This shloka, or verse, is taken from Manache Shloka or 'verses of the mind' by Samarth Ramdas Swami from the 1600s
I have become very impressed by the work of this Swami. After having written a few words myself, trying to describe and expound upon the meaning of many different kinds of verses, I am continuously flabbergasted by the sheer power of expression of certain Swamis, or people. Jesus is also one such fellow. Simply a force to follow.
The power of their verses makes me want to express in such a way, and it makes me realize the depths of introspection and depths of study that these men have achieved. It is no small feat to do what they have done.
Being able to write such things is one thing. Being able to even follow them is another. It is certainly important to be able to comprehend the works of such masters. Just following without understanding can lead to many problems. Ideally, we should focus on understanding these shlokas. We should work on internalizing them.
Once this is done, half the work is done. Submitting ourselves to the understanding is the first step, and sometimes also the last step. There is all this talk of sadhana or practicing spirituality. Practicing these verses is nothing but submitting our mind to their truths again and again until they become our truths.
In order to do this, the first step is to read verses and start to see the light in them. Once we see the light we can begin following, we can begin practicing. If we don't even see the light we will be stumbling around in the darkness. We may be practicing but it will be useless, until we catch hold of the light again.
So, let us look at our verse again:
The very first line says let us follow the path of honesty and devotion. Following the path of honesty.... this can be a very difficult path, it almost seems treacherous. What if I say the wrong thing? What will happen if I say what's really on my mind? Many of us have fallen into a pattern of cheating ourselves with small lies. It is one of the single most detrimental thing we can do to ourselves. Its not such a problem that we cheat others - it is that we cheat ourselves. It may be for the sake of convenience, usually most of us do not do it in order to hurt others or mislead others for bad intentions. It's because of our own lacks. But it is because of our own lacks that we must work on following this path of honesty. Following the path of honesty leads to greater challenges every day, but these challenges are well worth it because as we pass these challenges our integrity increases and as our integrity increases there is a certain joy that becomes a part of us, and our possibilities also increase. I feel as though joy is attracted to us in a better way, perhaps prosperity and others also become attracted to us more.
There is a second part to this line. Do not only become honest. Devotion comes with honesty in this verse. Why? Because without devotion, dry honesty might not even be a good thing. If we simply criticize everything and everybody, it may be honest, but where is the devotion? It may be honest, but it is harmful and being harmful is not going to get you anywhere. It is simply going to cause pain to you and others. Actually, simply criticizing is NOT honest. It is not honest because there are many positive qualities along with negative qualities. It has become our quality not to notice the good qualities, that is the truth. This is why we must add devotion. Devotion is something beautiful. Only by tasting devotion can one understand its beauty. You may be devoted to a relative, a spouse, God, a pet, your work, your computer, your coffee, your food... it could be anything, but in this devotion there is a spark of life. There is something worth living in these moments of devotion. Let us increase those moments. We don't have to do anything special. We must just commit ourselves to following the path of honesty and devotion. Try to add sincerity to what you do, add a little grace to your work, to your smile, to your step. Don't worry about being reciprocated. We always want the other to reciprocate when we are being kind or friendly. Let us try being friendly without such demands. If we get the friendliness, fine, if we don't, move on. Let us remain focused on the honesty and devotion. This takes us to the next key part of this shloka.
When it comes to religion or morality a lot of time is spent in shunning things or denouncing things. However, Ramdas Swami here does not talk about condemning things. He is not interested in talking about the bad things, what they are, and why they are bad. He simply says to shun them. There is another verse similar to that in the bible which I have written about previously in this blog from Isaiah 7:15 "refuse the evil and choose the good"
I wrote about this very same concept in that verse. The funny thing is that I did not intentionally put this new verse in today with the idea of linking it with this bible verse. It just turns out that they say the same thing. That is, shunning and refusing are not denouncing. Don't waste your time on the bad stuff. In Isaiah 7:15 it is said, refuse the evil and choose the good. In our verse that we are considering today, it says shun everything that is condemned and do everything that is commendable. By condemned we should know when we are doing things we "shouldn't" be doing. I will not go into detail. However, the solution is given. Do everything which is commendable. Let us focus on that part. Do what is commendable. It is a simple scale. See what you are doing, see if it is commendable in any way, and then do it. If what you are doing is not commendable, make sure what you are doing is not condemnable, stay with the path of honesty and devotion, and try to do something commendable. We have a choice in our actions, why not exert it?
Sometimes we get caught up with the idea of perfection. I have seen that so much of the time I am not thinking of things to do which are commendable, however, at least I can make sure they are not condemnable (by the way, typing commendable and condemnable is a finger twister - I highly suggest trying it to increase your typing fluidity). If we are not doing anything commendable, maybe it's time we try. One block that gets in the way is the desire to be commended, praised. If we don't get the praise or the commendation, we don't feel like doing things. Let that not get in your way. Just keep doing. That is the key. Why should your good action be compromised by others' opinions?
The last part of this verse is to do with full devotion of mind. Remember to use your full mind for what you are doing. When you do something with full devotion, your mind, instead of being an obstacle, becomes a like a beautiful instrument, giving you peace and joy and intelligence. The mind can be bothersome, or it can be wholesome. It's your choice.
Try following this shloka - see what develops!
I have become very impressed by the work of this Swami. After having written a few words myself, trying to describe and expound upon the meaning of many different kinds of verses, I am continuously flabbergasted by the sheer power of expression of certain Swamis, or people. Jesus is also one such fellow. Simply a force to follow.
