The Times Of India
Self-analysis changes the life system. A man constructed a splendid house. Friends who came were delighted. The rooms on the ground floor were large and well-decorated. They saw the first floor, the second floor and the third floor also. They observed that the upper floor rooms were simpler.
Friends asked, "Where do you reside?" He replied, "I live on the third floor and my servants live on the ground floor." They were astonished, "What a strange situation, the master resides in simple rooms and servants live in well-furnished rooms!" The owner clarified that there was a time when his own mother was also a servant. His mother had lived a tough life and she had to eke out a living as a house help. He knew therefore that servants, after having to work hard all day, deserved at least some comfort.
What are the hurdles that vitiate the simplicity and dignity of life ruthlessly? Contemplation of hurdles will pave the way to change our lifestyle. Deception is a hurdle. In that state, solutions will not be workable. Problems will follow and continue. Faith begets faith and deception generates deception. In cunningness, first of all man assumes others to be wicked. He will talk sweetly in front of others and backbite later. Deception is the biggest encumbrance to attaining liberation.
The second hurdle is desire. To have desire is natural but to have endless desires is not. Today's economist declares that when we feel content our development will stop. Ultimately development also has to be categorically defined and limited. A single man perpetuates development till he economically and geographically makes an empire for himself. This cannot be termed as development. This will be tanta-mount to an injustice, atrocity, exploitation and cruelty towards humanity. Development ought to be in the correct perspective.
Is development spreading out, extending to the whole cosmos? Acharya Somasundar has said in the Sindur Prakaran that if a man is gentle, virtuous, and does everything virtuously and ethically then even if he is not doing well monetarily, it is fine. On the other hand, if someone makes a huge pile of money by fraudulent means, it spells disaster.
When a man is thin, he looks handsome and graceful. When his body becomes obese, then his future is not good. Doctors agree that if one is thin and lean then he will live comfortably and have longevity.
The membership of the Mayo Club, USA, is restricted to only those who have attained a hundred years of age. A person from that club observed that so far all club members happen to be thin and lean. A thin man can move, sit and stand comfortably. Sometimes fat is not favourable to good health. The gist of development is not only expansion but also limited growth. Today we are unable to find solutions because the interpretation of development by economists is causing difficulties. Yesterday a man said, "You said in the discourse that there has to be some limitation or boundary, then how can development take place?" If somebody really lags behind in the race, then he will be the most fortunate man in the world. Where are such lucky people? Where is such sacrificing capacity? Everybody is running, without knowing where this competitive race will terminate.
In the field of self-development, we can be limitless but there we have clearly limited ourselves. When the outlook becomes false, limitless desires crop up. A peaceful and tension-free life is threatened by three encumbrances, namely, false outlook, limitless desires and deception.