52. Maturity of Character.🔗

A gentleman had finished engineering in I.I.T. and was employed in U.S.A. He was earning in lakhs. While talking to me he said: My father, who made me touch the zenith of achievements, is a fool. I am also a fool.

I asked: Why do you say so? He replied: My father dreamt right from my childhood, that I should become a very big man. And to make that really come true, he spared no efforts at all and educated me. He also motivated me for my success. He toiled for 25 long years. He rested only when I got a job in the U.S. Then only he got time to live his own life. Only after that did we come to know that while we have accumulated what all are needed for life, we have not at all learned to live the life in this world. For the question, 'What does life mean?' the reply we get is only, 'We are fools'. Please tell us a way for this.

Be sure of one truth. All your efforts and labour can only make your body to be alive. They cannot make even your mind to come to life.

❖ Surpassing your body, to make your mind and your conscious feelings to come to life and to make them flourish, you must get maturity of mind. You have to separately strain yourself and work hard for that.

❖ Getting maturity of character is one of the very important steps for an ordinary man to get enlightenment.

❖ Anger, Affection, Fear

❖ Enlightenment is only the mental maturity in going beyond the feelings, and making one self as well as others live in a state of rapture.

❖ The first and foremost action one has to take in order to pass beyond all sorts of behavioral aberrations and obtain maturity of character is to list out the extent to which a person himself as well as others have been affected by mental aberrations.

The very act of 'making out a list' will make the mental and behavioral confusions disappear and it will nurture mental maturity. Consciously make out a list and see. You will understand.

A collection of interesting conversations between two persons...

Sunday: Evening 6.30 (On the phone)

'What boss! You don't care for me nowadays. If you have any work you come to my house. Otherwise, you don't bother about me at all. Speak for some more time, boss! I would like to go on and on hearing your voice.'

Monday: Morning Time 7.30 (On the phone)

'You stupid, reduce the volume of the T.V. I can't hear in the phone at all. Who is speaking? Oh! Is it you? OK, Ok, whatever it is, we can talk it over today evening at 6 after I come home. I will disconnect now.'

Monday: Evening. Time 6.00 (On the house)

'Oh! Come, come, come. We should be fortunate and blessed for good people like you to come to our house.'

Wednesday: Afternoon Time 3.00 (on the way)

'Sir, don't be dragging on. Say exactly and to the point, what you want to say... I have got a lot of work to do.'

Friday: Morning Time 8.00 (On the phone).

'Hello! Is healer Ananda Sridhar available... Oh Sridhar, right from morning, I was thinking about you only. I would like to see you...'

Saturday: Evening. Time 7.00 (In the Ananda healing centre) 'I came here thinking that you will give me some consoling words. What is it you are saying? "I" only is the reason for all problems, you are saying. Keep your Vedanta with yourself only. Leave me alone.'

Sunday: Evening. Time 6.30 (On the phone)

'What boss? What? Are you angry with me? Excuse me boss! Yesterday, in some bad temper, I spoke so. Please be talking some more time boss! I like to hear your voice continuously.

All these different faces and talks were all that of one single individual Thandavamurthy and these were towards the person Ananda Sridhar, a healer of Dhyanapeetam and all these in just one week.

Is it surprising?

If you are surprised... that means you are not aware of the truth that...

Time and again, we as well as others are out and out, exhibiting varied and different faces and feelings.

It is only the result of Thandavamurthy dancing to the tunes of the dictations of the mind, that he was speaking politely as 'Boss' at one time, and then saying, 'Don't be dragging on; leave me alone' next time and again addressing Sridhar as before as 'Boss'.

'When the nature of the people changes, colour changes, quality also changes' – this truth can be understood by a person by the maturity of his character.

When others exhibit anger due to the tribulations of their feelings, we also show anger and hatred, it is only an indication that we have not yet got the maturity of character.

Only when we stamp it saying, 'These are the items to my liking' the ammunition is made ready for our mental aberrations.

To whatever extent things of our liking give us happiness, to the same extent the things we do not like will make us drown in sorrow.