The power of their verses makes me want to express in such a way, and it makes me realize the depths of introspection and depths of study that these men have achieved. It is no small feat to do what they have done.
Being able to write such things is one thing. Being able to even follow them is another. It is certainly important to be able to comprehend the works of such masters. Just following without understanding can lead to many problems. Ideally, we should focus on understanding these shlokas. We should work on internalizing them.
Once this is done, half the work is done. Submitting ourselves to the understanding is the first step, and sometimes also the last step. There is all this talk of sadhana or practicing spirituality. Practicing these verses is nothing but submitting our mind to their truths again and again until they become our truths.
In order to do this, the first step is to read verses and start to see the light in them. Once we see the light we can begin following, we can begin practicing. If we don't even see the light we will be stumbling around in the darkness. We may be practicing but it will be useless, until we catch hold of the light again.
So, let us look at our verse again:
Let us follow the path of honesty and devotion. This path will lead us to Shri Hari. Let us shun everything that is condemned and do everything that is commendable with the full devotion of mind. Shloka 2There is so much that can be gained from following this verse alone. Let us take apart this shloka (verse) and see what we can see line by line.
Let us follow the path of honesty and devotion
The very first line says let us follow the path of honesty and devotion. Following the path of honesty.... this can be a very difficult path, it almost seems treacherous. What if I say the wrong thing? What will happen if I say what's really on my mind? Many of us have fallen into a pattern of cheating ourselves with small lies. It is one of the single most detrimental thing we can do to ourselves. Its not such a problem that we cheat others - it is that we cheat ourselves. It may be for the sake of convenience, usually most of us do not do it in order to hurt others or mislead others for bad intentions. It's because of our own lacks. But it is because of our own lacks that we must work on following this path of honesty. Following the path of honesty leads to greater challenges every day, but these challenges are well worth it because as we pass these challenges our integrity increases and as our integrity increases there is a certain joy that becomes a part of us, and our possibilities also increase. I feel as though joy is attracted to us in a better way, perhaps prosperity and others also become attracted to us more.
There is a second part to this line. Do not only become honest. Devotion comes with honesty in this verse. Why? Because without devotion, dry honesty might not even be a good thing. If we simply criticize everything and everybody, it may be honest, but where is the devotion? It may be honest, but it is harmful and being harmful is not going to get you anywhere. It is simply going to cause pain to you and others. Actually, simply criticizing is NOT honest. It is not honest because there are many positive qualities along with negative qualities. It has become our quality not to notice the good qualities, that is the truth. This is why we must add devotion. Devotion is something beautiful. Only by tasting devotion can one understand its beauty. You may be devoted to a relative, a spouse, God, a pet, your work, your computer, your coffee, your food... it could be anything, but in this devotion there is a spark of life. There is something worth living in these moments of devotion. Let us increase those moments. We don't have to do anything special. We must just commit ourselves to following the path of honesty and devotion. Try to add sincerity to what you do, add a little grace to your work, to your smile, to your step. Don't worry about being reciprocated. We always want the other to reciprocate when we are being kind or friendly. Let us try being friendly without such demands. If we get the friendliness, fine, if we don't, move on. Let us remain focused on the honesty and devotion. This takes us to the next key part of this shloka.
Let us shun everything that is condemned and do everything that is commendable with the full devotion of mind.
When it comes to religion or morality a lot of time is spent in shunning things or denouncing things. However, Ramdas Swami here does not talk about condemning things. He is not interested in talking about the bad things, what they are, and why they are bad. He simply says to shun them. There is another verse similar to that in the bible which I have written about previously in this blog from Isaiah 7:15 "refuse the evil and choose the good"
I wrote about this very same concept in that verse. The funny thing is that I did not intentionally put this new verse in today with the idea of linking it with this bible verse. It just turns out that they say the same thing. That is, shunning and refusing are not denouncing. Don't waste your time on the bad stuff. In Isaiah 7:15 it is said, refuse the evil and choose the good. In our verse that we are considering today, it says shun everything that is condemned and do everything that is commendable. By condemned we should know when we are doing things we "shouldn't" be doing. I will not go into detail. However, the solution is given. Do everything which is commendable. Let us focus on that part. Do what is commendable. It is a simple scale. See what you are doing, see if it is commendable in any way, and then do it. If what you are doing is not commendable, make sure what you are doing is not condemnable, stay with the path of honesty and devotion, and try to do something commendable. We have a choice in our actions, why not exert it?
Sometimes we get caught up with the idea of perfection. I have seen that so much of the time I am not thinking of things to do which are commendable, however, at least I can make sure they are not condemnable (by the way, typing commendable and condemnable is a finger twister - I highly suggest trying it to increase your typing fluidity). If we are not doing anything commendable, maybe it's time we try. One block that gets in the way is the desire to be commended, praised. If we don't get the praise or the commendation, we don't feel like doing things. Let that not get in your way. Just keep doing. That is the key. Why should your good action be compromised by others' opinions?
The last part of this verse is to do with full devotion of mind. Remember to use your full mind for what you are doing. When you do something with full devotion, your mind, instead of being an obstacle, becomes a like a beautiful instrument, giving you peace and joy and intelligence. The mind can be bothersome, or it can be wholesome. It's your choice.
Try following this shloka - see what develops!
