Why Not Realise Your Highest Potential?





Know thyself ! This commonly used dictum has been propounded by many seers, but few have absorbed its core message and the manner in which to achieve it. “Rubbish! I do not need to know myself ! I need to know others to succeed. I need to know their motives, their moves, their schemes, et al.“
Most of our time and energy is thus spent on trying to know more about others; trying in vain to gain control over people and circumstances.We seldom search for that treasure of success and happiness enshrined within us.
Introspection or self-analysis is the key to finding that happiness within, which we otherwise keep searching for elsewhere.
By knowing one's true Self, one can know the world. Knowing our thoughts, closely and impartially; watching the motives behind our every action helps us to know who we truly are, what we have always wanted to be and what we have become.
Self-analysis is not self-criticism, condemning ourselves for what we have done, but a very subtle tool which unravels the concealed chambers of the infinite potential that exists within us.
Introspection is a mirror in which to see the recesses of our minds that otherwise would remain hidden from us. Our thoughts may be present without our conscious awareness of them.Introspection is that power of intuition by which consciousness can watch its thoughts. It does not reason, it feels not with biased emotion, but with clear, calm intuition.
We must assess our good and bad tendencies; habits and behaviour which may either fast-track or impede our journey to happiness. A “go-with-the-flow“ attitude may not be applicable in all situations. The important thing is to be aware whether we are exercising self-control or giving in freely to sense indulgences.
A hedge is required to protect young plants from being eaten away by animals. So is self-analysis important, since it provides a clear perspective for us to tread safely and surely on the path to success.
Through honest introspection, one analyses the strengths of the opposing armies of one's good and bad tendencies: self-control versus sense indulgence, discriminative intelligence opposed by mental sense inclinations, spiritual resolve in meditation contested by mental resistance and physical restlessness, and divine soul-consciousness against the ignorance and magnetic attraction of the lower ego-nature.
We have to go deeper and scrutinise our motives. Introspection is thus a very healthy practice as long as we do not employ it to dwell on our weaknesses and plunge into depression, or into such feelings of guilt that we begin to hate ourselves. We are not our flaws; we are the ever perfect atman.
A businessman, when he takes inventory and does his book keeping, wants to find out where he is in the red, to make corrections so that his business operates more profitably . It should be the same with our introspection. We are not trying to find out what fools we are; we just want to be conscious of those aspects of our life that need improvement.
When we notice a negative quality in our nature, we do not need to concentrate on it; instead, we must deploy our whole attention and energy on cultivating the opposite good quality . This is transmutation; it is the whole secret to success. If we are dwelling on our flaws, we are actually making them stronger ­ reinforcing them by focussing on and identifying ourselves with them.