Gurudev Chitrabhanu
To work on ourself, we put faith in ourself, we come closer to ourself. We take responsibility for ourself to make what we want of this life. For that we need constant awareness. This experience of our centre starts from here. From this moment when this insight is experienced, one knows how to train one's mind and deal with the world of matter, the world at large. Then one does not allow one's mind to cover the consciousness with hatred, judgement, anger and bitterness. When anything causes devolution, immediately the conscious mind becomes aware of it and stops this downward process. It recognizes that this is not the nature of the self.
From here you go to knowledge itself. Right knowledge opens your door. You no longer feel bombarded by people's different conditions. You know, "it is all right. It is their nature, their habit, their tendency. They are as they are. I need not be like them." We do not imitate them. We keep ourself in our place. That is the light of knowledge. U a person acts in a silly way and then we respond to that in a like way, what is the function of our knowledge, our learning, and our meditation? We are different. We have to be different.
We have the power to change our response.
When we see some benefit, we can do it. If we ' have a business client and he insults us, we do not argue; we accept it because we want the profit. We do not pay attention to the insult; we pay attention to the profit. This shows how we have the power to manage our anger and passion but we do not use it with relatives or friends or those close to us.
Knowledge is useful when some challenges confront us in life. Knowledge is not memorizing and learning by rote. Knowledge comes from experience and reminds us in time of crisis that "These are superficial things and I have the choice to choose the response to the outer stimulations." Samyag Gnana is the wisdom to know oneself and not to identify with objects and adjectives. When somebody tries to upset, irritate or abuse, you know you have freedom to choose your response to that negative stimulation and how to maintain inner equilibrium. Tell yourself there is no need to be upset or angry. Say, "I have nothing to do with those words. I know myself better than what somebody else speaks about me. This person does not know me. That is why she/he uses this word. There is no need for me to be upset or angry. I have nothing to do with these words." Samyag Gnana is the knowledge, which dawns from understanding Atma, the power of soul.