A very nice statement of a Hasid explaining this:

The depth of the rising Is the height of sorrow!

For a person who has got mental maturity, 'applaud' will not make him 'enamored'; 'despise' will not make him 'lose heart'.

When Thandavamurthy showed extremes of anger, hatred and disgust, Sridhar was not bothered at all.

Remaining with the feeling of grace, unmoved by any thing at any time is the whole outcome of maturity of character.

It is my desire that each one of you should reach this state and taste the joy of life.

To attain such maturity, there is a beautiful statement of the Zen master Moorey Sen...

Become a dry leaf in the wind! Become a cork in the river!

What wonderful golden words!

A dry leaf will just sail along with the wind. Cork will float and sail along with the flow of water. But leaf will be a leaf; cork will remain a cork.

Both will not have any difficulty.

I call this state only as maturity.

Changing ourselves as a cork in the river of life is only maturity of character.

If we change..., the truth will be known that -

Like us, others also struggle due to the afflictions of feelings.

Like us, they also lose their self-control some times, not knowing what they do, they also pour out their anger on others.

Instead of anger, Grace will be born.

Instead of hatred,

Love will be born.

Disgust will change as joy.

When?

If only you permit your character to mature!

A meaningful incident.

A family man went to Rishi Bharatha and said, 'I wish to become an ascetic.'

Rishi said, 'A lie. You are telling in a polished manner that you are not willing to face the world.'

Further, he said, 'The maximum qualification for being a family man is the minimum qualification to be an ascetic. Now tell me, do you wish to become an ascetic?'

❖ It is not important, who you are.

Only maturity of character is important.

Meditation chisels. Chisel No.7.

Grasp everything exactly – This is a meditation.

The fingers that grip to lift the crowbar tightly change themselves while lifting a tube light. They grip it suitably softly. If the grip pressure is the same as for the crow bar.... what will happen to the fate of the tube light?

No lessons have been taught either to the fingers or to the brain as to how much of pressure should be given to which objects. But, still, we don't give such pressure which is not more than what is necessary for handling the given object. The reason: Growth of brain!

In the same manner, if only we know how to handle people with different characters... That only is maturity of character, ripeness, wisdom.

People's character cannot be studied examining it intellectually. The right approach would be from the point of view of the heart and taking their feelings into consideration. Some tips to get this maturity of character...

❖ Firstly, to the extent possible, grasp your own words, tone of the voice, and facial language during each of your conversations with others.

❖ Next, observe and grasp how other's face, eyes, voice and words change and appear due to your speech and other movements.

❖ Lastly, deeply feel and experience consciously for yourself, as to what would have happened inside you if your same words and facial expressions were shown to you by others.

Do this for all good as well as bad happenings. Observe and absorb within you, the changes made by you on others as well as the changes others made on you. This is a meditation.

As you go on doing this more and more, the lessons you learn from them will make you ripen. You will get maturity of character.

53. Pride.

❖ Pride is good - It will protect us from feeling inferior. When it changes into self-conceit, useless pomp or arrogance, that itself will ruin us.

❖ The enthusiasm that pride gives is equivalent to the intoxication given by narcotic drugs.

❖ The drug will make the body a slave; Feeling of pride will make the mind a slave.

❖ Only the body will be spoiled due to drugs. The illusory feeling of pride, in the process of spoiling the mind, will also damage the body.

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Time has now come to tell the patient the truth.

Doctor said to the patient: Don't feel sad. Your condition is serious and there is room for anxiety. At the maximum you may own this body for next 2 days. You may like to do many things in your last days. Further, would you wish to see somebody?

Looking at the eyes of the doctor, the patient replied in a feeble voice, 'Yes.'

When the doctor eagerly asked, 'Who is that?' the patient said, 'Another good doctor.' The doctor was shocked.

❖ In all the circumstances when a man feels broken down he gets attacked only in his feeling of pride!

It is easy to tell a thousand reasons for feeling proud or for feeling low. But it is very difficult for the mind to tell one good reason to lead a simple life.

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How many different new ways man invents to roam about tom toming pride!

While tom toming one's own pride is one type, the other type is a more cunning one.

These types of people will think and feel proud by speaking about matters concerning themselves not directly but in an indirect manner. They will live in the world with a type of imagination.

At all occasions when we take pride about a VIP known to us, about our religion, about our caste, or going beyond these, about our children, about our friends and relatives, in the depth of our hearts, it is only for our own pride, we talk proudly about them. If we observe this keenly, we can understand.

It is not wrong to just talk proudly. It is only a part of a conversation. It is wrong only to strive to tom tom one's own pride again and again being driven by the thought deep in the mind, 'I am not competent enough'.

This is a sort of self-inflicted sin only.

Nothing else is so mean like going about talking with pride. The reason is that it is only the meanness inside a person which induces him to go about talking proudly and exhibiting useless pomp.

Datungir was one such person who got himself entangled in the dragnet of pride by thinking he had achieved some thing very big just because he had learnt to perform certain occult things.

The name Datungir had given for beating his own drums to others about his superhuman powers was 'Spiritual rinsing'.

In the search path of a person seeking enlightenment, he will get some super-human powers.

Leaving aside the reaching of final and real enlightenment, if one engages himself in super-human powers, then he will only reach the pinnacle of pride. He will miss the path of enlightenment.

Datungir, who was going about speaking with everybody as if he was a great spiritual person, once happened to meet a lady Hasid Master by name Shalana.

Beginning with a pride-filled preamble, Datungir said to her: Only an enlightened person like you can really understand me. So far I have not met even a single wise person. Hence I feel very happy meeting you.

Shalana asked with a smile: So, as far as you are concerned, excepting you, all are fools. Is it so?

Shalana's words straightaway attacked the self-boasting feelings of Datungir. Datungir felt as though he was wounded somewhere in his person.

To hide the feeling of being wounded, he managed by saying: No, no, I did not say in that meaning. Instead of saying that there are no wise people like you, by mistake, I have said like that.

Further Datungir said: It is all right. I wish to discuss with you about spirituality thoroughly.

Shalana very humbly said: I am an ordinary woman. I just remain blissful. That is all. Further I do not know any thing about spirituality. If you know any thing, please teach me.

Datungir's joy knew no bounds. He thought: All believe this lady, who does not know any thing, as an enlightened Master. But she is not able to pretend or pose as an enlightened Master to me, who has mastered occultism. So thinking, Datungir's pride grew multiple times.

Datungir said in a bold voice: Come on Shalana. Let us discuss spirituality while we walk up and down on this river in spate.

He used to tell many that he had learnt after spending many years, the magical and occult art of walking on water.

While people listened with wonder and asked: Is it so? Datungir will show them his walking on the water.

When people would wonder and shower praises on him, Datungir would feel very proud within and laugh. This is what would happen usually. But... Shalana's reply gave him a rude shock.

Shalana said to him, who had just then told her that they could talk while walking on water in a polite manner: Oh Datungir, I am getting fed up with walking on flowing river again and again! Come, let us climb the skies. Let us fly up and down there and while so doing, you can teach me spirituality. I will learn.

Datungir was heart-broken.

In Shalana asking him to fly with her in the clouds, Datungir's pride got broken to pieces. While he was priding himself about his walking on water, the way in which Shalana asked him humbly and simply with no airs about her, 'Come let us fly in the clouds' did something within Datungir. With pride shattered, Datungir said in a low voice: Oh lady! I know only to walk on water, how to fly in the clouds?

Shalana said: Oh child! What is there if you know or not to fly in the clouds? Whether walking on the land, or walking on the river or talk while flying in the clouds, whatever are we not going to talk the same thing? Will spirituality differ from place to place?

Datungir agreed: Yes, it won't change at all.

Shalana asked: Through walking on the river, what did you learn in spirituality? How much did you grow?

Datungir thought for a moment and said: Nothing.

Shalana said: If you play with such super-human powers, which are in no way useful for the growth of individuals in general, only evil will remain. All the years you had spent for the sake of a single super-human power, you have actually wasted all those years. What finally remains is only that of beating your own pride has grown in your mind like a cancer. Even now, without realising your mistake, you are only asking next, how to fly in the clouds. Do you understand?

