Ten Steps for a Better You

Vedanta

oi-Priya Devi

By Priya Devi

Thursday, May 13, 2010, 18:00

Once I read a quotation,' If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got'. There was a man who used to open the lunch box in the office and grumble about the sandwich packed therein every day. A friend suggested once that he might tell his wife to pack something different. He replied, it is I who pack the lunch every day.' This is what most of us do. We live our lives the same way every day and then complain that nothing has changed and things don't get better.

We continue to nurse agitations, resentments and sorrows and hope for peace and happiness! There was a person who was grossly overweight and complained that he was not losing weight. He made no effort to change his diet pattern or do exercises. In fact, the only exercise he did was to get on to the weighing machine and down every day.

How will any change come about unless we transform our way of life?

If we truly wish to transform our lives, we have to do something about it. We don't live our life in years or months. We live only one day at a time. We can plan for a year or even a whole life, but we can live only one day at a time. Our daily life has to be changed if we wish to change our lives. In fact, we live only one moment at a time. That is why our memories consist of moments of our life - moments of intense sorrow or extreme joy, or life transforming moments. If we lose a precious moment, it doesn't come back. Opportunity doesn't knock twice. If we wish to transform our lives we have to begin by transforming this day, this moment.

In Srimad Bhagavatam there is a beautiful sloka, which tells us how to change our lives for the better.

The Vedas, water, people, place, time, actions, birth, meditation, mantra and samskara - these are the ten factors that determine our personality.

Ten points are given here for our consideration. I will give only the simple meanings that we can easily apply in our lives. They have a much deeper meaning in the context that they are written in the Bhagavatam.

Agama

The first is 'Agama', which means the Vedas. In our context we can call it literature. The kind of books we read and the kind of television programmes we watch will determine the texture of our l lives. Among the older generation, we know of people who could not read or write, but knew the verses from the Ramayana by heart. They put the wisdom contained in those verses to practice in their daily lives. When they faced adversities, they considered them to be the result of their earlier karmas and tried to correct their own shortcomings. They did not go 'into depression and run to a psychiatrist. They were not literate, but they went to satsang and heard good things. In the Vedas it is said, 'a no bhadrah kratavo yantu visvatah - may good thoughts come to us from all sides.' What we read or hear has major impact on our minds.

Reading gossip magazines and books that extol a materialistic and sensuous way of life, seeing movies depicting crime and violence - these will definitely have a detrimental effect and leave toxic impressions on our minds. We have to take care that the inputs through the eyes and ears are good.

Apah

'Apah' means water. Some drink mineral water, some prefer soft drinks, and others quench their thirst by drinking beer. The food and drink we consume have a marked impact on the body and the mind. We have to regulate our intake very carefully. All of us know it, but we fail to put our knowledge into practice. We have to keep reminding ourselves of these basic things. We forget very easily. A patient went to the doctor and said, 'Doctor, I have two complaints. Firstly, I am very forgetful, I can't seem to remember anything.' The doctor asked what his second complaint was. The puzzled reply came, 'Which second?"

About the author

Swami Tejomayananda
Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. He is an outstanding teacher of Vedanta and an accomplished poet, author, and composer.