Fine Tune Heart And Head With Commitment
Discourse: Swami Sukhabodhananda
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In Indian culture, there is a maxim called `andha panku nyaaya'. The narration goes further a blind man and a lame person are trapped in a forest fire. One cannot see but he can walk, while the other cannot walk but he can see. They both help each other... lame person guiding and the blind person carrying the lame person and thus they both escape the forest fire.We are caught in the forest fire of samsara, living a life of deficiency . Our head and heart each has one type of strength and also one type of weakness.Strengthening the strengths and weakening the weaknesses makes a person integrated. Krishna refers to such an integrated person as yuktaha.In such an integrated space one can come out of the forest fire of samsara, conflict and the ups and downs in life.
We need to amalgamate both head oriented knowledge and heart oriented devotion. In the words of Adi Shankaracharya, both head and heart should blend in the right proportion. Fine tune both your head and heart right now, in all walks of your life. Dealing with your patner, sometimes only the head may not work, sometimes only the heart may not work.At times, you have to be flexible with both dimensions of your heart and head.
The complete works of Adi Shankaracharya addresses both these methods: balancing your head and your heart. What is very important is your commitment towards growth and enlightenment moksha, towards liberation, niravana, call it by any name it does not matter. It is such a commitment which brings about a certain synergy , brings about certain homeostasis in your whole being.
Without commitment all knowledge one acquires will only decorate one's ego. Without commitment towards enlightenment all the feelings in one's heart are directed towards decorating a feeling that one is a very heart oriented person. Have you seen a lot of `feeling oriented arrogance' as some people express? More often they shun knowledge and take shelter by declaring that they are just feeling oriented.
Therefore, the bottom line is it is neither the head oriented knowledge nor heart oriented feelings but it is the commitment towards liberation nirvana which is most important.
Just for a moment let us scan back to the lives of great masters. We realise that there existed thirst for achieving enlightenment irrespective of the situations or difficulties that they encountered in their lives.
By studying the lives of enlightened masters one gets in touch with the recipe for engaging in an adventure a true adventure of life. In fact, this adventure is the very purpose of their whole lifetime. It is said, `What is the quality of an enlightened person (`Siddhashya lakshanaani yani') should become the effort for the seeker saadhakasya saadhanani prayatnena sampaadyani iti shravanaat.
For example, if someone's cooking ability is something to be emulated, the recipe of that good cooking should be taken and adopted in one's life.
Pause for a moment; let us examine clearly our commitment and fine tune our understanding so as to get clarity and polish our understanding. All great masters had commitment towards enlightenment, and it is that commitment with which one's knowledge will sharpen the focus. One's heart, one's elevated feeling is going to smoothen one's way into understanding. Without a deep rooted commitment nothing substantial would happen.
We need to amalgamate both head oriented knowledge and heart oriented devotion. In the words of Adi Shankaracharya, both head and heart should blend in the right proportion. Fine tune both your head and heart right now, in all walks of your life. Dealing with your patner, sometimes only the head may not work, sometimes only the heart may not work.At times, you have to be flexible with both dimensions of your heart and head.
The complete works of Adi Shankaracharya addresses both these methods: balancing your head and your heart. What is very important is your commitment towards growth and enlightenment moksha, towards liberation, niravana, call it by any name it does not matter. It is such a commitment which brings about a certain synergy , brings about certain homeostasis in your whole being.
Without commitment all knowledge one acquires will only decorate one's ego. Without commitment towards enlightenment all the feelings in one's heart are directed towards decorating a feeling that one is a very heart oriented person. Have you seen a lot of `feeling oriented arrogance' as some people express? More often they shun knowledge and take shelter by declaring that they are just feeling oriented.
Therefore, the bottom line is it is neither the head oriented knowledge nor heart oriented feelings but it is the commitment towards liberation nirvana which is most important.
Just for a moment let us scan back to the lives of great masters. We realise that there existed thirst for achieving enlightenment irrespective of the situations or difficulties that they encountered in their lives.
By studying the lives of enlightened masters one gets in touch with the recipe for engaging in an adventure a true adventure of life. In fact, this adventure is the very purpose of their whole lifetime. It is said, `What is the quality of an enlightened person (`Siddhashya lakshanaani yani') should become the effort for the seeker saadhakasya saadhanani prayatnena sampaadyani iti shravanaat.
For example, if someone's cooking ability is something to be emulated, the recipe of that good cooking should be taken and adopted in one's life.
Pause for a moment; let us examine clearly our commitment and fine tune our understanding so as to get clarity and polish our understanding. All great masters had commitment towards enlightenment, and it is that commitment with which one's knowledge will sharpen the focus. One's heart, one's elevated feeling is going to smoothen one's way into understanding. Without a deep rooted commitment nothing substantial would happen.
