2VALUE OF VALUES

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GITA SHIBIR 2011 VALUE OF VALUES

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S e s s i o n2 Va l u e o f Va l u e s

Session Transcript

1.

Okay, I think we have to now postpone rest of the questions andproceed with the next session which is value of values. The questionswere asked here, Swamiji , you talk of emotional maturity and youhave said that we have to init iate the process of emotional maturity, i tdoes not happen automatically.

I E m o t i o n a l g r o w t h n e e d f o r s e l f e f f o r t .

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Certain things happen automatically. For example, the p h y s i o l o g i c a lg r o w t h h a p p e n s a u t o m a t i c a l l y . A child is born and the organicphysiological growth will automatically happen by nature. All that youneed to do is to protect the child from accident and stuff l ike thatfrom the scooters and motorbikes and things l ike that and give thefood to the child and in course of t ime it will grow up. He will need toshave. He has to get married. All these will happen automatically.Meaning that the physiological growth takes place by laws of nature,you need not do any great thing to grow physically matured. Its builtin .

3.

But emotional maturity does not automatically happen. It is possiblethat a person who is 50 year old, physiologically the person can be 50

years old, emotionally the person can be 5 years old. To give anexample. As a 5 year old child I had an elder brother also who was 8year old. Once my mother gave us candy. She gave me one candyand gave some candy to my elder brother also. I saw my mother gave2 candies to my brother, gave one candy to me. I said to my mother Maa give me another candy. My mother answered beta i ts betterif you avoid eating second candy. One candy is enough for you. No Iwant second candy. I want two. But my child you are suffering fromcold and cough. If you eat the second candy your cold and cough willget aggravated. When you recover I will give you 2 candies. I want2. Why do you give him 2? Give me 2 also. He is older than you, hedoesnt have any cough and cold. I want 2. The mother does notgive 2. I dont want this one also. I throw the candy and run away.This is not an uncommon thing. All of us must have gone throughthis. I dont care.

4.

So look at this. Having a candy is not enough to enjoy. You needsomething else to enjoy that candy. What? A disposition of mind. SoOk Mom, you are right. I will get my second candy when I grow up.Suppose the child could say this, I am sure i t will not say, but


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suppose i t could. Then, i t could have enjoyed that one candy thatwas given to the child. What do you expect from a child? A childdoes that. Now the person is 50 year old. He is an engineer, a verysenior person. Working with a group of people, with severalcolleagues. All working as a team, he is a team member. At the endof the year, there is the evaluation that takes place. Out of the teamof these 5 people, one person got promotion. This person did not getpromotion. Even though he was working very hard, very sincerely.Other person got the promotion, he was upset. He went to his boss,Asked him, Sir, how come so and so got promotion? I did not getpromotion. Boss says, his performance was better. His work ethics,his way of working, was better than you. Even though you haveworked hard, you are not as effective as that person is. And that iswhy you appreciate i t , we have given him promotion. So he says noI also must have promotion. I am no less than him. I worked hard, Ideserve i t . His boss is very patient. He explains to him you makethese improvements, we will give you a promotion next year. No I

must have promotion now! If not, I walk out. He walks out. Whenhe was 5 years old, he threw away candy, as a 50 year old he threwaway the job.

5.

I throw away things, when things do not go my way. So we can saythat in the fifty year old body there is five year old child. Is i t not so?So, physiologically he has grown, emotionally he has not grown. Thate m o t i o n a l m a t u r i t y d o e s n o t t a k e p l a c e a u t o m a t i c a l l y w e h a v et o i n i t i a t e t h a t p r o c e s s . As I say you have to work hard in order tobecome emotionally matured. This is a human problem. This problemis not there with reference to other l ife forms. There is no such thingas emotionally matured cow. There is no such thing emotionallyimmature dog or cat as they are always true to their age. A cow bornas a cow it becomes a cow. That cow is emotionally matured. When itis emotionally matured, i t is compatible with age because they areprogrammed that way but human being is not programmed. Humanbeing has a free will therefore he has certain responsibili ty andtherefore he has the responsibili ty to init iate, undertake that otherkind of growth which is called the emotional growth or emotionalmaturity. You have to do that.

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This need is not recognized by people. They think that success l ies inachieving external ends. Success is equivalent to achievement of external things but i t is not recognized then you also require internaldimension to enjoy what you have. To have a candy is one thing toenjoy it is another thing. Job is one thing, you have to enjoy it isanother thing. You can have things and you cannot enjoy them if yourmind does not enjoy a certain disposition. So, that is where thequestion of emotional quotient or emotional maturity comes.

I I . E m o t i o n a l m a t u r i t y i s a c q u i r e d b y f o l l o w i n g v a l u e s


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7.

How do we go about doing that? For that the program is f o l l o w i n gc e r t a i n v a l u e s and we just pointed out when do you like yourself?When you are a kind person thats when you like yourself. If bychance you dispel cruelty from yourself, you are angry, you are cruel,you are insensitive, you do not l ike that cruel, angry or insensitiveperson. Therefore, answer is very simple. F o r m e t o b e h a p p y w i t hm y s e l f I s h o u l d a l s o b e a k i n d , l o v i n g p e r s o n . So, you shouldhave both. With your training and skills you can be a wealthy personor whatever i t is that you want to achieve externally. At the sametime you should right away init iate process of inner growth so that asyou become rich outwardly you also become rich inwardly.

I I I Tw o k i n d s o f w e a l t h : i n n e r a n d o u t e r

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So, thus, there are two kinds of wealth. One is the m a t e r i a l w e a l t h ,in terms of money; in terms of power; in terms of recognition that isone desirable kind of wealth. There is second wealth also in terms of your i n n e r q u a l i t y . In Bhagwad Gita there is an expression used forthis i n n e r w e a l t h d a i v i s a m p a t - sampat means wealth, daivi meandivine. One is the material wealth other is the divine wealth or theinternal wealth in terms of good qualit ies and so we have to undertakea process of cultivating these qualit ies. This compassion is a value.Kindness is a value. Charitableness is a value. Generosity is a value.Why are these values? Is there a basis or a reason why I am happywhen I am kind? I am not happy when I am cruel is there a reason? Isthere a reason why I am happy with myself when I am a loving personnot hateful person? Is there a reason? Theres a reason. Cansomebody think of a reason? Why I am happy with myself when I am a

loving person? I am not happy when I am a hateful person. I amhappy when I am a kind person.

