Vedanta Answers Question:- Gurus and global leaders sound similar in their attitude to sim-ple and sincere work. Can you please compare the good traits of Swami Vivekananda, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gan-dhi, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, and others?
Answer:- Resisting evil is not violence. What Mahatma Gandhi meant was that you should not compromise with evil of any kind. The path of truth should be followed. Comparing great leaders with one another is not advisable.
Question:- Non-violence was the essence of the Indian freedom movement. But Swamiji empha-sised inKarmaYo g ato resist evil and not resist-ing evil is tamasic, which appears contradictory.
Answer: Struggle is the law of life. Mahatma Gandhi did not mean only physical violence in the context of non-violence. He also advised resist-ance of Pakistan’s aggression in 1948. So there is no contradiction. Only we should take into account the circumstances before deciding to resist or not. Total non-resistance is meant only for sannyasins.
Question: What is the limit of our observation?Is there any truth that is impossible to be ob-served according to Vedanta?
Answer: Even at the physical level, what is known is only a fragment—the size of a mustard seed—and what is not known is as big as the world! And the reality behind all phenomena is unknowable from the relative point of view.
Question: Things start revealing a different mean-ing once we keep observing them. How does it happen? How does something become so appar- ent while it was so nebulous at first?
Answer: This question needs further elabor-ation. If the mind gets concentrated on some-thing, it will reveal its secrets.
Question: We all are tuned to form an image of others even when we know that we don’t have sufficient data to do so. Can the power of ob-servation be improved to gain a correct under-standing of others to facilitate a better social relationship?
Answer: The power of observation is not to be improved; it is to be made deeper by concentration.
Question: We hear that Swami Vivekananda is the incarnation of Budhakaushika Rishi. Is this true?
Answer: I have never heard even the name of Budhakaushika Rishi.
Question: Is realising God the goal of human life?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Does proper observation require a trained mind? If yes, how to train the mind?
Answer: Yes, a trained mind makes it easier to understand things. Train the mind through concentration.
Question: Swamiji, How do I cultivate the art of observation?
Answer: A concentrated mind observes more than an ordinary mind. Improve your concentration.
Question: It is said that the whole universe is within us and whatever we see and observe is actually within us. How true is it?
Answer: Who said it? What does she or he exactly mean by it? The world is within us means that one is connected with everything else.
Question: How to work consistently?
Answer: It is said that ‘consistency is the hob-goblin of a weak mind’. Everything need not be straitjacketed.
Question: Hinduism believes in destiny, that is, everything is destined. So, how can we, being proactive and doing actions, change our eds-tiny? Also some people always work hard, but are never much successful, while others put lesseffort and are very successful. How do we explain this? Can one change one’s destiny? If yes, then the concept of Hinduism is wrong.
Answer: Hinduism does not believe in destiny. It believes in karma. Everything works out accord -ing to one’s karma and the experience one has gained in earlier births. Destiny is only karma. Youcan change your karma in this and future births, whereas destiny or fate as understood is evocable.
Question: How can human beings find the right proactivity? Why do some people spent consid-erable amount of energ y in finding out the right area for proactivity? Is it because of maya?
Answer: Not clear. The question is confusing.
Question: Many of us are afraid to take initia-tives, not just to do big things but also to do small things differently. Why does such fear arise and how can one overcome it?
Answer: Fear or no fear depends upon one’s mental strength. Make the mind strong by think-ing positive thoughts. Read the life of great women and men. That will give you strength and fearlessness.
Question: Dedicating one’s life for meditation and doing good for society by helping the needy—which is really proactive?
Answer: Both are good. One is dhyana yoga and another is karma yoga. There is no contra-diction. Both are working towards the same goal—God-realisation.
Question: You rightly said that there are people blaming parents or grandparents for their notbeing proactive. This applies to all of us. Some of us are very privileged people. How about a child born in a slum who works in a tea stall to make both ends meet? Such people should not be blamed if they are not proactive. How do you think this vicious circle can be broken?
Answer: Attempts have been made in modern times to build an egalitarian, socialist, or com-munist society. But all such attempts have failed. The main reason is human selfishness. Those who feel for others may help some poor people.But that is only casual. But to bring about a total, radical change, a non-violent revolution is neces- sary. Who will take it up?
Question: How do I know that I am becoming proactive?
Answer: No answer.
Question: How can we know whether our be-coming proactive will be good or bad?
Answer: Use your brain to get an answer!
Question: You gave the example that for judging an organisation or apple tree, one has to consider the best result or apple produced out of it. However, there is also a saying that just by testing a single rice grain, one can judge whether the rice in the pot is cooked or not. Are they contradictory sayings or different views? What is your comment?
Answer: By picking up the best apple, you as-sess the potential of that apple tree. Similarly, by testing a grain of cooked rice, you can under-stand the possibility of the rice cooked in the whole pot. So where is the contradiction? (To be continued)
SRI RAMAKRISHNA TODAY 