Limits in our mind: Complacence can put us into a rut.

Once I told someone about the Art of Living basic course. And without feeling any sensitivity about it as I was merely telling the person what I would myself hope to achieve every day of my life; I told him the course would certainly make him a better person. He was stung by my words. Annoyed with what I had said, he turned and walked away.

At first, I wondered what could have created such a reaction. Then, going over what I had just said, I realized it was his reaction to the words, ‘a better person'. The words must have been an affront to his dignity. I told myself I should not have said those words. He must have thought that he was great enough. How dare anyone belittle him with words which could imply that he was not good enough!

On further thought, I realized it was not my fault that he felt the way he did. Of course, he had the right to feel that way but I too had the right to believe that everyone, including me, can become an even better person, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally than what we are today. There are still ‘mountains’ to conquer, ‘rivers’ to cross, ‘stars’ to reach for and many, many ways to expand our horizons.

Have you thought about it? The day there is no further growth, be it good or bad, we are either dead or perfect in every way; as perfect as God. I cannot think of anything or anyone more perfect than God. Can you?

I do not think we can be that perfect as each and every one of us has some kind of weakness here and there. So, there is always room for improvement. Buddha reached Nirvana. Have we reached that stage yet? If not, there is still need for improvement and we should try to be better tomorrow than we are today.

Thus, as long as we live, and since we do not exactly know how long we are going to live, we ought to think of what work we can do, what to eat, the best way to exercise our body, to rest sufficiently, to develop spiritually and emotionally so that we will always be progressively better in every way possible for whatever lies ahead.

Is our work enjoyable and fulfilling? If not, what other work can we do? Do we understand nutrition? Is what we eat nutritious enough? How good are we physically? Have we given our body the opportunity to enjoy some form of suitable exercise? Do you realize the importance of rest and sleep? Do we allow this beloved body of us sufficient rest to reenergize it for another day, week, month or year? What about our spiritual development? Of course, the atheist will insist that there is no need for spiritual understanding or development. Are they sure of that? Have they given this sphere of development the chance to show them that spirits exist, that there is a life after death? Have they given themselves the opportunity to open the third eye so that they can see the truth? Are we in control of our emotions or are our emotions in control of us? Are our emotions calm enough to face the challenges of life that lies ahead?

If we know the answers to the above and are practising all the right moves, well and good. If not, why not? What are the obstacles? Are they insurmountable obstacles? Have we thought of overcoming them? Can it be done?

Only we are able to understand our own problems. But are they real problems? Or is it merely a mental obstacle, our mind refusing to push it aside and let a solution or knowledge be found. Our mind can be very stubborn, refusing to let go of things that are a burden to our progress. When that happens, we must put in new ideas and thoughts to overshadow the undesirable ones. Some people call this self-hypnosis when it is merely replacing consistently old negative thoughts with new positive ones. In time, the old negative thoughts fade away while the fresh positive thoughts bring forth good vibes and corresponding good results and progress.

Well, thinking that we already know everything or achieved everything gives us a sense of confidence, value and greatness. What else is there to know? When we truly believe we know everything, a sense of complacency settles in and there is no need to know anything else anymore. One thing such people have found is great happiness. But for how long will such euphoria last when there can be no more improvement? No more progress! That’s all! The progress is stopped by a mere stumbling block thought.

It is like the only guy who found the way to survive the war, gloats about it to himself only for a few days as he eventually realized that there is no more meaning in his life.