IV Natural values: by nature each one of us is good

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This is what you are. You know something? This is what you are.B a s i c a l l y , y o u a r e a k i n d l o v i n g p e r s o n . Thats what each one of us is. We are all saintly people. We are all saints within ourselves.Thats b y n a t u r e w e a r e s a i n t s . B y n a t u r e , w e a r e k i n d , l o v i n g ,g o o d p e r s o n s . Whatever is that you like yourself to be that alreadyyou are. Thats the reason why you love kindness. You respect otherperson also, this is a kind person. What do you respect? You respectan angry person or you respect a kind person? Whom will you respect?In your mind, if he is your boss, you require to respect him as yourboss but internally you may not respect the person. He may be a cruelperson or an angry person. Internally who do you respect? A kindperson. Is i t not so? You dont always appreciate a wealthy person.You dont always respect a person because of his wealth, his power,his name and fame. Swamiji , you know, I know who this fellow is?Thats what people tell me. Swamiji , you know he enjoys his position


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of power but you dont know how that person is. He is a dishonestperson. He is such and such. We dont respect a dishonest person.Is i t not so? We respect an honest person. We dont respect anangry person. We respect a kind person. Is i t not so? So just as werespect somebody else who is kind, loving, we respect ourselves whenwe are kind and loving. We disrespect ourselves when we are unkindor hateful.

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Because kindness is our nature. To be loving is our nature. To begenerous is our nature and there is love for ones nature. I ts alwayslove of ones own nature and that means there is comfort with onesown nature. There is discomfort when one is deviated from onesnature. This is the rule. Basic rule. Theres comfort with ones ownnature. There is discomfort when for some reason one is deviatedfrom ones nature. The fire is comfortable being hot. Ice iscomfortable being cold. Water is comfortable being cool. Water is notcomfortable when it is hot. Youll f ind that when water is cool at room

temperature, i t is at peace with i tself no struggle, no movement butwhen you heat that water, water becomes restless i t wants to give upthat heat so that i t can come back to i ts nature of being cool which iswhen it is comfortable.

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A river water, r iver, source of river is ocean. You know ultimatelyall the water comes from ocean, is i t not so? The water in the oceangets evaporated because of the heat of the sun. It turns into clouds.Its carried away some place by wind and then it rains. So, this water,i t originally belongs to ocean for separated because of these differentfactors and it falls as rains somewhere in mountains. You think water

is comfortable being there? No, i ts not comfortable. That is whywater keeps on flowing, small streams all gather then they become ariver, becomes a very powerful river and it f lows in which direction, inthe direction of ocean and this river is anxious, is working hard forwhat? In order to meet the ocean. When the river meets the oceanthen all i ts anxiety, i ts restlessness, i ts conflict , i ts all gone now it isat peace with i tself .

V A d h e r e n c e t o o u r b a s i c n a t u r e g i v e s p e a c e a n d h a p p i n e s s

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A thing is at peace with i ts own nature and not at peace when it isdeviated from its nature. W e a r e a t p e a c e w h e n a s I s a i d w e a r ek i n d a n d l o v i n g p e r s o n b e c a u s e t h a t i s o u r n a t u r e . We are not atpeace with ourselves when we are angry, cruel, unkind because weare deviated from nature. You follow? That is why these values arebeing taught to us because when you practice these values we areacting in harmony with ourselves when you violate the values we areviolating our own self .


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13.

If kindness is my nature and if I act in a cruel way then I may hurtsomebody else also by being cruel or before I hurt anybody else I willhurt myself by violating myself. Understand this. If love is my nature,which is what i t is . Suppose, I am a hateful person, suppose I exhibithatred at some point of t ime, because of my hatred I hurt the persontowards whom I was hateful understand that before I do that by beinga hateful person within myself I have already damaged myself. So, Idamage myself before I damage somebody else because whenever Iact in a manner which is opposite to my nature there is a conflictwithin myself. That is I cannot be at peace with myself whenever I actin a manner which is contradictory to my nature. I am at peace withmyself when I act in harmony with myself. Understand this.

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The simple rule is being in harmony with yourself there are certainrealit ies about yourself we said that. Vedanta talks about the reali t iesof l ife, the basic reali ty about myself. So, what is the reali ty of myself? This is a reali ty that I am a good person. Goodness is my

nature; evil is not my nature. Kindness is my nature; cruelty is not mynature. Being loving, charitable, kind is my nature; not the opposite.That being the case when I act in accordance with my nature I am atpeace with myself. I am accepting myself. I am pleased with myself. Iam happy.

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On the other hand w h e n I a c t c o n t r a r y t o m y n a t u r e I a m i nc o n f l i c t w i t h m y s e l f . I a m u n h a p p y w i t h m y s e l f . So, w h a t s d oy o u n e e d t o b e h a p p y ? A s t h e y s a y a l l y o u n e e d t o b e i s h a p p yi s y o u r s e l f . W h i c h s e l f ? A k i n d , l o v i n g s e l f . W h a t d o y o u n e e dt o b e u n h a p p y ? Again yourself, a cruel; hateful fellow is what makes

you unhappy. Thats a cake and then if you are well thats icing sobasically, if you are a kind, loving person, you are happy person withyourself and then when you have other things they all become luxuryfor you. You follow? They will become ornaments of your l ife. I t willbecome icing on the cake.

V I I n n e r w e a l t h ( v a l u e f o r v a l u e s ) r e q u i r e d t o e n j o y o u t e r w e a l t h

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If you have all those things but not what basically you need interms of your inner wealth the external wealth becomes of no use toyou if you dont have the inner wealth. T h e e x t e r n a l w e a l t hb e c o m e s t h e m e a n s o f h a p p i n e s s , e n j o y m e n t w h e n y o u h a v et h e i n n e r w e a l t h . Therefore, just as you make efforts to cultivatethe outer wealth you will also make efforts to cultivate the innerwealth. This is the base of values. They are all universal values.

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You know kindness is universal value, not confined to a fewpeople. Love is the universal value not belonging to somebody specialbecause by nature each one of us is kind. So, sometimes the questionis asked, Swamiji , is values are all subjective? What is a truth for me


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may not be a truth for you. Thats a common question. Are thesevalues universal values or are these values individual values,subjective values? Meaning that what is truth to me may not be truthto others. What is good for me may not be good for others so are theyuniversal values? Answer is, yes, they are universal values. These areuniversal values. You know I will give you one test of how these areuniversal values.

