A Heart Simply Beautiful
A person’s face reflects his
state of mind and the first place where his thoughts are mirrored is his eyes.
We all have two identities- one physical and one social. People may recall a
person by his face but they always remember him by his endearing speech, reassuring
manners and humble presence. If one can successfully manage the flux of
thoughts into mind and restrict it with only the positive ones, it endows his
face with an enchanting nobility. Like a strong-rooted tree always grows to a great
height. A person’s real achievement is not his materialistic gains but a rich
hoard of beautiful thoughts in his mind. To enrich this invaluable treasure is
a tough challenge amid all the physical debilities and temptations. A truly
religious person not only accepts this challenge but emerges out triumphant
too.
It’s
always easy to swim with the tide. When a person grows in a protected
environment amid the love and support of his people, he doesn’t have much to
fret over. We give what we receive. So the mind of such person is nested with
rich and noble thoughts that his or her character emanates. When an unforeseen
tragedy strikes or someone hurts us callously, our nobility is, beyond doubt wrenched. The real challenge comes when one
has to swim against the tide for survival. If not impossible, it’s not that
easy to adhere to positive thinking in such a condition. Life is full of odds.
Sometimes, a small log can help us swim out of a deep ocean unscathed and
sometimes the roof that gives shelter to us crumbles on us burying us under it.
Sometimes, a smile can ease all our worries and enthrall us. Sometimes, a frown
can erase all our smiles and upset or enrage us. How easily our physical state
reins our mental state! Human mind encloses various latent but potent emotions.
Whatever happens to us physically, manifests itself mentally, good or bad,
encouraging or discouraging. We reduce to mere puppets to our physical
environment and all our happiness comes entirely from it. When we spend some
time in our religious community, it enriches our ideas and thoughts and the
experience stays with us for quite a time. A frequent occurrence of such
experiences gradually turns out thought process into a right direction. A truly
religious person is never swayed by the events of his life. He knows how to
manage his emotions to maneuver out of difficult situations instead of becoming
a slave to them. The journey of life is a pilgrimage to our true essence.
If we take a glass of water and add some soil to it, it makes the water
dirty immediately. But if we leave it still and untouched for some time, the soil
settles down making the water pellucid again. However, if someone mistakenly
shakes or shifts it, the dirt particles float up, making it adulterated again. If
the water is grimy again, whose mistake is this? We, of course, can’t blame the
hand which had shaken the glass as the grim already existed within the water.
Had the water been pure, no slew of shakes could have made it dirty. In the
same way, we all carry some negativity in us. A good company or Satsang helps us to
gradually purge ourselves of this grim.
Along
with good, positive and constructive thoughts, we need the buttress of wisdom
too, to steer our lives. A wise person knows how to react with nobility and
dignity even in the adverse situations. Wit helps us to strike a balance
between impulsiveness and rationality. While extreme sensitivity and
materialistic attractions sometimes show the way to sin, extreme pragmatism, on
the other hand, can also render a person inconsiderate and insensitive. Wisdom
helps a person in attaining just and rational thinking.
Being
religious doesn’t only mean ridding ourselves of our inner evil but also to
keep our thoughts pure and positive. The real triumph is when our speech and
our acts are an outcome of our personal enrichment, not a flat reaction to
other’s action. If we reach a state where we can react positively to even a
negative remark, we are treading the true path of religion. Our first step to this
path is triggered by the right guidance and inspiration. Some may find it in a
piece of prose, some may find it in the affectionate scolding of parents, some
may find it in the words of a teacher, a friend or a mentor and some may even
find it in the real lessons of life. The impact of real experiences is
extensively powerful and lasts forever. For a resolute learner, each realm of
life has something to teach. Whatever be the means to achieve it but the
ultimate goal remains to keep our mind pure, peaceful and teeming with positive
thoughts and ideas.
If we aim
to acquire knowledge in a particular field, be it sports, science, music,
medicines, arts or law, the best way is to learn from the related experts. It
makes the learning more accurate and fruitful. In the same way, if we seek to
learn the values of life, the advice of a good philosopher can prove to be the
guiding star. The philosophy of life is a complete subject. We require a
holistic approach to comprehend it.
Simply reading books on life philosophy
won’t have the same effect as reading them under the guidance of an authentic
philosopher. Such a guide takes us forward in our journey towards knowledge by
helping us to keep vanity at bay and by enabling us to apply our knowledge to a
real use. Mere learning is not sufficient, unused knowledge is as good as
ignorance. If we start putting our knowledge to use, we can never become
puppets of our circumstances. Such people rule their minds. They are the true
masters of their lives. True knowledge of life is enlightenment of both mind
and heart. Life can’t be more beautiful if our hearts and minds live in
harmony. Subtlety and beauty of words and speech beautify a person’s face
naturally. Such beautiful people blossom like flowers spreading their sweet
scent around. If all of us learn to grow in this way, our earth would become a
synonym of paradise.
K.B.Vyas
