1. Who Am I
To realize, who am I and why I am here.
I am not a body but I am a silent and peaceful Atman residing within the body.
2. God is
If one looks at the phenomenal world and the cosmic process around us, one gets convinced of the presence of a Supreme Intelligence or God, in control thereof.
3. Law of Karma
The law of Karma is just an extension of the well-known maxim, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap’, to the inner world of moral values. It is nothing but the law of ‘Cause and Effect’, which governs the affairs of this Universe.
When we are good to others, we are best to ourselves.
Life is a boomerang. We receive from the world what we give to it. Generally we see the world not the way it is but the way we are. Most of the time, other people’s behaviour is a reaction to our own.
4. The secret about the quality of energy emanating from us in the form of thought, speech and deed.
Whatever is going on in our mind is what we are attracting.
The like attracts like. We become and attract what we think. Therefore, we should be totally aware of the quality of our thought, speech and deed.
5. One is solely responsible for whatever happens to him
Law of karma leads to the belief that we are solely responsible for whatever happens to us, good or bad. Therefore, we must never blame others for our problems, failures or suffering etc. Others may only act as instrument of God, in the process.
6. Rebirth
Rebirth or reincarnation is a fully established fact of life now. All the major religions of the world accept the concept of rebirth.
7. There is no competition in the world
God has provided for every living being more than what he needs. Therefore, there is no need for competition in any field of life. Hence, don’t have a feeling of competition towards others, but a feeling of brotherhood, love and compassion
8. The real purpose of life
The real purpose of life is not to continue to maintain this body and the relationships based on this body. This world is subject to constant change. The world is full of names and forms which are temporary and ever-changing. Therefore, one cannot depend upon any human being, as everything is ever-changing. Hence, the only dependable entity is God.
9. Happiness comes out of giving
Always have the desire to give to others whatever is possible for you. When you have a desire to give to others, you become an instrument of God, and therefore, God starts taking care of your needs. In any case, everyone in this world is a beggar and therefore, you can’t expect anything from anybody.
10. Security
Everyone is suffering from a sense of insecurity in this world. One tries to fill-up this lack by controlling others and by amassing the material things of life etc. But all these things are temporary and they cannot provide a sense of security to anybody. Therefore, feel secure in God. He is the only security in this world.
11. How to come close to God
You can get connected with God only if you are simple and straightforward, and your thoughts speech and deeds are positive.
12. Every human being is different
Every human being is different from the rest. As a result of the law of Karma every human being has different samskars (i.e subtle tendencies, desires etc.) & different perception of the world. Every human being is travelling at a different level of consciousness in the journey of life. It is because of the different ‘body, mind and intellect’ equipment, that everyone perceives the world in a different manner. It is our experience in the empirical world that no two persons think alike.
13. Don’t criticise others for being different.
Everyone is different from others. Everyone perceives the world differently. Therefore, we are bound to be different from one another in respect of our nature, opinions and aims in life. We are living in a relative world. No one is perfect here. Therefore, we must never criticise, judge or dislike others for the reason that they are different from us. We must accept others as they are.
14. The Judge.
As far as the Judge for the actions of the Jiva is concerned, there is no external judge who punishes us; our inner-self (Atman) is the judge. Therefore, it is nothing but ignorance if we are under the impression that we can escape the results of our bad Karmas, by concealing them from the world.
15. Stop reacting and start acting.
Most of the time we keep on reacting to what others are thinking of or doing to us. Thus we become slave to the actions, opinions, whims and fancies of others. Therefore, we must stop, reacting to what others are thinking of or doing to us and instead, start acting in accordance with our conclusion reached after proper deliberation. This attitude will save us from a lot of avoidable entanglements.
16. If you ever feel the need for a change in any situation, relationship etc., then the need lies in you.
Never try to change others. You can only change yourself. Therefore, learn to mind your own conduct and stop bothering about the conduct of others. The key lies in understanding the fact that when you start changing from within, others’ attitude also starts changing towards you.
17. Happiness is a state of mind.
Our happiness depends on how we perceive the world, a situation or an incident. Happiness can never be derived from the external world. There is a world of difference between pleasure and happiness. Happiness is a bye-product of our efforts to proceed God-ward in the journey of life. Power, Pelf and Position, can never bring happiness. As long as one seeks happiness in the objects of the outside world, one continues to be under a mirage.
18. The purpose of life.
The purpose of life is to evolve higher spiritually. Our aim should be to become better every moment in our God-ward journey. In other words our aim is to proceed in the direction of God-hood by getting more and more detached from the world and attached to the God Almighty.
19. Follow the middle path.
Bhagvad Gita recommends middle path in all aspects of life, for physical, mental and spiritual well being. It means one should avoid all extremes. Middle path will lead to optimum results in all spheres of life.
20. Have positive outlook but be detached.
One should always view all events with a positive outlook as all the incidents in our life, good or bad, come to serve a useful purpose for our mental and spiritual growth.
At the same time remain detached from the activities of the phenomenal world. It does not mean you give up desire or effort. You only give up your attachment to the result. The best attitude is to offer all your work as worship to God.
21. Events are not important in life but the lessons derived from them.
God (or Soul) takes us through various experiences in life, in order to make us wiser and make us realise that Dharma alone accompanies the soul in its solitary journey after death; all the objects of the world are left behind.
22. Have a long-term purpose in life.
In order to lead a purposeful and happy life we should have a purpose – larger than life size. It is this purpose, which will give meaning and direction to our lives and in the process peace and happiness to us.
Author Details-
Mr. S. K. TYAGI, M.Sc., LL.B., Advocate, Ex-Indian Revenue Service and Income-Tax Advisor
Office Address– Flat No.2, (First Floor), Gurudatta Avenue, Popular Heights Road, Koregaon Park, PUNE – 411 001, Phone Office: 0212-633012, Residence Phone -0212-682032, 0212-682444
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Author Details-
Mr. S. K. TYAGI, M.Sc., LL.B., Advocate, Ex-Indian Revenue Service and Income-Tax Advisor
Office Address– Flat No.2, (First Floor), Gurudatta Avenue, Popular Heights Road, Koregaon Park, PUNE – 411 001, Phone Office: 0212-633012, Residence Phone -0212-682032, 0212-682444
very good compilation, nice reading but practically difficult to follow in many situations