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The test of what a value is not what I do more than depends onwhat I expect from other people. All of us, are in agreement of onething - w h a t w e e x p e c t f r o m o t h e r p e o p l e . How we wanted to betreated by other people. In that all of us are in agreement. I wantother people to be kind to me. You agree with me? I dont want othersto be cruel to me. Are we in agreement? I want other people to betruthful to me. I want others to be honest with me. Is that right? Areyou honest? Sometimes you ask you know? Are you honestly tell ingme this? Are you tell ing me truth? Because we want other people to

be honest with us, truthful with us, kind with us. Is that not so?

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Is there somebody in this audience who says, Swamiji , I dont mindif others are cruel to me, is there somebody? I dont mind Swamiji if they hurt me. I dont mind if they cheat me. I hope that there isnobody here who will say, if there is somebody here we have to sendthem elsewhere. You know where? Something is there. Some problemis here. If somebody tells me Swamiji I l ike when people hate me thenhe needs some treatment. What kind of common people, normalpeople, put i t this way, as normal people all of us are in agreement inwhat we expect from other people we dont want them to hurt us. We

dont want them to insult us. We do not want them to hurt ourfeelings. We do not want them to make us uncomfortable. In as muchas nobody wants others to hurt them. That means that non-hurting ornonviolence becomes a value, a universal value.

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So, everybody wants others to be non-violent at least towardsthemselves. H o n e s t y b e c o m e s v a l u e b e c a u s e w e w a n t o t h e r s t ob e h o n e s t t o u s that means I value honesty otherwise I could notexpect that from you. The fact that I expect from you honesty thatmeans that honesty is valuable to me thats why I want that. I want tobe non-hurting because non-hurting or nonviolence is valuable to methats why I want i t . So, this is a basis of value. You know thatnonviolence is a value. You know that truthfulness is a value. Honestyis a value. Justice is a value. Fairness is a value because that is whatwe expect from other people.

V I I U n i v e r s a l v a l u e s a r e i n t r i n s i c t o e v e r y o n e , a t a l l t i m e s ,e v e r y w h e r e .


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All of us are born with these expectations. Nobody has told me.Nobody need to teach me that, hey, let other people be honest withyou. Nobody needs to teach me otherwise people who did not go toschool they wanted something else. People who are i l l i terate, did nothave benefit of schooling may be these fellows had the right to hurtothers. Whether man is l i terate or i l l i terate, cultured or uncultured,wealthy or poor, urban or rural, white or black, ancient or modern -everybody at all t imes, under all conditions are in agreement with thisin what they expect from others. T h a t s c a l l e d u n i v e r s a l w h i c h i sa p p l i c a b l e t o e v e r y o n e . A t a l l t i m e , a t a l l p l a c e s , i n a l lc o n d i t i o n s what is applicable is called universal.

V I I I Tw o w a y c o n s c i o u s n e s s f o r u n i v e r s a l v a l u e s

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Therefore, these values are universal not subjective. Not that Iwant you to be kind and you want me to be cruel. No, i t is not. So,these are called universal values. W e a r e b o r n w i t h t h e s e v a l u e s .Understand. Nobody needed to teach me, I know it by myself. We areborn with consciousness, you know. W e a r e a l l b o r n w i t hc o n s c i o u s n e s s o f w h a t w e e x p e c t f r o m o t h e r s . Unfortunately orfortunately you are also conscious of another thing. You know what?Yo u a r e a l s o c o n s c i o u s t h a t o t h e r p e o p l e a l s o e x p e c t t h a t f r o mm e . You follow? I know what I expect from others but I also knowothers expect that from me. Thats a very important dimension. Iw a n t o t h e r s t o b e h o n e s t t o m e a n d I k n o w o t h e r s a l s o e x p e c tm e t o b e h o n e s t w i t h t h e m . I want others to be kind to me I knowothers also expect me to be kind to them. Is i t not so? O u rc o n s c i o u s n e s s h a s t w o w a y s . Therefore, I know what you want

from me. If I deliberately tell you a l ie then in my mind how do Iknow myself? When I am deliberately tell ing a l ie, let us say, am Idoing a right thing or wrong thing? How can I judge myself?

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I dont need a judge in a court to actually give a verdict as to whatI am first of all I myself judge when I am tell ing a l ie to somebody amI doing something right or wrong? In my opinion what do you think?When I am cheating somebody for whatever reason I may have somereasons to do that and I may have a reason to tell a l ie, let us say, wewill come to that. I may have a reason to cheat somebody I may havejustification for stealing something. When I am cheating somebodyfor whatever reason I may have some reasons to do that. I may havea reason to tell a l ie we will come to that. I may have a reason tocheat somebody, I may have a justification for stealing something, Imay justify hurting somebody because I do that. In my mind do Ithink that I am doing something right or doing something wrong, whatis i t? Right? When I am cheating somebody am I doing somethingright? When I am tell ing a l ie, am I doing something right? I dontthink any man will say that. At least a human mind will not say that.An animal mind can say that because animals are not evolved enough


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therefore they dont have this two way consciousness they have oneway consciousness. See, learn to distinguish. I h a v e t w o w a yc o n s c i o u s n e s s , I k n o w w h a t I w a n t f r o m y o u a n d I k n o w a l s ot h a t y o u w a n t t h a t f r o m m e .

I X G u i l t - o u t c o m e o f v i o l a t i n g u n i v e r s a l v a l u e s

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That is why when I treat you in a manner other than the way Iwanted to be treated, I know I am doing something wrong. A sense of guilt . Do you feel guilty ever? We do. If out of anger suppose I hurtsomebody; I insulted somebody later on I regret, do I not? I wish Ihad not said i t ; I wish I had not done it . A sense of guilt . H u m a nb e i n g c a n s u f f e r f r o m t h e s e n s e o f g u i l t w h e n I v i o l a t e a v a l u e .Whenever I violate a universal value, within myself I know that I havedone something wrong and I expect myself to be right as I said wehave an expectation of ourselves if we did not have it there is noproblem but fortunately or unfortunately we have an expectation of ourselves. What is the expectation? I should be l iked; I should begood; I should be kind. Why that expectation, you know? Becausethats what I am. The reason why I expect myself to be good andkind is because that goodness is and kindness is my nature thats whythere is some expectation and therefore whenever I act in a mannerwhich is opposite to my expectation, I know that I have donesomething which is not right, this is the sense of guilt . Are youfamiliar with the sense of guilt?

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I am sure if you are a conscious person, number of t imes that guiltcomes because very often we lose our control; very often we get

angry, dont we? I dont know anybody who doesnt get angry. Nowand then we do. Sometimes we are greedy also; sometimes webecome selfish also; sometimes we become a l i t t le cruel also;happens. Out of cruelty, out of greediness, out of anger whenever wedo something it is going to be a violent action. You will hurtsomebody. Sometimes you will trample upon the rights of somebody.You will feel, you have done something wrong. The sense of guilt .

