Value: Non-violence - February 2025

Fourth Week: Do mindful actions and practice tolerance.

Before beginning any action, mentally chant a prayer to offer all actions to God

We do actions at various levels and all of them are prompted by our own inherent tendencies.

• Vasanas are the root of all actions and are countless in nature. Internally, they generate desires, while externally, they attract situations that align with those desires. 
• The expression of vasanas in our intellect (buddhi) manifests as modifications of thought, also known as 'temperament.' Sankhyan philosophers refer to these temperaments as gunas. 
• These temperaments are conveyed as emotions or feelings in the mind, typically as reactions to various situations. We often recognize vasanas at this level of expression. 
• Our reactions are expressed through sensory activities, leading to either engagement or withdrawal based on our desired outcomes. These actions serve as a means of experiencing life. 
• The physical body, which houses our senses, is the vessel for these experiences. 

Understanding that our daily actions are driven by our tendencies, we should begin our actions with a prayer of submission to God. Taking ownership of the results of our actions reinforces our vasanas, while surrendering them to Him can weaken their grip on us. 
Adi Shankaracharya explains the word 'Narayana' as "नराणां समूहः नारः तस्य अयनमेव नारायणः" – meaning the abode of all humans. Therefore, offering to Narayana equates to offering to all people in the world.

Every night pray to God for forgiveness:  

Do not go to bed feeling remorse, regret, or guilt. Not all problems can be solved by ourselves. Some will resolve with time, while others will be addressed by God.

 

If you recognize that you are the cause of a problem, admit it and ask for forgiveness from God. Even if you don’t see yourself as the cause, at the end of the day, leave everything to Him to handle unsolvable issues. After all, He created you to live in His creation, and He alone will show you the way to navigate life.

 

It will not go unpunished when we habitually or unknowingly do wrong to others. The same applies to those actions which we fail to do, which we must. This isn’t because God is cruel; rather, it reflects the impersonal nature of the law of karma. The way to lessen the consequences is by seeking forgiveness from Him. If the President of a country can forgive and overrule, why not God?

Renounce thoughts of intolerance related to religious traditions, faith, and beliefs.

Every religious tradition had its visionary, someone followed by many who served as a manifestation of God's guidance for people in a specific region and culture. While we may not fully understand the circumstances that shaped a particular belief system, if it helped people to become noble, ethical, and devoted to God, it deserves respect.

 

Just as the laws and regulations of one country differ from those in another, so too do the faiths and traditions of different cultures. Intolerance is a sign of immaturity; it can be compared to a child who cries at the sight of a syringe, mistakenly believing that the doctor is there only to inflict pain. Similarly, only fanatical and ignorant individuals react negatively to faiths that differ from their own.

By embracing, we expand our understanding and we emulate the qualities of compassion and love of God with which He has been maintaining His creation.

This is the temple entrance of Jagadeeshwara Temple at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai - the Chinmaya Mission Monastery. It has the Buddhist traditional entrance archway, with dances of Shiva carved in its pillars and Urdu inscription at the top!

February Week 4 Guidance Audio: