GITA SHIBIR 2011 Session 7

HUMAN PERSONALITY

The Human Person ality (Understandi ng People)

Session Transcript

1. The human personality. Let me share wit h you how Bhag wad Gita exp lains the disposition of a human b eing. It is said t hat our mind, our disposition is made up of three gunas what are gunas - satva, rajas and tamas. You can call guna or dispositions. Our mind is mad e of t hese three dispositions satva, rajas and tamas . Satva means clarity, tranq uility, balance. So, one d isposit ion of mind is, when mind is clear, t ranquil, balanced. It enjoy s coolness, enjoys equanimity und er even difficult or unfavorable sit uations. A mind that can enjoy equanimity, tranquility, balance, clarity. R ajas - When the mind is predominant in rajas, dissat isfact ion, restlessness, self-centeredness. The mind is predominant ly rajas , t hen restlessness, dissat isfact ion, self-centered ness. Third is tamas. When t he mind is predominant ly tamas - d ullness, lack of motivat ion. 2. You see how we also from time to time have t hese kind of d ispositions of mind. Somet imes the mind is very clear, is balanced, it is focused, it is tranquil. Somet imes it will b ecome rest less, agit at ed, dissatisfied. Sometimes it becomes dull, no initiat ive, lazy, lethargic. So, ev eryb ody passes t hrough these disposit ions of mind. Howev er, in a given person it happens t hat, one of t hese gunas or one of these disp ositions is predominant, ot her two are there but they are not as predominant as the other one. So, g enerally, in every person one of these three enjoy s predominance. 3. So, we call it a satvik person. Who is the satvik p erson? A person who predominantly enjoy s satva. He has rajas also, tamas also but pred ominant ly he enjoy s satva he is called satvik p erson. Anot her is rajsik person whose mind is predominantly having rajas . Also some mixture of satva and tamas . T hird is t he tamsik person who has predominance of tamas with also some satva and some rajas. So, satvik person, rajsik person, tamsik p erson. T his is for us to recog nize sort of you know, underst and ourselv es where we are. Also underst and ot her people whom you are going to interact with, d eal with and what kind of person is good for what job. 4. What so we have b riefly st ated here. How is satvik person? Meaning p erson enjoy ing p redominance of satva . How is that p erson? What sort of attitud e t hat person has? Holistic and inclusive. Commitment for t he worthy cause including the well b eing of others. When a person enjoys predominance of satva or with any one of us at any time satva p redominating our mind, you will find t hat t his is t he attitud e you automatically hav e is an attitud e which is holistic. Which means t hat we are able to look at the sit uation from all the aspects not just one asp ect. There are two sides of coin you hav e to see b oth the sid es of the coin and thus arriv e at Page 1 of 5

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an objectiv e judgment. But object ive judgment is that you would app reciate a t hing or a situat ion what it is and that appreciation can be if you are ab le to und erstand all the various asp ects or all points of view. Then you can arriv e at a prop er underst anding. This is the satvik person. 5. His attit ude also is inclusiv e. Meaning that he doesnt only look at his own interest. He und erstands that his int erest is serv ed when the int erest of ot her people also is serv ed. Like a wise country India would know that we can enjoy peace only if our neighbors also enjoy p eace. So, a wise country would desire t hat the neighbor also should b e p rosp erous to enjoy p eace. Should hav e you k now a healthy const itution because then we will have healthy relat ionship with them. Then only we can b e friends. If we are healthy t hey are not healthy; if we are prosperous they are not p rosp erous; if we are inimical to each ot her ev en though we are stronger b ut inimical to each other t here can nev er b e a peaceful relationship. There always will b e conflict. A wise p erson k nows t hat my freedom should include t he freedom of others also. I cannot enjoy a true freedom if others are bound. I cannot enjoy a true happiness if ot hers are unhappy. I cannot enjoy true prosp erity if ot hers, ot hers means with whom you are related those who are around me t hat they are not prosperous I cannot have true prosperity. If they are not free I cannot enjoy true freedom. So, this is the perception t hat a sattvik person has. T herefore, he will not only work for his indiv idual freed om or happiness but t hen he will want to attain happiness which is inclusiv e. 6. So, this is what Bhagwad Gita teaches us that it is b est to enjoy happiness by making others happ y. It is b est to enjoy freedom by g rant ing freedom to ot hers. So, the happ iness t hat you enjoy from the happiness of others, the joy that you have of feeding someone; of making someone happy; of helping someone; the joy that you have is a joy which is freeing joy; accompanied with freedom. It is lasting satisfaction. On t he other hand the joy t hat you hav e at t he cost of someone else is not a last ing joy at t he same time y ou will alway s dep end up on someone else at the cost of someone else alone you can b e happy. In which case you alway s are dependent upon someone else. 7. On t he other hand, if you can b e happy when somebody is happy, for ex ample, jealousy y ou k now, what is jealousy? Each one of us feels jealous now and then. Particularly when someone g ets ahead of us; someone g ets promotion we d id not get; someone get s salary we did not get ; someone g ets recognition we did not g et, you become jealous. Its heart burn on account of somebody s progress. This is one way, ot her way is what? Suppose, y ou can id ent ify wit h that p erson, he got promotion. Suppose you can id entify wit h that p erson, and say, hey, if I was in his position how would I feel, I will feel very happy. 8. Suppose, you can enjoy his happiness, suppose, you can be happy wit h that person if he is happ y. You can be prosp erous b ecause he is prosperous. So, in t hat case you can, you k now no one can b eat you nobody can make you miserable. Right now you emp ower somebody to mak e you unhappy because you cannot tolerat e his progress. But then if you d eriv e satisfact ion from somebody elses prog ress, in t hat case you can nev er be unhappy and you cannot hav e any jealousy. Page 2 of 5