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Now, do you think a guilty person can be happy? Can you be happywith yourself when you are guilty? What is guilt? G u i l t i s I a m n o th a p p y w i t h m y s e l f . Therefore, r e m a i n i n g f r e e f r o m g u i l t i tb e c o m e s a v e r y i m p o r t a n t t h i n g y o u h a v e t o e n j o y a h e a l t h ym i n d . Is i t not so? So, that is why the value of value. That non-violence is valuable to me because non-violence is my nature.Whenever I act in non-violent way I am in harmony with myself. Atthat t ime I am comfortable with myself; I am happy with myself; I amapproving of myself; then you dont need somebody elses approval, Itell you. You know that what you have done is right; you know thatyou are tell ing truth. If you know you are tell ing truth, you dont needsomebodys approval. Oh, I am tell ing truth or you are tell ing truth. I


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know I am doing it . When you are a kind person, you know that youare kind. These things are self-norms you see they are self-revealing.What you are is self-revealing and therefore you know that you arekind. You dont need somebody else to approve you of you then. If you are not sure whether you are kind or not thats when you needapproval. If you are sure, you dont need. So this need for seekingapproval from others comes when we do not quite approve of ourselves. When we violate the value. We violate the universal valuesthen we know that we have done something wrong, we feel guilty, i tpains us, that t ime we are not happy with ourselves.

X A cquired values behind violation of universal values

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Next question naturally will be Swamiji why would I violate thevalues? If I want others to be kind to me how come I am not kind tothem? If according to you kindness is my nature and I l ike to be akind person, I l ike myself when I am kind how come I am not alwayskind? How come I am not always truthful? How come I am not alwayshonest? Why? That is necessary questions isnt i t? So, we shouldexamine that also. We should examine why sometimes I am dishonest?Usually we examine why others are dishonest. Normally, our attentionis on others. This fellow is a l iar. This fellow is cruel. This fellow isthat and you are satisfied that others are l ike that we seem to bealright. We seek comfort from other people violating values and thatis nice to crit icize. Nice to condemn.

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Swamiji our polit ical leaders are l ike this. Our industrial leaders arelike that. Our financial leaders are as such. Our newspapers are l ike

that. Our reporting is, of this nature. Our television is l ike this. Fine,but lets look at our own self and let us look at how we are. I am notsuggesting that we are not good but let us identify that there is someelements in us which need to be changed.

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Why do I get angry? Why do I sometimes tell l ies? Why am Isometimes dishonest? Why do I sometimes hurt others? I deliberatelyhurt others. Swami I am now going to make sure you know that hedoesnt get i t . I will make sure that he doesnt get this contract. I willmake sure that he doesnt get this girl . I want to take revenge, why?Make sure, whatever, you know, something or the other. Why do thesethings happen to us? Because we have another set of values forourselves. So, t w o k i n d s o f v a l u e s n a t u r a l a n d a c q u i r e d v a l u e s .Look at the session two which is value of value. It says two kinds of values. N a t u r a l v a l u e s a n d a c q u i r e d v a l u e s . We discussed whatnatural values are in keeping with our own nature. We are born withthat consciousness. We are born with those values. We have nochoice. At the same time there are what you call acquired values.


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30.

Natural values come with nature. Acquired values are acquired.How are they acquired? T h e s e a r e a c q u i r e d v a l u e s f r o m o u ru p b r i n g i n g a n d p r e v a i l i n g s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s . Our upbringingbecause as we are growing up you also pickup some other values. Togive you an example, let us say here is a toddler, a l i t t le child whichis moving only on his knees not yet walking, a l i t t le toddler. In thelife of this children different phases come. Sometimes the child goesaround and picks up whatever and collects at home, have you seenthis? Sometimes from neighbour also idhar udhar se leke aata hain sub. You know? From where do you get this? From this neighbor, thatneighbor. Sometimes children throw things away. Whatever they havethey throw away, you know? Different phases come. Sometimes theytear off everything that comes in their way. Tear off. So, you have tobe very cautious you know. Sometimes those important things also hetakes and tears off because he doesnt know what i t is , he just enjoys.So he is a toddler, who is in this phase who tears off whatever comesin his way, must be enjoying it . My mother did not mind I used to tear

off some newspaper, this paper that paper, i ts okay.

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One day some other kind of piece of paper came in my hand, abrown looking paper. I almost was going to tear off. My Mom screams,hey, dont tear i t off. I t is money. It was a hundred rupee note. Childdoesnt know, tears off and ran snatched away from my hand. I didnot understand why is Mom doing this. She did not snatch other pieceof paper why did she snatch away this piece of paper? Child doesntunderstand. Okay, and it goes l ike that. So, on several occasions,mother must have snatched away that kind of piece of paper so i t hasregistered in my mind that mother doesnt want me to tear off thatpiece of paper. I grew up somewhat. My mother was once going forshopping to a big store. I said my mother, Mom please take me withyou. No, you stay home. Please take me with you. No. Whenever Itake you to store, you always make demands I want this and I wantthat. I dont want you to go with me. Oh, Mom, I will not ask foranything. You please take me with you. So, Mom takes me with her.So, she goes into the shop and you know there is a shop, big shopand you collect things, put them in a cart and come a cash counter isthere and you pay money and this kind of things happen.

32.

Now, the child while waiting at the cash counter, my attention wasarrested by some things that I saw on the cash counter there are bigjars, big jars transparent in that lots of candies were there. Somechocolate candies and very tempting things were there. I saw those.Fivestar was there. I l ike that. I ask that man standing at the countersir please give me that one. That fellow refused to give me. I wantthat only. No. I want i t . You wont get i t . He is not my mother that hewill give me what I want. He refused to give me. I was upset. Mymother finished the shopping, came, started you know, then, Maa, thisman is not giving me that candy. I told you at home you are not going


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to make any demands. Maa, please let me have that candy. Mom, took out that orange piece of paper that is familiar to me that is callednote, i ts called money. She took it out, gave it to that man. Then,that man gave the candies. Oh, I can get candy provided I paidmoney, otherwise I dont get i t and this happened on many occasions.

33.