So saying, she made Datungir understand his mistakes.

Knowing truth, the ultimate noble truth should only be the sole aim. This is the essence of spirituality.

Making a man deviate from his path of searching for the ultimate wisdom is only this quality of out coming of proclaiming of pride of a person either directly or indirectly. ---------

A meaningful incident.

It was spoken with pride in a public meeting of the dogs:

The leader said: There is very, very small difference between us and the god.

When the crowd asked: Is it so?

The leader said with pride: Yes our name is DOG. If you reverse it, it is 'GOD'.

❖ It is very easy to talk with pride. But it is waste of time! It is an enemy for individual growth.

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Meditation chisels. Chisel No. 8.

Boasting about ourselves is a stone that hinders our progress... Simplicity is the stepping stone for our progress...

Spiritual person, theist, atheist, politician – any name you only keep for yourself. To whatever kind you may belong, the thing that is going to be a blocking stone for your progress is going to be only your boasting nature.

The tree of boasting has come up only from the seed of meanness.

The seed of meanness, which has somehow entered into man at some time in his life, will be pricking him continuously. The nature of boasting is that which has appeared by itself only to forget and hide this feeling.

The side effect of boasting is that it will push the feeling of meanness a little deeper inside man. Irritation would rather increase a little.

Whoever you may be, if you have not achieved in conformity with the resources you have put in, understand then... only your nature of boasting must have diverted you from the path of achievement and total success.

Find out the useless nature of boasting and throw it out. If the pride is removed, then, meanness, which is the inner face, will also disappear.

Life can be lived beautifully if one goes beyond boasting and meanness, the two blocking stones for progress. Make times of boasting and meanness into meditation times!

54. Don't degrade yourself.

Addressing the child Nitty, who had just then come home after playing in the Marina beach, his mother asked, 'How many girl children were there with you today?'

When Nitty asked, 'Why do you ask?' his mother said, 'Yesterday only it seems, you fought with three girls, the next door aunty told me. That's why!'

Nitty said, 'I cannot say how many girls came there today.'

The mother asked, 'Why?'

'Nobody was wearing a gown. All were wearing the same type of swimming dress.' The child Nitty said: Since all were in the same dress, as far as I am concerned, neither boys nor girls came to play with us. Is it not all right?'

❖ As far as the child is concerned, the difference between male and female is confined to the dress only. As they grow further and further, differences and limitations also grow in the mind.

For the man, the mind grows to such an extent as to divide, classify and spy on each and every thing he sees.

Result - Within one and the same person, various varieties of characters and states of mind begin to take root.

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A person thinking high of himself; thinking low of himself - Both these are the out comes of ego only.

What? Is it shocking?

All of us will agree easily if one calls superiority complex as ego. But if one calls inferiority complex also as ego, it would be rather difficult to accept.

❖ Pride and ego are much better than low esteem. Is it surprising?

For the words uttered out of ego, one has to get the beatings either today or tomorrow from society. Society will surely tame us.

❖ Due to inferiority complex, if one lowers himself, then society will not harm him. Instead, society will begin to respect him.

Due to this, pride and ego will begin to grow deeper and deeper. Effect of the ego will not be known outside. But it will affect the concerned person only. Peace of mind will be lost.

❖ As you think, it is certainly all right to be humble and submissive. But, if you suppress and restrict yourself forcibly, then it is surely wrong.

If water becomes stagnant, it will become poison. If energy becomes stagnant, it will become bad power.

This will result in great harm only. The ulcer of ego will become fistulous. The mind will become spoilt and in the life of the inner world, from the life connected with conscious feelings, a bad odor will begin to emanate.

❖ I lower myself.

I behave humbly.

In this thinking, it becomes a problem only when the feelings are suppressed beyond what is necessary.

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A beautiful incident.

Clout was caught in the thinking that if he behaves in a lowly manner, people would accept him as a good spiritual person.

‘What do we know, Sir?’

‘When big people are all there...’