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9. You will always hav e happiness, a sat isfaction t hats inclusive meaning that his happiness also is included. You do not y ou cannot divid e t hat I have one, you have other one. T hat kind of d ivision is not there in satva . In satva t here is a holistic attitud e; there is ap preciat ion of the existing oneness. There is diversity , no doubt. At the same t ime there is oneness, unity in div ersity. A satvik person would appreciate t hat unit y. So, you are different from me from one st and point but t hen at the same time, the self that you are, is a core self that y ou are is the core self that I am. A satvik p erson is ab le to go b eyond t he app arent differences or app arent division and app reciate t he obtaining oneness that are in and through t hese divisions. 10. There are so many ornaments made of gold. One way is to look upon one ornament as different than another ornament t hat a bangle is different from a chain which is true, which also is a perception. That can be a percept ion. They are gold ornaments hav e differences no doubt b ut there is oneness also t hat they are b oth made up of gold. So, from t he stand point of gold, t here is oneness. So, t here are two ways of look ing at these ornament s that each is d ifferent from the other or intrinsically they are not different from each other and so also the trut h is that ev en though we are d ifferent, you are one p ersonality I am another personality. But t he person t hat you are. So we are mad e up of t hese t wo asp ect s t he person and t he personality. Like an actor, actor and the costumes that the actor has. So, the costumes can b e different b ut t here is one actor p utting on different costumes now he is a begg ar, then he is a king, t hen he is something else. So, begg ar is d ifferent; king is different. Howev er, the one wearing those costumes is one. Similarly also each one of us hav e different costumes, different personality because t he p erson that we are, is intrinsically one. 11. This is a reality. Thats t he reality scrip tures rev eal and that oneness is the basis of all the values. The non-violence, compassion, forgiv eness, all these values have t he basis of oneness. When can I be truly non-violent t o you? I can never be violent to myself. I can be truly non-violent to you prov ided I appreciate that t he self that I am, is t he self that you are. In t hat case there is true non-violence. To arriv e at that point, you pract ice non-violence. Fak e it until you arriv e at the truth that non-v iolence, the oneness is a reality. Then you includ e everybody automatically. Even though in this p ersonality you enjoy fullness because it is all inclusive. 12. When can you b e truly compassionat e? I am always compassionate to my self; I always forgive my self. What ever my limitations are I forgive myself. I can forgive you truly if I und erstand that the self that you are is the self that I am. Bhag wad Gita says that the ideal way of relat ing to others is put yourself in the position of others and ask yourself how would you want to be treat ed if you were in t hat position? We discussed that what we expect from others automat ically you will be kind; you will b e compassionate; you will be forgiving. 13. The satvik person has a p erception of not only the differences t hat exist but also t he unity that exists in and t hroug h the differences. Bhagwad Gita d escrib es the p ercept ion of a wise person. So, here is a pious p erson, a satvik person. T here Page 3 of 5