I wanted a balloon, I wanted a l i t t le toy car, I wanted this, that,every t ime money was given and that thing was obtained. Thus, Irealize that if I have money, I can get what I want. I have no money Icannot get what I want. Therefore, because those things are valuableto me, toys are valuable I cant get toy without money. Therefore,money becomes valuable. I n u p b r i n g i n g , i n c o u r s e o f t i m e , m o n e yb e c a m e v a l u a b l e a n d a s I g r o w u p I s e e p e o p l e a r e r e s p e c t i n gt h o s e w h o h a v e m o n e y . P e o p l e d o n t r e s p e c t t h o s e p e o p l e w h oa r e p o o r . People respect wealthy people thats how value of moneygets ingrained in my mind. Understand this?

34. My father was a bank manager. On the New Year day I saw severalpeople visit ing our home, bringing all kind of gifts for my father Idont know why I was happy that gifts were coming. Then I discoveredthat because my father was a manager, you know something,sometimes when our servant was absent at home mother would justcall father, can you send such and such person I want somevegetables. Then a man would come, a peon or some servant wouldcome from bank and he will do all different chores. Hey, because myfather is a manager. He enjoyed the position of power. So, if you havepower then you can command, you know other people and if you donthave power then nobody listens to you thats how power became

important. Polit ical people have power they can get what they want todo. We cannot get, so power becomes important. In the newspapersometimes you look at the pictures whoever are the fellows who are infront page of the newspaper, people who are famous, well known. Ialso want my picture.

35.

Of course, two kinds of fellows would get picture. We are not bothof them, you know. Dawood Ibrahim also gets his picture if they haveone and other fellow also so i ts both ways. I want my picture also notthe other way around. I want people to appreciate me, recognize me.That is how as we are growing - money, power, fame all of these alsobecome important to us because we find that when you have thosethey empower you. Money empowers you. Name and fame empoweryou. You can get things done. You will become powerful. That is howthey also become important to me. They are a c q u i r e d v a l u e s . I didnot have these values by birth. Value of kindness I have from birth.Nobody had to teach me. So, t h e s e a r e a l l I l e a r n t f r o me x p e r i e n c e s a n d I f i n d a l s o t h e s o c i e t y v a l u e s t h e s e t h i n g s . Theworld values. You will always respect a person who is wealthy. Theyrespect people who are powerful. They respect people who are


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important. They dont care if the fellow is poor. They dont care forthe man walking on the street. They care for person who lives in apalace. I also want to be l ike that. That is how we acquire theseother values. Now, the battle ground is prepared. We have prepared aKurukshetra. I am waiting for battle. There are two parties. One partycannot fight i tself . Anyway, Duryodhana challenged the Pandavas.Fellows, you want even a needle point of land, equal to point of needle, you have to fight with us. I think it requires two opposingparties not just two, two opposing parties. So, now the battle groundof mind is all set because of two opposing parties.

X I C o n f l i c t O f Va l u e s : A s s i m i l a t e d V s . U n a s s i m i l a t e d Va l u e s( R i g h t v s . E x p e d i e n c y )

36.

There are two set of values natural universal values with which youare born and acquired values which you have acquired in course of your upbringing, in course of our contact with the society in course of l ife experience. If there is a conflict between these two values,honesty is one value but may be a business contract is another value.If by remaining honest, I lose that business contract there is oneconflict comes now. Conflict between the natural or universal valueand acquired value and what do you think will generally win. Whatvalue will win? Acquired value. That business contract is moreimportant to me than just being an honest person. What will I getbeing honest? Nobody will print my photo in newspaper? On the otherhand, a big business contract, in the financial section of the Times of India, my name will come.

37. You see this conflict arising again and again in our own mind. T h ec o n f l i c t b e t w e e n w h a t i s r i g h t a n d w h a t i s c o n v e n i e n t . Youknow? Between what is right and what is convenient. Therefore, thisdishonesty becomes convenient sometimes. Telling a l ie becomesconvenient and thats how we see dishonesty etc. being rampantbecause a person usually wants to take a short cut wants to avoidpain because parting with fifty thousand rupees is painful, is i t notso? Parting with money is painful and therefore I want to avoid thatpain and I violate my value of honesty, of truthfulness. This is howvalues are violated. We ourselves find ourselves violating the valuewhen there is conflict between these two kind of values, naturalvalues and acquired values.

38.

It is not really conflict between two kinds of values, i t is conflictbetween two other kind of values - assimilated values andunassimilated values. Understand that. T h e v a l u e f o r m o n e y i sa s s i m i l a t e d v a l u e . I k n o w w h a t m o n e y m e a n s a n d I k n o w w h a tI s t a n d t o g a i n i f I a c q u i r e m o n e y . I know what I stand to gain bybeing powerful, by being famous, by name, fame, recognition I knowwhat I stand to gain. I dont have any doubt because i t is assimilated


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value but I do not know what I stand to gain by being honest. Can weget anything by being honest? Nothing, Swami. By being honest ortruthful what you stand to gain? Nothing Swamiji . These fellows finishlast . I t is dishonest people always go ahead honest fellows alwaysfinish the last . Is i t not so? People are truthful nobody bothers aboutthem Swamiji . If you know how to tell a l ie at the right t ime that iswhen you can get what you want. So, usually who do we callsuccessful? A fellow who is smart. Who is smart? Who can tell a l ie,who can be dishonest, who can cheat. This value for money isassimilated value. I know what I will gain out of that. Va l u e f o rh o n e s t y i s n o t a n a s s i m i l a t e d v a l u e . I d o n t k n o w w h a t I s t a n dt o g a i n b y b e i n g h o n e s t Swamiji? If I am a truthful person, sowhat? Honest, so what? By remaining honest and truthful if I dontget to be a CEO, whats the use of this honesty? If I dont getvaluable contacts what is the use of this honesty?

39.

Honesty value is not assimilated. Value of truthfulness not

assimilated. Value of justice not assimilated. Value of nonviolence notassimilated. Swamiji you have to do that. Violence in different formsare there. I mean when there are so many small shopkeepers, somany small shopkeepers are there in the village where I am livingsince many years they are there. There was a big corporate houseputs up a huge store, offers all kinds of attractions and savings anddiscounts etc. those poor shopkeepers cannot compete with them.They are wiped out. In three years they all go out of business. Thisfellow has conquered. He is successful. Is i t not so? You put otherfellows out of business so that you can run your business, you can getall your clientele that is success, is i t not so? That is, yes, of course,that is success at the cost of others. You have hurt other people. Youhave tampered upon their right also to be happy.

40.