'I am a very humble person...'

'All with your blessings...'

He began to copy such lines from those 'really humble persons' and began to emulate them. He got respect too.

The more and more Clout began talking lowly of himself others began to talk highly of him saying: No, sir, not at all like that... How big a man you are...

Clout examined and considered both: Those who wanted to be respected by others talking highly about themselves and then getting the beatings and getting subdued; and himself being kept in high esteem by others.

In the course of his life, one truth struck brightly to Clout. Do I lower myself only for a moment's happiness I get when others talk highly of me!

Clout started trembling a little when the thought came to him: What these people will do in case they come to know and understand the aim of my mind.

At a time when Clout was getting vexed with the question, 'Why do I wish that all should praise me and respect me', he got an opportunity to meet Zarathustra.

There was a big crowd around Zarathustra. Slowly Clout managed to enter into the crowd and stood by his side politely.

When his turn came, with all humility and in a low voice, he started to talk with Zarathustra, saying: My problem is...

Zarathustra asked: Any thing wrong with your throat? No sir, throat is all right only.

When he said: Then why do you talk in such a low voice? You can talk well, is it not? The very tone of clout changed. But, even then he was standing with folded hands and with a bowing head.

Zarathustra asked: What, do you feel cold?

Clout said: No sir.

As soon as Zarathustra asked: Then, why you are folding your hands so tightly? Clout's hands fell down.

Further, Zarathustra asked: Do you have any pain in your hips?

Clout answered: No, sir.

Zarathustra asked: Your hips are all right. Then why do you stand bent, giving pain to your hips? On hearing this, Clout stood erect.

Clout was standing in such a humble posture that his face as well as his body alone was telling others: I am a very simple and humble person.

Zarathustra asked: Why this pretence?

Clout asked: Which one Master?

Zarathustra said: This humility...Know this truth. You are not so high to such an extent to be humble and to the extent of being modestly simple. You have not got clarity of mind.

Changing his tone, keeping his chest erect and with pretence of not being humble, Clout tried to talk. That appeared as strange for Clout.

Zarathustra destroyed and broke into pieces just in a few minutes all the pretences of Clout in trying to exhibit himself as a humble man in public places for a long time.

With his pretence gone, with red eyes, Clout began to talk in a rough voice: My problem...

Zarathustra interrupted: Your pretence mixed imitations and your unnecessary talking in a low voice - only these are the symbols of the ego torturing you. Your problem is deep rooted. Your ego has selected inferiority complex by eating 'praise' as its food and feels satisfied. Come over to the normal and natural state first. You can come out of the problem easily.

It appeared to Clout that he had obtained a complete answer for his question of long time.

Zarathustra asked: You were going on saying, 'My problem...my problem...' What is the problem? Clout, with tears running from down from his eyes, thankfully said: Nothing at all...Thank you very much Master.

Thereafter he got rid of his pretence and started living simply. Peace of mind was born.

When one thinks highly of himself, the mind gets a false feeling of comfort. Some people behave proudly only for this false feeling of comfort.

When man lowers himself, he is raised by others.

More than pride, a person who pretends with a low mental attitude, will get many times more sense of false comfort. Only as a result of this, they lower themselves before others, talking about themselves degradingly.

A person degrading himself is one thing. Leading a simple life is another.

Those who are normal and natural will neither say highly about themselves, nor lowly. We can see that these people are filled with simplicity. They will also exhibit their simplicity in a simple way only always.

'Simplicity' is that which reveals itself naturally from a person.

If a person unknowingly lowers himself just for the sake of name and fame, even then it is a sin only. It will breed ego.

Do not lower yourself, for anybody or for any reason. Likewise, under any circumstances or before anybody do not speak or feel high of yourself.

Be as you are. Speak about any thing as it truly is.

Both inferiority complex and superiority complex, which have seized you, even without your knowledge, will begin to detach themselves and fall off.

You will see that simplicity will appear from within you in a simple manner. Experiment and see. You will understand.

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A meaningful incident.

In Bidadi Ashram, a brahmachari asked: Master, how to be simple? Say in a simple way.

