strive to actualize ideals

|| योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् ||

Eknathji asks us to prepare body and mind to face the struggle of life. But then, some others would find it difficult. So, Eknathji tells yet another way and that is when Struggle cannot be avoided so the best way is to strive to actualize the ideals - Every society has its ideas about God and the creation. The spiritual ideas are also evolved and they give birth to the concept of duties. The spiritual ideas become the source of 'do's' and 'don'ts' in the society. These ideas create a critical conscience. The Jainism has the special idea of Non-violence. It gives rise to a conscience which, in its way, determines the behaviour and the activities of its followers. It is just possible to argue that if more knowledge adds to greater struggle so have less knowledge and avoid struggle. The argument is valid no doubt, but the innate hunger of the human being for more and more knowledge will not allow us to refrain from gaining knowledge. We cannot prevent knowledge as it is the very nature of human being to have knowledge.

But one way is easy for us, we can try our best to translate the ideas into actuality and leave the result in God's hands. Shri Ramakrishna lived a life of high thinking and noble living. To train the mind to treat the clod of earth and money as equal, he would sit on the banks of the river, and with money in one hand and the earth in the other, he would go on repeating 'taka' (rupee) and 'mati' (earth) and ultimately throw both into the river. The great philosophical principle is that money and earth are two names for the different manifestations of the same earth and one must treat both of them as equal Samaloshtashmakanchanah : BG.VI,8. His compassion for downtrodden and the poor was not just lip-deep. When the whole populace was sleeping, he would go to the colony of scavengers and clean their latrines with his hands. Such was the rigorous Sadhana.

And this is how Sri Ramakrishna actualised the Ideals. We can have many more examples of the type which ultimately takes us to the understanding that the struggle is bound to be there and therefore, if it is unavoidable, can we not try for actualizing our ideals, goals? Yes, as a human being, as a karyakarta, this is what needs to be done.