There is hardly any human being in the world who is not inclined to improve himself. Of course, some aspire for improvement in their relationships, others work for improvement in their economic status. Some want to improve or enhance their personality whereas others are more concerned about their spiritual progress. In any case, the will to make some progress is basic to all normal beings. And, the volition, under-lying all efforts of man to bring about improvement is mainly one's aspiration to be more happy. If one ponders over this question of attainment of true happiness, one would come to the conclusion that man's happiness ultimately depends upon his reaction to the external stimuli and his ways of thinking which, in turn, depends upon his inner urges, his tendencies and the training he had.
So, in order to have any other kind of improvement, man has to first bring about improvement in his outlook, his habits, his mannerism and his ways and, for this, he has to pick up and learn certain things and to unlearn certain others.
Not many are aware about the fact that the path to progress is paved with some obstacles which are mostly of man's own making. One of these is man's pride about his own knowledge. It is easy to teach him who has no pride in his own intelligence but he who regards himself as perfectly wise, would say to others “There is nothing that I do not know”. It is difficult to offer corrections to such a man. Another major hurdle in man's path to progress is his attachment to worldly objects and his attachment to his body. Little does man realise that, at this fag-end of Iron Age, when man has lost his morals, the worldly things are devoid of their original essence. Is the bark of a sugar cane worth anything when the juice has been squeezed out of it? This body of ours is assailed by several different diseases, and is made of debased matter. So, is it wisdom of any sort to run after this body made of materials which are liable to disintegrate?
Knowing all this, one should get rid of body-consciousness. The first step for this is to withdraw one’s attention and attachment from 'religions' of the body and its various relationships, which rob one's life of its essence, and to devote one’s mind and body and possessions towards welfare of the world. This will bring in many qualities such as service, dedication, sacrifice, meekness, fellow-feeling, tolerance and hundred-and-one other noble traits of high character and it will quicken his efforts for self-improvement.
The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal and the UK. He can be contacted at nikunjji@gmail.com / www.brahmakumaris.com
