Why you want to limit your aspirations only to adorn and comfort your body, please your sentient instincts and satisfy your ego? Why don’t you expand the domain of your desires? Why don’t you rise above the prevailing trends and look at your horizons of life in new light, with wiser perspectives? If you search, you will find that virtues and refined qualities of your nature, character, and deeds are far more precious than the most valuable materialistic possession or talent you have ever known. That is why the glory of virtues is eternally revered. Whereas, the value or worth of worldly possession is short-lived and dispensable as per the ‘demand’ and ‘utility’ in given circumstances. Those possessing the ‘riches’ og good character, kind and cooperating nature, and decent and duty-bound conduct receive respect, goodwill cooperation more and more people through their altruistic service everywhere. They enjoy self-respect, inner peace and lasting happiness and above all they experience soul-satisfaction. Divine grace is bestowed upon such great personalities. Interestingly, eventually prosperity also begins to follow them; there is abundance of wealth and support for their initiatives and activities.
Now think of yourself! How much do you really need? Suppose God blesses you with much more than what you require. What will you do? Will you ever be able to eat more than what your stomach can bear and digest? How long can you have lavish dishes? Nature itself will restrain (in the form of varieties of disorders and diseases) you from having more than the limited share you deserve in its system. If you generously distribute the food to the needy, then? Then there will be no such constraint; divine grace will shower upon your consistent compassionate efforts to lend you greater support and expansion. Look at your clothing. How much you cloth can you wear at a time? Could it measure longer than the size of your body? How many dresses would you wear at a time? Then why accumulate so many? What size of bed is adequate for your sleep? Six feet? Do you think a twenty-foot long and wide cot would give you better sleep? Or, how about having it eighty feet long and constructing even bigger bedroom for it? So where is the end to your absurdity of having more luxuries, more comforts, more glittering house, and ‘bigger’ status?
If you really want to possess more than others, then why not aim for that which even Nature won’t be able to limit. Why not aspire for benevolent, or progress, virtuous growth, spiritual enlightenment, or soul-satisfaction? These will bestow on you unalloyed joy, limitless peace and immortal glory.
The demon of your ambition to become ‘big’ has influenced and blinded you so far. Don’t follow it any more. You must know that you are not an evolved animal; in fact you are a strayed divine being. Indeed, your real self – your soul is divine in its origin. Know that you belong to the class of devatas (divine being); your role model should be a devata. As you might know, the meaning of the word devata is – one who gives (for the ascent and welfare of others). This will give you unalloyed joy, limitless peace and immortal glory. So, along with you sadhana of self-refinement and enlightenment, you should also start giving whatever you have to help in the betterment of somebody’s lot. Don’t worry if you don’t have money or worldly resources to donate for social service. Most important is to give (distribute) your love, your compassion, and your encouragement. You can also give good thoughts, inspirations, and positive direction to those who are depressed, confused, or strayed. Adopt the principle of simple living and high thinking, then, all your worldly scarcities will also disappear. Your present resources alone would then be adequate for your living and also for helping some other. You leave your worries, your apprehensions, your negativities, your vicious and declining tendencies, come out of your (self-created) hell and start walking towards the heaven, start ascending. Walking toward heaven, rising towards God, means moving along the path of righteous principles, high ideals, goodwill and wisdom, marching towards the treasure of enlightenment and beatifying joy. Rest assured you can do this simply by transforming your thinking, your outlook. You must do this. This sadhana should be the beginning of your awakening. I wish you all the best in this endeavor.
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