Pranam on the auspicious occasion of HOLI!
Attitude: Not "use me as I am" but 'I shall make myself usable for the organization'
This is the need. Mananeeya Eknathji guides us in the ways and means to make ourselves usable for the Organisation. He says :
The daily life of a worker of the Kendra is an important factor. We have to readjust our habits of living. We are accustomed to a certain way of life but now we have to change the same. We must have the will to change, and insistence that we will be what we were before, will not be beneficial. We have received certain training, we have cultivated some habits and there has been a pattern in our development. If they continue to be the same in the changed circumstances, then, they are of no use. There is a doormat made of coir with the words, "Use me"; we also say, "Use me". But you cannot be used unless you are changed suitably according to the situation.
People are proud about their habits and boast of taking certain vegetables, different dishes, tea in the morning etc. they claim that habit has become their second nature and that it cannot be changed. This change is essential but it cannot be brought about by any force. There must be willingness from within to give up old habits and adopt new ones. Adaptability is the best way. Intellectual people often speak of keeping late hours at night and getting up late in the morning. But there must be a conscious effort to re-pattern our life. People are in the habit of rejecting outright certain vegetables, but they forget that in doing so they expose a side of their personality. As a matter of fact, our attitude should be one of adjustment. We must be ready to relish all preparations with gusto. We should have no likes and dislikes when we are out for work. We will eat whatever is needed, whatever the work demands, whatever is proper. Old habits must yield place to new ones.
Conquering the palate is essential
The greatest stumbling block is food. Even Sannyasis have a taste for a particular type of food; if it is served to them, they are in their mood. Otherwise all their Gita and Upanishads go to waste-paper baskets. There must be peaceful control over the palate. We dislike certain things instinctively but this wrong. We must win over this instinct, and not only we must suffer the un-liked food gladly, but we must start to like and even relish it. Tobacco and alcohol are not very tasteful things, but people get addicted to them. We must relish simple food prepared in a simple manner, whatever our host can afford. Ours is a poor country. If somebody tells us that the food should have so many carbohydrates and proteins and fats and so many calories should be eaten etc., it is all vain. All carbohydrates and proteins are provided by the cheerfulness with which you take food. Simple food becomes rich and vitaminized if eaten in a cheerful mood. Rich food becomes not only poor but even harmful if taken in a sullen mood. Be cheerful, receive any food with pleasure and relish it and you are more than a yogi. A rigid food habit is a weakness. One who is not fastidious about food has won half the battle.
People get easily upset over food of a kind different from what they like. But they forget that 80% of the people who are depressed, downtrodden and poor, not only do not get this food, but they have not even seen the food that one fortunately gets. We are lucky that we get some food and do not belong to the above 80%. Do not have an aversion for any simple food.
Annanam Brahmetivyajanat….Annam na nindyat…Annam bahu Kurvit
– Taittiriya Upanishad 3.2-7-9
Attitude: Not "use me as I am" but 'I shall make myself usable for the organization'
This is the need. Mananeeya Eknathji guides us in the ways and means to make ourselves usable for the Organisation. He says :
The daily life of a worker of the Kendra is an important factor. We have to readjust our habits of living. We are accustomed to a certain way of life but now we have to change the same. We must have the will to change, and insistence that we will be what we were before, will not be beneficial. We have received certain training, we have cultivated some habits and there has been a pattern in our development. If they continue to be the same in the changed circumstances, then, they are of no use. There is a doormat made of coir with the words, "Use me"; we also say, "Use me". But you cannot be used unless you are changed suitably according to the situation.
People are proud about their habits and boast of taking certain vegetables, different dishes, tea in the morning etc. they claim that habit has become their second nature and that it cannot be changed. This change is essential but it cannot be brought about by any force. There must be willingness from within to give up old habits and adopt new ones. Adaptability is the best way. Intellectual people often speak of keeping late hours at night and getting up late in the morning. But there must be a conscious effort to re-pattern our life. People are in the habit of rejecting outright certain vegetables, but they forget that in doing so they expose a side of their personality. As a matter of fact, our attitude should be one of adjustment. We must be ready to relish all preparations with gusto. We should have no likes and dislikes when we are out for work. We will eat whatever is needed, whatever the work demands, whatever is proper. Old habits must yield place to new ones.
Conquering the palate is essential
The greatest stumbling block is food. Even Sannyasis have a taste for a particular type of food; if it is served to them, they are in their mood. Otherwise all their Gita and Upanishads go to waste-paper baskets. There must be peaceful control over the palate. We dislike certain things instinctively but this wrong. We must win over this instinct, and not only we must suffer the un-liked food gladly, but we must start to like and even relish it. Tobacco and alcohol are not very tasteful things, but people get addicted to them. We must relish simple food prepared in a simple manner, whatever our host can afford. Ours is a poor country. If somebody tells us that the food should have so many carbohydrates and proteins and fats and so many calories should be eaten etc., it is all vain. All carbohydrates and proteins are provided by the cheerfulness with which you take food. Simple food becomes rich and vitaminized if eaten in a cheerful mood. Rich food becomes not only poor but even harmful if taken in a sullen mood. Be cheerful, receive any food with pleasure and relish it and you are more than a yogi. A rigid food habit is a weakness. One who is not fastidious about food has won half the battle.
People get easily upset over food of a kind different from what they like. But they forget that 80% of the people who are depressed, downtrodden and poor, not only do not get this food, but they have not even seen the food that one fortunately gets. We are lucky that we get some food and do not belong to the above 80%. Do not have an aversion for any simple food.
Annanam Brahmetivyajanat….Annam na nindyat…Annam bahu Kurvit
– Taittiriya Upanishad 3.2-7-9
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