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is cow; there is elephant; there is dog ; there is an untouchable, whole rang e of people are there hav ing different p ersonalities. Satvik personality, rajas p ersonalit y, tamas personality, All of them are d ifferent as far as personalities are concerned. A wise p erson appreciates the p erson t hat is one in all of them. Thats the ultimate goal. You can enjoy true success; true happiness; true freedom when you are wise in the oneness which is the ultimate reality. As I said the extent to which we are in harmony with t he reality, to t hat extent we are happy. 14. So, a satvik p erson can att ain that harmony so t his is satvik and therefore t he satvik p erson always wants also the well being of others thats how his inspiration comes. T he q uestion is how will he b e motiv at ed? The motivation can b e for personal gain; motivation can b e for g ain of ot hers also. So, a satvik p erson has always committ ed he will find himself committ ed to what is the goal which includes well being of others. Thats a worthy goal. 15. This nature is unatt ached, not eg oistic, ent husiastic, equanimity in success and failure. So, when your mind is satvik automatically you are lik e t his y ou k now? Satvik person doesnt have to mak e an effort, he is automat ically lik e this. Attachment meaning that as I said when failure comes what is called att achment I judg e myself a failure. What is unatt achment? I appreciate that failure is t he nature of the outcome. I hav e no doubt . That is unattachment. Success is a nat ure of out come. I am not success. So, the distance is that one y ou have to maintain the distance that s called unattachment. Not, indifference or insensit ive but objective not egoistic, we t alked ab out it this morning. You und erstand that I am an instrument; things are done t hroug h me - success or failure. This morning I also gave you an examp le of, lets say a musician is playing on his flut e. Somet imes t he performance is great the musician g ets applause; sometimes t he p erformance is miserab le he may ev en get tomatoes or eggs. As far as flut e is concerned it neit her gets app lause nor gets egg s meaning that one has to underst and t hat I am an instrument, success or failure do not b elong to me. Things are done t hrough me. That is ultimat e to y ou. 16. Enthusiast ic. Automatically in satva t here is enthusiasm, eq uanimity. So, t hat is a satvik p erson. If you are a person like that you are most effect ive as whatever you are whet her you are a husband, wife, you are a spouse, you are a parent, y ou are a manag er, a lead er, a subord inat e, a master, a serv ant what ever you are, what ever role you are playing you are an effectiv e person. You are a blessing wherev er you are. 17. A rajsik person at titude selfish, commitment to p ersonal gains excluding others. So when the mind has put on rajas automat ically a person hav ing rajas in predominant he has a keen sense of inner dissatisfaction and therefore he only want s his own personal prosperity, personal gain. He does not includ e. It is a divided attitud e. Satvik attitud e inclusiv e attit ude. The rajsik attitud e is exclusive attitud e means ex clude ot hers. I only stand for myself. Others do not hav e room in my life. I stand for myself. At the most to whom I call mine, I and mine that s the only expanse. So, that is rajas when there is predominance of rajas , committment to personal gain ex clud ing others and so usually a rajsik person mak es, achiev es his Page 4 of 5

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goal very oft en at t he cost of others. Satvik person who wants to achiev e the g oal and help ing ot hers also to achiev e the goal. 18. A rajsik p erson attains the goal at t he cost of others. Therefore his nature is attachment to outcome; his commitment to out come not t o action. A satvik p erson has a commitment to act or action. A rajsik person has commitment to outcome. He is egoistic, meaning that he tak es cred it when he succeeds takes discredit when he fails. He is greedy meaning that not satisfied with whatev er he get s; whatev er kind of wealth, name, fame, power. A rajsik person is never satisfied always wants more than what he has. Greedy also mean a person who cannot part wit h what he has even thoug h there are needy people. Not being able to part. So greed has two aspects not being satisfied wit h what I have and not b eing able to part with what I hav e. His motiv ation is p ersonal g ain, insensitive towards others. Losing balance in success and failure b ecause he reacts - success he is elat ed, failure he is depressed because his mind seems to go from one end of the pend ulum to the ot her not being ab le to enjoy equip oise or equanimity. T hat is a rajsik person. 19. A tamsik person attitude narrow minded, irrational, cannot think. He just arriv es at a conclusion without t hinking , wit hout any reason and holds on to his conclusion ev en though there is no just ification for it. A rajsik person can reason with things, alt houg h his reason is lik ely to be muddy, satvik person has a p roper reasoning, a rajsik p erson has muddled reasoning. A tamsik p erson has no reasoning or distorted reasoning narrow minded, irrational. What is his nat ure? Dull, d ev oid of motiv ation, not focused, uncultured, inflexible, decep tive, cruel, lazy, sad, procrastinat ing. Whenev er you usually talk of tamsik p erson you know, most p eople seem to feel it s my description, you know. Swami you are talking about me or what? But, then, so, this is a tamsik p erson. 20. So, predominance of these three gunas . What is t he prescrip tion? From tamas to rajas and rajas t o satva. That s the prescription. As I said when a person is tamasik there is lethargy, lack of motiv at ion, inact ivity, doesnt want to particip ate, doesnt want to do anything. How do you give up inactivity? So tamsik person requires to remain active and you g ive him temptation or you cause fear. A tamsik person usually works only when you act ually creat e fear of p unishment if he fails to do a giv en thing. So, either out of fear or p unishment he does something or somet imes out of b ut usually tamsik p erson out of fear of punishment he does things. So, a tamsik person you first make rajsik by mak ing him do t hing s. Do t his if you dont do it then the consequence is this. T hat s how a tamsik p erson b ecomes activ e. Then he will become rajsik. When he is rajsik he is eg oistic and selfish. How do you mov e from rajas to satva? From selfishness to unselfishness; from exclusive to inclusive; from divisive to unit ing. So, this all script ures teach us. From Tamas to rajas, rajas t o satva .

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