Acharya Tulsi
Every individual has his own personality. He has two aspects - natural and acquired. Some people have a natural personality which again, has two aspects- internal and external. His external personality is related to his physical health and well-being and way of life. A beautiful, well-formed body, proper physical structure, the sense organs that function properly, orderly manner of dressing, etc. constitute his external personality. Modesty, generosity, tolerance, fortitude, compassion, discipline, etc. are the factors that define a person’s internal personality.
It is an ancient concept that the definition of the natural personality of an individual has more to do with his internal personality than the external personality. Since the past few decades, sufficient attention is being given to the creation of his external personality as well. The growing number of beauty parlours in the big cities indicates how much importance people give to the external beauty or personality. Plastic surgery is also used mainly to lend elegance to the external personality.
A huge mirror with an eye of a camera printed on it was hung in a big departmental through the day, men and women passed by that mirror. Women stopped there and combed their hair and admired their own beauty. Men adjusted the knots of their neckties checked how handsome they looked. According to the figures counted on a particular day, 412 women and 778 men had stopped before that mirror. In order to study the attitude towards beauty and personality, the Swedish psychologists had tried that experiment.
Like the factors relating to the external personality, the factors relating to the internal personality can also be developed. In this process, commitment to the goal, persistent effort and constant vigilance on the part of the individual concerned as well as the in structure are necessary. In the absence of these factors, the special characteristics that shape the internal personality, would not become manifest. The healthy reflexes and the nervous system have also played a great role in the shaping of internal personality of the individual.
Imbalance of Impulses Harms the Personality
Creation and destruction are two contradictory terms. Destruction is easy as creation is difficult. It takes a lot of effort to make a mud-pot. But the same mud pot, when it is ready, breaks with a mere knock of a brickbat. Weaving a piece of cloth involves a complicated process. But it can be torn with just one jerky movement. It takes a lot of time and materials to build a city. But explosion of one atom bomb completely ruins that whole city in no time. The same is true about human personality. Its development takes place at a slow process, but it can be destroyed very quickly. The greatest cause of the destruction of personality is the imbalance of impulses.
No one can rob a person of his tolerance whose impulses are well balanced. His modesty and generosity can never be diminished. His fortitude, compassion and love for discipline are the characteristics that can never be weakened. We have before us the example of Bhagwan Mahavira. He faced lots of hardships during the period of his sadhana. We shudder when we listen to all those stories. AcharyaBhikshu's life story is not less thrilling either. He remained steadfast even when he was abused in foul words and was beaten black and blue. He showed no reaction on his part because his impulses were balanced.
The basic reason for the imbalance of impulses is attachment. The more intense the activity prompted by attachment, the more imbalanced would be the impulses. That effects internal personality. He becomes impertinent and intolerant. His nature becomes irritable and he becomes impatient about anything and everything. It is necessary to minimise the actions prompted by attachment to save oneself from such a situation.
Sadhana for Shaping Personality
The process of shaping personality is not like making dolls so that a person can be shaped in the desired manner. Very hard and persistent effort is needed for that purpose. No important task can be successfully accomplished. It is not as though only the success of only religious and spiritual pursuits depend on arduous efforts. Such efforts would be needed to attain distinction in any field.
A student would have to live like an ascetic in order to gain efficiency in special branches of learning. There is nothing very great in acquiring common knowledge and getting the degree certificates. With regard to qualifications for acquiring serious knowledge, it has been said in the Jain Agama Uttardhyayana:
"He who lives in a gurukula, remains in samadhi, attains the yoga of the mind, speech and the body, performs the penance, pleases everyone by his actions and speaks pleasantly to everyone is qualified to acquire knowledge.[1]"An artist engages himself in the pursuit of art. He concentrates all his attention in that pursuit. No art can be accomplished without concentration. Whether it is dance or music, painting or calligraphy, only the person who puts in hard effort can become an expert in his field. Art too is a part of one's personality. If art can find its way in every activity of life, one's personality would naturally acquire lustre.
Hard and persistent effort is responsible also for the success of a farmer, labourer, trader, scientist, etc. Facing the heat and the cold, working in the scorching sun, being engaged in work day and night, bearing thirst and hunger - if all this is not penance in a way, what else is it? They do not have the goal of self-development before them. In the absence of a high goal, their hard effort may not lead them to moksha, but who can stop the progress they may make in their field with the help of their efficiency?
Need For Co-ordinated Development
These days, courses are arranged for personality development. There are special classes for personality development in big cities. This is a form of learning which attracts young men and women. But it is usually found that this branch of learning is more related to extroversion and less to introversion. If the internal and external personalities are developed simultaneously, then the truth the good and the beauty would become harmonised. Otherwise, the development of one-sided personality would continue to lead to the tragic situation resulting from incomplete development.
Truth is beautiful by itself. Nevertheless it also needs the appropriate dressing up. Naked truth is not presentable in the world of practical realities. The good implies welfare. The welfare schemes effecting the individual, the society and the nation are very attractive to look at and it is fascinating to hear about them. But if they do not combine in them the elements of truth and beauty, they soon prove to be futile. Beauty is something that binds the human mind. Whether it is Prakriti (matter) or Purusha (soul), the more the beauty glows, the more it influences them. But the beauty, unless it is combined with the truth and the good, may be pleasant to the eyes, but it is of no use in life.
Refinement of Feelings and Meditation
Various preparatory efforts have their own place in the development of personality. Special among them is the refinement of feelings. The negative emotions like anger, pride, illusion, greed, attachment, malevolence, etc. make the individual personality controversial. On the other hand, positive feelings like forgiveness, tenderness, simplicity, detachment, neutrality, etc make his personality influential. I know many persons, who have become extremely popular although they have not done particularly great things. People who were adversaries at one time, have now joined hands with them. The reason for this was the refinement of their feelings. By practice, any person can refine his feelings. Having doubts as to how one's personality could be shaped or developed shatters one’s faith. Firm resolve with full faith to keep away from the 18 negative feelings like pranatipat [2] is the correct move towards the shaping of one's personality.
Very often, it seems a person is dying because of his own weakness or fear. There is no one else to kill him. A man was pursued by a dog as he began to run. That man got scared. He ran faster. The dog also ran faster. The running man was sure that the dog would surely bite him. He started running like a runner in a competition.
The man running in front and the dog running after him. They were racing. Suddenly someone shouted, "Stop!" The man stopped running. The dog also stopped and left after sniffing him. The person who shouted to stop the man was an experienced person. He said. "You stupid! This dog is not running after you to bite you. The smell of the secretion of adrenal gland is attracting that dog. When one is frightened, the adrenal secretion increases. When you realised that there was somebody around, you felt reassured that he would help you and with that your fear subsided. The adrenal secretion stopped and the dog went back. As Mahavira said, "The ghosts catch hold of timid people.[3]" These words based on his experience, are in complete agreement with the modern scientific conclusion.
Prekshadhyan is the in fallible means for the transformation or refinement of feelings. Meditation is the result of concentration. The person, who concentrates his attention on observing himself, realises his self. This formula for self-realisation is the first step towards the shaping of personality. It is possible to shape one's personality by practising meditation in various forms. Let us achieve the fruit in the form of development of personality by sowing with faith the seed of prekshadhyan.
