Thursday, March 8, 2007

Temptations

Another one from the Gita (I wish there was support for Hindi language),

The more you give in to your temptations the more tempted you will be.
(Jaise agni mein indhan daalne se agni aur badh jaati hai, usi tarah manushya jitna adhik bhogon ka upbhog karta hai uski bhog-trishna utni adhik ho jaati hai)

Unless I translated the word "bhog" incorrectly to temptation, doesn't it sound in contrast to the saying "The only way to overcome a temptation is to yield to it"? I'll not debate this, because I'm not sure if we can take the latter simply at it's face value. However, if somebody has an input on it, please share it with me.

There is no end to wordly desires, and I don't think that there's anything wrong in having desires as long as the means to fulfilly them are moral, ethical, legal and doesn't hurt anybody. Yes, everyone has desires but one should balance between giving and taking. Each one of us should also think about giving to the society in whatever way we can. That brings to my mind Gandhi's Talisman by Mahatma Gandhi, of course.

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man/woman whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him/her. Will he/she gain anything by it? Will it restore him/her to a control over his/her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."


If one can live by this talisman, then he/she will always be happy in his/her life.

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