Acharya Mahapragya Blog
Following post is based on Acharya Shree’s book, karya kaushal ka sootra
There are different facets of life. Attending to a single facet does not bring fulfilment. For a sense of fulfilment, one must attend to several dimensions, which can be compartmentalised into: spiritual progress and development of worldly skills.
A human being possesses skill- that is the second aspect of life. Through meditation, one’s spiritual dimension grows. This is the main result of meditation. However, meditation also leads to the development of worldly skills. If despite practicing meditation one sees no development in worldly skills, then one must realize that there is some lack in their practice.
A man is a societal being: he lives in a society which has various units. Family is a unit. Organisation is a unit. Nation is a unit. All of these units are a societal. He lives in all of them - is related to all of them. When one lives in a society, the question of behaviour comes into being. A t the level of soul, there is no expectation of behaviour. But, at the level of relationships, the question arises- how one should behave with each other and whatever we’re doing, how do we do it with skill?
The first principle of skillful behaviour is - change of perspective - development of a many sided perspective. Anekant is instrumental when interacting with the world. Therefore, Acharya Siddhsen writes in sanmati tark, without anekant, even worldly interactions don’t work. When our point of view is just one-sided, our interactions in the world don’t work.
In the context of skillful work, two principles of anekant must be taken into consideration: inter-dependence and adjustment. A skillful person is one who understands expectations. A manager, director needs the contribution of many people. If he doesn’t know the principle of inter-dependence, then he cannot perform his duty well. We’re all inter-dependent. Without a helper, the central authority cannot work.
A muni approached acharya Kalugani and exclaimed- Gurudev, this muni says that he doesn’t need me. His holiness Kalugani asked for that muni and told him- my work does not happen without a sadhu. You may not need him, but I need him. I cannot separate him.
If we experience that we need a particular individual, our behaviour towards them will also be nice.
The struggle between mill workers and labourers is because of the limited perception of mill owners. They want to boost their profits by giving less to labourers. This one-sided view point results into the exploitation of labourers. A skilled person is one who achieves his and other’s means, both.
The second principle is adjustment. Due to differences in viewpoints, there are fights or struggles. When there are differences in viewpoints, no work can be done. At such moments, the principle of adjustment must be applied. One should be as skilled as the potter who learnt to establish adjustment.
The potter had two girls. One girl was married to a farmer and the other was married to a potter. Sometime later, he went to see both the girls. First, he went to meet the girl whose husband made pots. He asked her, how is everything going? She said- everything is fine but a problem has come our way. The pots are drying and the clouds have arrived. If the rains come, all the pots will be damaged. Please pray that the clouds don’t rain! The potter went to his second daughter and asked her about her life. She replied– everything is fine but it has been a while since the rains have come. If they don’t come, we won’t get a good harvest! Please pray for me that the rains come soon.
Both daughters wanted opposite things. The potter was an intelligent man. He called both the girls and said - “if the rains come, her fields will yield crops and your pots will be damaged. If the rains don’t come, her pots will dry up and your field won’t yield anything. So, if the rains do come, you, the farmer’s wife, must give half the yield of your field to your sister. And if the rains don’t come, you, the potter’s wife, must give half of the pots to your sister.”
In the world, opposites exist. Everything has a different quality. And thus, the existence of opposites is natural. Establishing adjustment amidst opposites is a trait of the skillful one.