You want other people to make you happy; others also may wantyou to make them happy. You want other people to be kind to you.Those fellows also expect you to be kind to them. So, you have to bekind to them. You are cruel to them so that you get your business sothat you get your income so you can you know be a wealthy person.This is violence and thus we become violent also. We become cruelalso. We become dishonest also. We steal also. No, we never steal.Oh, we steal also. Do you know something called industrial spying?Have you heard of this? You fellows are all coming from industry fromone way or the other so you must know this. Industrial spying. Somepeople are expert , well-known for these things thats how they havecome up so much, supposedly but then you know secret of this personfrom some inner sources. Your own contacts in other organizations sothen you know what these fellows, what their formulas are? Whattheir equations are? How they do things? Then you quietly start doingyourself. Now, those people had to spend a lot of money fordevelopment and therefore their margin is higher you did not spend


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even for development and so you dont need much margin. You canthrow him out of business.

41.

This child labor. People have problem with child labor. Everybodysays child labor should not be there but what happens then? There aresome fellows who deliberately employ child labor because i t is dirtcheap. You pay very l i t t le, no benefits, nothing, they may not be evenon your pay roll . Thus, you save a lot of cost and your product isrelatively less expensive. Other person is honest. He doesnt employchild labor. He employs regular people. There the cost is more. Hisproduct is more expensive. He cannot stand in competit ion with you.So, what does he do? He also goes for child labor to remaincompetit ive. How violence breeds violence. You understand? Howdishonesty breeds dishonesty.

42.

You need to spend a lot of money for effluent treatment you knoweffluent treatment? You have chemical plants, process plants whichproduce lot of effluent which may be you know, which pollutes water,pollutes environment. All kinds of effluents are there. You know whatpeople used to do? They may sti l l be doing it . There were people whoinjected an effluent in the earth. They made more wells and withpressure all the effluent went inside, you know, and there was nobodyknows whats happening. Fifteen-twenty years people l iving in theneighbourhood they had all kind of chemicals all sorts of metals andcolors in their water from their well because this water went these allpollutants went in the earth. They polluted other streams of water andmany people fell sick. Some people died also. I was cruel. I dont carewhat happens to other people, cruelty, selfishness because I do not

know the value of nonviolence. I know the value of business. I knowthe value of earning. I know the value of profit .

X I I T h e Va l u e O f Va l u e s : F r e e d o m f r o m i n n e r c o n f l i c t a n d g u i l t

43.

I do not know what nonviolence will give me. What kindness willgive me? I cannot measure with money. Nobody actually gives anyprize for being nonviolent or kind. They will give me a prize forgetting a contract, for giving more dividends to my shareholders,conflict between assimilated values and unassimilated values whichmeans that we have to assimilate the value of being kind ornonviolent or honest. That is called value of value. We should knowhow valuable these values are to us. We do not know how we aresacrificing this subjective component for the sake of objectivecomponent.

44.

That is why we began by saying that s u c c e s s h a s t w od i m e n s i o n s . Two things together make success. O n e i s t h eo b j e c t i v e d i m e n s i o n i n t e r m s o f y o u r e a r n i n g s , i n t e r m s o f y o u rp r o f i t , i n t e r m s o f y o u r n a m e a n d f a m e , thats one component.


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Whats the other component? Yo u r o w n m i n d i s t h e o t h e rc o m p o n e n t - a m i n d e n j o y i n g f r e e d o m f r o m c o n f l i c t ; a m i n dw h i c h i s f r e e f r o m h u r t ; a m i n d w h i c h i s f r e e f r o m g u i l t ; a mindwhich is free from conflict . You need that mind also to enjoy what youhave. Is i t not so?

45.

So, you should remember. Everybody should know this, this is notknown. When you do to others something that you dont want to bedone to you, you know that this is wrong it creates a sense of guilt . Isi t not? And that creates a small damage to your mind. You do wrongthings again and again and again. E v e r y w r o n g a c t i o n c r e a t e s al i t t l e t r a u m a i n t h e m i n d i n t e r m s o f g u i l t , i n t e r m s o f t h ec o n f l i c t . I t is trauma. Its not a big deal. I t then goes away. You takeanother thing you feel that has not done anything to you, you do itagain. Litt le trauma again l i t t le trauma. All these traumas build up.

46.

You fellows drive, many of you may be driving motorbikes, Iassume. You enjoy speed. You dont want any obstacles on your road.So, there are these road bumps, these speed breakers are there. Litt lebumps you have to stop at the speed breaker. I dont think so.Motorbike. You jump and proceed. You jump and go. Is i t not so? Whohas the patience to slow down and go through those bumps. Swami,nobody bothers about the bumps they just go. They dont stop. Everytime you jump at the bump there is l i t t le trauma in your back, in yourspinalcord, l i t t le trauma. You dont feel the effect of i t r ight away.Second time, third t ime, day in and day out you keep on getting.When you grow to the age 45 all of a sudden there is a catch in yourback. There is a slip disc. There is something. Dont think that the

slip disc has happened overnight. I t has developed over 20 years of your being injured by small traumas every t ime.

47.

Heart attack, i t does not look like heart attack Swamiji he was avery normal person. All of a sudden massive heart attack came nomassive heart attack comes like that i t is build up of number of yearsof abuse. This is a gross example, you are abusing yourself by eatingwhat you should not eat, you did not do what you should do, someexercise so thats how it all build up so someday heart attack comes. Iam unlucky. No, you are not unlucky you have violated all along. A backache does not come like that. I t comes as a result of anaccumulated effect of number of traumas, small traumas and similarlyalso whenever we violate values, such as honesty, such as kindness,such as truthfulness that is nonviolence.

48.

Every time you do that the effect may not be great for you have tofeel that something damaging has happened. But each time it createsa trauma a sense of guilt , a sense of discomfort with yourself. I t goesaway. You are busy with something else. Usually, we keep ourselvesbusy so that we dont have to worry about those l i t t le things. You find


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that people are taking to more and more escape distraction becauseslowly and slowly I find more and more difficult to l ive with myself.There are stresses in my mind. Swamiji , l ife has become verystressful. Lot of anxieties are there. You always blame life. Swamiji ,l ife in Bombay is very hectic l ife, very stressful l ife. Driving here isvery stressful Swamiji . Traveling in train is very stressful. I work in aplace of work in a very stressful environment. We think that stress iscreated by environment. We think stress is created by train, by traffic,by the world, by other people. Dont think so. T h e s t r e s s i s o n l yc r e a t e d b y m y s e l f b y s m a l l v i o l a t i o n s t h a t I a l l o w e d t o h a p p e nt h a t s h o w c o n f l i c t s b u i l d u p s l o w l y a n d s l o w l y a n d s l o w l y. A time comes when I eat sleeping pills because I cannot sleep bymyself. I need tranquilizers because I am too anxious. I f ind that Ihad been tolerant Swamiji , I cant tolerate this fellow because he hadbeen intolerable. This all builds up.

