How would you answer the following quiz? (Answer True or False.)
1. Basically, it is the problems people face that are responsible for their worries.
2. The best way to get rid of trouble is to get in there squarely with both fists and demolish it.
3. The more compassionate a person, the more he assumes to himself the sufferings of others.
4. Daily meditation is impracticable for really busy people.
5. Success depends upon how much a person accomplishes in his lifetime.
The answer to all the above questions is the same: False. But you probably knew that. Give yourself ten points for every question you answered correctly. Sixty is passing. Here is a brief explanation of the issues involved in each question.
1. Basically, it is the problems people face that are responsible for their worries. False. To a great extent, the opposite is true: Many of our problems are actually “worried into existence.” It is one’s attitude that counts. Worry is caused, not by outward circumstances, but by our reactions to them. A healthy mind will remain poised under all circumstances. Where, indeed, is misfortune, if one does not accept it as such? The great sage, Paramhansa Yogananda said, “There is no such thing as misfortune. There is only opportunity!” Worry only paralyzes the will, preventing constructive action. Be free, like leaves on the wind. Grieve not when the breezes of circumstance tear you from an accustomed security. Disruption is often the first step toward a greater freedom.
2. The best way to get rid of trouble is to get in there squarely with both fists and demolish it. False. When the doctor catches the disease he is trying to fight, he may infect others even while conducting his campaign of healing. Troubles are inevitable at one time or another in our lives. But it does not follow that we must be troubled by them. Disturbed minds, in the very act of combatting old troubles, only create fresh disturbances. Remember, trouble is real only to the extent that you accept it as such. Do take practical steps to overcome difficulties, but above all learn to be at peace inwardly. Only as the troubled waters are soothed will the ripples disappear.
3. The more compassionate a person, the more he assumes to himself the sufferings of others. False. One doesn’t save a drowning man by jumping in and drowning with him. To assume the sufferings of others only adds substance to their misery. This is not compassion; it is only pity. Compassion is the longing to lift people out of their suffering. The compassionate man holds a mental image, not of people’s sorrows, but of the freedom and joy that is potentially theirs. Instead of assuming to himself their weaknesses, he helps them to acquire his strength.
4. Daily meditation is impracticable for really busy people. False. I once knew a millionaire, owner and director of many enterprises, who spent most of his morning hours in meditation. When he was asked how he could afford to spend so much time away from his work, he replied that he could ill afford not to do so. He said that meditation gave him the inner poise and strength to cope with his problems effectively, to solve them with a minimum of useless worry. He started his daily work late, but soon he was far ahead of associates who believed that one must be forever “at it” in order to succeed.
5. Success depends upon how much a person accomplishes in his lifetime. False. True success depends primarily not on what a person does, but on what he IS. Action only mirrors the inner man. Too much outward activity depletes a person inwardly. The results of unceasing busyness are invariably revealed in pointless and inconsequential labors. But the more worthy the man himself, the more worthwhile his activities will be, no matter what he does. His very gait will be a sermon. The very tone of his voice will teach, more than any book could, the significance of a life well lived.
By: Swami Kriyananda .