February 19.
Email: support@prasannatrust.com. Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management, spiritual & corporate guru.