Value: Steadiness- July 2025
Fifth Week: Self-abidance Sthitaprajna
The most distinctive aspect of the Bhagavad Gita is its portrayal of an enlightened person who navigates a world filled with unpredictability and contradictions. Contemplating the description of a person with steady wisdom inspires one to engage in sadhana, or spiritual practice.
Daily chant verses from Bhagavad Gita chapter 2.54 to 2.72
To achieve true freedom, we first need a clear vision of our best selves. In management, there's a saying: "Picturize before you actualize." This principle also applies to the quest for liberation.
A detailed description of the mindset, perceptions, actions, and reactions of an enlightened person can guide our daily lives. For instance, it is noted in verse 2.64 that being free from attraction and repulsion when perceiving objects and beings can help us attain serenity, even without withdrawing into solitude. This serenity alleviates all sorrows, leading to a steady mind without oscillation (2.65).
Only a steady mind can engage in meditation, and through the stillness achieved in meditation, one can find peace. Lasting happiness cannot be attained without maintaining a steady inner peace (2.66).
If you chant these verses along with contemplation on the meanings, you will see a significant change in your attitude toward the world around you. The vision of realization will also become clear.
Maintain equanimity in all situations
There are two important assertions of the ego: one is 'I' and the other is 'My.' The first assertion demands attention from everyone. When it is deprived of this attention, it can feel angry, isolated, and lost. As a result, it may react with frustration and ignore those who do not acknowledge its presence.
Recently, I was at an airport counter inquiring about my seat. The person behind the desk didn’t even bother to look at me while answering my question. Although I felt ignored, I reminded myself, "This person doesn't even know me; why should I feel insulted?" With strangers, we often don’t mind being overlooked, but it affects us differently when it comes to those who know us. In such situations, it is important to remain equanimous. This perspective is crucial if you want to be free from ego and stay as the calm, pure, and serene Self.
Pujya Gurudev frequently reminded us about the second assertion of the ego regarding ownership: "It is acceptable to possess things of the world; however, it would be a tragedy if those things ended up possessing us." What we own today once belonged to someone else, and eventually, it will belong to someone in the future.
A possessive ego is always insecure, and this insecurity leads to anguish, restlessness, and fear. Living in fear, we can neither find happiness in the world nor abide in our serene Self.