I said: Oh, it is very easy. If you adopt these two, you will become simple:

1. Do not exaggerate any thing!

2. Do not under-rate any thing!

Whatever you heard, whatever you saw, say without any adulteration, share it.

As he did so earnestly, within a few days itself, the brahmachari became a nice person full of simplicity.

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Meditation chisels. Chisel No. 9.

Have you ever heard the news being read this way?

‘Head lines... Today Tamilnadu was blissful! All the women were independent! In Chennai, there was nice breeze continuously for half an hour! The police department proudly announced, "These are the cities where no crime of any kind occurred....! Movement of good people has increased.’

When we say news, very rarely any thought comes to our mind firstly, beyond hurly-burly, quarrel, murder, robbery.

The mind longs for tingling sensation only.

The mind gives much importance only for terror, grief and shock.

The very attitude of man itself is rather wayward.

If you are sorrowful or stiff, nobody will ask you any thing.

Those, who are very close to you, may ask you a few words. But if you laugh, or if you are enjoying greatly some thing with laughter, then, even a third person, who passes by, would not stop asking: What happened? So far, you were all right only!

It is certain that you also will not fail to point out a person who laughs without any reason as a 'mad person'!

The reason for all these is the wrongful acceptance of the mental attitude that 'it is just normal and natural to be sorrowful and tight.'

The reason for saying that man is caught in 'un-redeemable grief' is only the result of having wrongly changed the concept 'Being blissful is man's nature'.

Study your own attitude. In that, note down all the places where it is not as it should be.

Always and under all circumstances, act in such a manner to be peaceful and blissful. Learn to block the attitude which prevents you from being so. You will become light in weight.

Incidents are continuously happening around you to disturb and damage your normal nature and attitude. It is continuously creating unnatural sorrow and stiffness within you.

To block stiffness being generated... become natural. Become light. You will be blissful.

55. Frenzy, hatred.

Anandi met the priest.

As her pet dog Puppy had an untimely death, she very earnestly requested him to perform the funeral rites as per religious edicts.

The priest busted out with a contemptuous voice: What is this? For the sake of a dog, should I talk to God? It is utter foolishness.

Anandi said: I am prepared to pay even five hundred dollars. You have said that you could do. If you know any one who can do the rites, please tell me. My puppy is very important for me.

When Anandi said five hundred dollars, the priest spoke in a tone expressing his desire to do the last rites. You did not mention clearly from the beginning that your dog also belongs to our religion. I don't think that you do not know that I do all the rituals for dogs of our religion. The man who is in the next town will demand more than five hundred dollars. It is not necessary for you to call him.

One reason for frenzy; another for hatred.

Both these may come at any time, it can happen upon anything. The reason is that both these are children born out of demons.

If it is to one's advantage then we try to possess it solely and absolutely!

Or if it is otherwise we badly abuse it! We begin to hate and discard it!

❖ Frenzy and hatred are the minds' black pages.

❖ Frenzy is deceiving somebody and getting himself deceived. Deceiving himself and deceiving other is hatred.

❖ One who knows how to live will not deceive any one. One who does not know how to live will have frenzy for anything whatsoever, that too very easily!

If a pendulum is pushed to one side and released it will be continuously oscillating. If the pendulum reaches its right extreme end, the very next moment it will begin to move towards the left end.

The mind also, which is pushed by the drive called 'desire', will catch hold of any one of the two, that is 'frenzy' or 'hatred'.

Some times frenzy... Some times hatred...

It is unfortunate that it has become common place that almost all people are in frenzy regarding some aspects and show hatred in regard to some other aspects.

During certain times, affection and enmity becoming frenzy and at other times becoming hatred; religion becoming frenzied, hateful; lust becoming frenzy sometimes, hatred some other times; frenzy and hatred with regard to name and fame....

Taking advantage of certain rules and regulations and hating certain things and breaking some rules and regulations for one's mental frenzy - both these will make a person drown in misery.