X I I I C o m p r o m i s i n g v a l u e s r e s u l t s i n u n h a p p i n e s s . K n o w t h e

v a l u e o f v a l u e s

49.

Thus, understand that you have to pay price for the objectivecomponent. If you pay the price for the subjective component then isit a worthwhile bargain? If by the t ime you achieve what you want toachieve, i f t h e m e a n s a r e c o m p r o m i s e d t h e n y o u h a v e c r e a t e dd a m a g e w i t h i n y o u r s e l f t h e n y o u b e c o m e i n c a p a b l e o f e n j o y i n gw h a t y o u a c h i e v e d . Swamiji , I did not have peanuts when I hadteeth. I did not have peanuts means ground nuts when I had teeth, Ihave peanuts now but no teeth. You understand what I am saying?The peanuts have come teeth have gone. How are you going to enjoy

peanuts? By enjoying peanuts, you should have peanuts as well asteeth. Thus, we require teeth in terms of that matured disposition of mind, which m a t u r i t y c o m e s b y v a l u e s .

50.

When can you follow the values? When you have assimilated thevalues. When there is a conflict between an assimilated value and anon-assimilated value, the assimilated value will win. The nonassimilated value will lose the battle. Therefore, in order that you areable to follow the values, i t is necessary that we should assimilatevalue meaning that w e s h o u l d k n o w t h e v a l u e o f v a l u e . We shouldknow that value of honesty is more valuable than the money thatcomes by being dishonest. We should know that the value of non-violence is greater than the material gain that comes by violence.Nobody will be dishonest unless there is something to gain. Youunderstand? Nobody will be violent unless there is a reason. Whatsthe reason? Because i t comes into conflict with my assimilated value.If i t is not assimilated with universal value. There is no teachingwhere we are told why we should speak the truth. We are never toldwhy I should speak truth. Dont hurt others. Why should I not hurtothers? So, if I know speaking truth is a value. I also value, I want


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others also to speak truth but I dont know what do I stand to gain byspeaking truth.

51.

If I understand that I will gain everything by speaking the truth, bybeing honest, by being non-violent I see, I g a i n a c o m f o r t a b l ed i s p o s i t i o n o f m i n d . I g a i n a m i n d w h i c h i s m y f r i e n d . I gain amind which creates in me a sense of satisfaction. I gain a mindwherein I approve of my own self . I gain a mind which I enjoy. I gaina mind because of which I enjoy myself, because of which I becomefree, independent, non-demanding. Ultimately, Whats the purpose of that business? Whats the purpose of that profit? You have to enjoy it .Understand that you gain that enjoyment and happiness by havingthat mind which is emotionally matured, which has assimilated values,which follow these values, is the means which makes us happy. Sovalue a value. These values to become valuable to us then alone weshould assimilate those values. Therefore, you spend time withyourself. We need not look around for learning lessons. You have

enough experience of your own life. To review what all you wentthrough in the past, and what you have gained, what we have lost ,what I have gained by following value what we have lost by followingvalue.

52.

So, the value unless i t is valuable to me, let scriptures say that, letparents say that, let teachers they can say what they say, i ts notenough. I can follow a value as long as i ts convenient to me then Iviolate i t . How long can I oblige my parents? No, my father told mehow long will I oblige? As long as i t is convenient to me. When itbecomes my value then I dont oblige anybody, I oblige myself. Thats

how the value of value. We have said here, the value of valuesfreedom from inner conflict . Freedom from stress. All stresses arecreated because of violating values. All anxieties and worries andfears are there because of violating values. All unhappiness is thereand sadness and depression is there because of violating value. Youshould know this . S o , w h a t d o y o u s t a n d t o g a i n b y f o l l o w i n gv a l u e ? Yo u s t a n d t o g a i n f r e e d o m f r o m i n n e r c o n f l i c t . F r e e d o mf r o m s t r e s s . F r e e d o m f r o m a n x i e t i e s . T h a t i s t h e v a l u e o f v a l u e .Thats how values become valuable to us. They will become part of us.

I V S p i r i t u a l it y i s u n i v e r s a l

53.

One thing I would l ike to draw your attention to is that eventhough I am a religious person because I am wearing this att ire I alsorepresent, I also belong to certain tradition, Hinduism. Now and then Italk of certain Hindu text from Bhagawad Gita but understand thisthere is nothing in Hindu or non-Hindu in what we are talking aboutwhat we are talking about is universal. The prayers also are universalprayers. I t may come from Vedas but there is nothing that isrestricted to Hinduism or particular religion or particular tradition. The


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prayers are also universal, t h e p r i n c i p l e s w e a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t a r ea l s o u n i v e r s a l a n d w h a t w e a r e d i s c u s s i n g i s a l s o u n i v e r s a l l ya p p l i c a b l e t o e v e r y b o d y and therefore we should not identify thiswith Hinduism etc. This is universal. You find something, draw myattention also. I may take an example i t comes from scriptures etc,because I am familiar with that but the lesson to be learnt from thereis a universal lesson and so what we are talking about is universal notconfined to a sect, a religion, a cast or creed or race or gender, man,woman not confined to anybody. I t i s f o r h u m a n b e i n g a n d t h i s i sw h y i t i s u n i v e r s a l t e a c h i n g . S a n a t a n m e a n s u n i v e r s a l . It wasapplicable five thousand years ago also, applicable today it always beapplicable to all the human beings wherever they are because thisteaching or discussion is based on universal or fundamental principlewhich are applicable to everybody at all t imes and therefore we, saidnothing is religious about here, only spiri tual. S p i r i t u a l i t y i su n i v e r s a l .

54. A religion is a way of practicing spiri tuality therefore differentfounders or prophets or teachers prescribe different ways of practicingspirituality, therefore, religious tradition. Religious traditions aremany as many as human beings are, that many. It can be. Let thereligious tradition be many because people are many. People havedifferent needs but the spiri tuality is one applicable to every human.Whatever we are talking is most spiri tual rather religion is a form,spirituality is the spiri t . More of the spiri t and less of the form, formsalso we are talking about but they are all applicable to all people. Letus keep this also in mind while you are l istening to this. Thank you.

X V I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f v a l u e s r eq u i r e s g en u i n e i n t e n t i o n .P r a c t i c i n g v a l u e s r e q u i r e s c o n t r o l o v e r t e m p t a t i o n s .

5 5 .

So, I think we can proceed with our discussion for the remainingsession. We said in the morning that let us now finish and comeback to the questions. While talking about the values and value of value, we said that a value needs to be interpreted and we talkedabout i t . Like in Mahabharata, interpretation of value - what elsecould Lord Krishna do? Suppose you crit icize what Lord Krishna didin terms of directing Pandavas for certain course of action, you willthink what else to do because i t was protecting the whole body andtherefore sometimes if i t may look like bending the rules but thepractical si tuation will demand. His intentions are genuine. W i t hg e n u i n e i n t e n t i o n s y o u n e e d t o i n t e r p r e t v a l u e i n t h e g i v e ns i t u a t i o n .

56.

As I said, the interpretation may not be right but then you willlearn from the experience and you know why is i t difficult to followthese values because as I said f o l l o w i n g a v a l u e a l m o s ti n v a r i a b l y r e q u i r e s y o u t o c o n t r o l y o u r t e m p t a t i o n s . It is


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temptations whether for some profit , for some promotion, forsomething that pressurizes you to drop a value or compromise avalue. So, you have to keep under control that internal pressure.Well in course of t ime, you will come out winner because you willgain the abili ty to control your temptations.

57.

Yo u w i l l g a i n g r e a t e r s e l f c o n t r o l o v e r y o u r s e l f a n d t h u s t h ei n n e r s t r e n g t h t h a t y o u d e v e l o p y o u b e c o m e a m o r e c o n f i d e n tp e r s o n . A person, who as I say enjoys a greater self worth, enjoysa greater self comfort, enjoys a greater self confidence and moreworthy you are in your perceptions, more respectful you are of yourself, more confident you are of yourself, not arrogant, nothurting, not proud but s e l f r e s p e c t . S e l f c o n f i d e n c e . Pride is anegative thinking but self respect and self confidence and self esteem are positive and desirable qualit ies. So, as I said suppose ina situation, when you pass through customs or any situation and youshowed the boldness, courage to speak the truth and part with

whatever money that duty calls for. I t is painful to part with themoney, no doubt. But as a result , you feel good about yourself because you could show the strength of even parting with thatmoney and control your sense of greed. This is greed, temptation,anger so these are the impulses that come in the way of followingvalue. You need to control those impulses to follow the value. Bycontrolling them, you come out stronger as a person and there maynot be an immediate gain but there is going to be a long term gainbecause you will become more effective person and thereforeultimately i t pays off in terms of overall performance.

X V I S h o r t t e r m p a i n g i v e s l o n g t e r m g a i n

58.

So, I have said here s h o r t t e r m p a i n , l o n g t e r m g a i n . Alwayscalculate short term pain, long term gain or short term gain, longterm pain these are the equations. Telling a l ie and getting away thebenefit gives you short term gain but long term pain. On the otherhand, controlling your impulse and doing what is right is painful atthe moment but gives you a long term gain.

59.

Just to give you an example, let us say that your value for exercisein the morning so that you have value for good health and therefore,you know that waking up early in the morning and doing someexercise, doing yogasana whatever prayanama, walking, joggingwhatever you think is good. So, this is what you should do. In themorning, when the alarm rings at 5 Oclock in the morning, a conflictoccurs. One part of mind says just forget i t , you know. Oh, i t is socozy in this bed here why not sleep for one more hour, I will doexercise tomorrow. The temptation. Short term gain because there isa pleasure involved in continuing to sleep and avoid that exertion of doing exercise etc. Second day, third day and very often i t happens


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that the exercise is gone. Meditation is gone. Walking is gone.Whatever helped you is gone because of the temptation for seekingimmediate gratification so sleeping one hour gives you immediategratification but then there is you have to pay the price in terms of not taking care of your health and so i t can happen then that by thetime you are 45-50 your knee start paining, some cervical spondili t isis there, the back pain is there; whatever because you did not takecare of your health when was to be taken care.

60.

If you had chosen to accept the short term pain of forcing yourself out of bed and doing what was right i t would have given you a longterm gain. S h o r t t e r m p a i n , l o n g t e r m g a i n . S h o r t t e r m g a i n ,l o n g t e r m p a i n . So, violating a value short term gain which affectsyour mental health long term pain. Person if does not know, now youhave to discover this in practical l ife whatever we are saying here asI say you look out, you try to meet other people and learn aboutthem as to how they have performed in their l ife, objectively and

subjectively.

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If you know some people successful but dishonest, may be goodidea to cultivate some friendship with them and learn about howthey feel. What their emotions are? Whats that they feel aboutthemselves? Are they satisfied with themselves? Is their l ifesatisfying? Are their relationships good? Is he able to enjoy his l ife?Does he have vices? Does he drink? Does he smoke? Because whenyou cannot deal with your mind, you have to resort to these kind of things. Why does a person drink? Generally speaking, this habitcomes because you cannot confront your mind. You cannot be with

yourself. Moment you are with yourself your mind comes with allkinds of conflicts. You cannot confront yourself, you will escape fromyourself. Lot of entertainments are there as self escape distraction.Watch out. Are you running away from yourself? Are you runningaway from confronting yourself? Are you engaging in activit ies forthe sake of activit ies so that you dont have to confront yourself?Thats not a desirable situation.

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So, all these vices such as drinking or whatever else is there all of these more often are only attempts to escape from yourself, notconfronting yourself and if this is the situation, that is a miserablesituation, the person is in a miserable situation. He is not a happyperson. Not a successful person. So, whether what we say here,makes sense or not you are welcome to investigate in your own life;in l ife of people whom you know and in l ife of other people whomyou have access and learn whether these things that we are talkingabout are valid in practical l ife or not.

X V I I A s s i m i l a t e v a l u e s w i t h k n o w l e d g e , r e a s o n i n g / l o g i c a n de x p e r i e n c e


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63. Understand S h r u t i , Yu k t i a n d A n u b h a v a . The scriptures tell us,you should be truthful, honest, non-violent, yukt i give reasoningwhy that should be - value of value. Anubhava Your ownexperiences to verify this. If you dont have any experiences youlearn about people who have more experiences and see whetherthese things actually make sense or not or these things are valid inpractical l ife. Then you will have assurance then you will have valueof value, then you can confidently practice that, then you canovercome your temptations not fall for those external obstacles. So,remember this thing short term pain, long term gain and vice-versa.

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2VALUE OF VALUES