An incident to explain about frenzy and hatred:

A king came to the Buddha to become his disciple. Buddha accepted him with a smile. But, all who were present there were worried and wondered as to why Buddha accepted the king as his disciple even after knowing fully well about the king.

Looking at the worried people around him, Buddha laughed and said: You will understand as time passes.

Wine, women, mansion, torturing the people after making them his slaves - this is the way the king lived. Earlier, he had started his life with the frenzy of pride that there should be nobody else other than him who lived with so much of gaiety as him.

The life he lived in the name of gaiety gave him happiness only for some time. On hearing about Buddha, the king suddenly changed his mind. He came to the conclusion that: I must reach that state of eternal bliss as enunciated by Buddha.

How can he who lived a life of luxury, who had been a tyrant and who had been dishonest adopt an ascetic life?

How can he involve himself in hard penance and meditation?

Can he remain at all without wine and women?

With all his arrogance, can he be polite and submissive to the Master? In this way, the Buddhist monks were one after the other, criticizing the king.

All who criticized the king became struck with wonder.

The reason was the approach of the king towards all regulations prescribed for the Buddhist monks.

When the monks walked on the center of the road without any foot-wear, the king walked along the edge of the road, full of thorns and stones....

The monks practiced self-control and ate only twice a day, the king ate only once a day.

The monks were not even using blankets for protecting themselves from the cold lest it may give rise to attachment. The king not only did not use the blankets, he used to lie down outside the monastery.

In this manner, the king observed all the rules and regulations of an ascetic life as strictly as possible.

Those who had commented became awe struck. All began to respect the king.

Even now, Buddha was watching every thing with the same smile.

The king who had a well built body became a pitiable sight as his frame became thin.

One day Buddha invited the king turned ascetic.

Buddha asked: Are you joyful now? King replied: No.

Buddha asked: Then why do you remain an ascetic?

The king replied: I was happy only for a few weeks after I took to asceticism. As days passed, it vanished.

Buddha said: This is your problem. The frenzy that when I was king I should be the one who lived most outstandingly, has now changed as a frenzy. It should be only me who has lived the ascetic life most correctly.

The frenzy he had earlier had on luxuries has now become hatred.

The most pious thought and aim of attaining eternal bliss has disappeared. The mind has jumped from one corner of 'frenzy' to the other corner of 'hatred'.

Frenzy is wrong and hatred is also wrong.

Buddha concluded by saying: Learn to live in the middle between frenzy and hatred and your problem will be solved.

With tears rolling down from his eyes, the king fell down at the feet of the Buddha and he learnt to live from that day.

Solution for frenzy is, not hating frenzy at all.

This sort of approach will be suitable for money, religion, lust and all other things as well.

If one tries to escape from frenzy, then that frenzy will hide itself deeper inside the mind. The condition will become worse than earlier.

Examine your mind.

List out both the frenzy and the hatred lying inside you. Throw away both. If approached with full awareness, what Buddha said to the king of 'living in the middle' will be understood easily.

Your journey towards bliss will follow.

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A Meaningful incident

The example told by the Advaitha (order of saints who practice non-duality – man and God are not different from each other) saint to make one understand Buddha's statement of 'live in the middle':

If you tighten very much the string of the musical instrument Veena, it will snap. If you don't tighten it at all you cannot play the veena. To play the music the veena should be tightened 'in the middle.'

In everything, be in the middle. Blissful music will emanate.

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Change the waiting times as meditation times.

During the times of waiting for a bus, for a person, or for a result, your mind will bubble and rise up. Those are the times when the impatience residing within you peeps out! If only you decide you can change these times as meditation times.

Only frenzy and hatred are the root causes of impatience; they are the originators for all mental aberrations and disturbances.

During times of waiting, the above said mental dissatisfactions will be stirred and dug out.

At times of mental disturbances due to impatience...

You loose your self-control.

You fall into lack of awareness.

During such times, fully and totally experience the disturbances you suffer. You will realize that you have more self-control. From a state of lack of awareness, you will move towards full awareness.

As the awareness increases more and more, the mental deficiencies which shake us will themselves begin to shake. Life's unsteadiness will vanish, joy will arise.