Vedanta, Hinduism & Indian Philosophy

My blogic attempt to unfold the secret of Indian philosophies especially Vedanta and bringing it's spiritual teachings to common men. I'll be pleased to answer any question that you think I am worthy of. Please write to pratikp {at} gmail {dot} com.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Self-improvement & Vedanta (1)


There are a lot of books available on the subject of self-improvement in the market. People keep reading this sort of books, but they don’t change even a bit. And even if they change at all, they change not for better, they become worse. Why is it so? First of all, we should know why we want to change. Listen, I’m saying “change”, not “improve”. Because there is a big difference between these two words.

When you want to change, you start copying someone. Change is the form of imitation. You have an image of a person in your mind, who you think is better then you. It can be a person, you saw in past or it can be an imaginary person. Reality and imagination don’t matter. I’ll tell you later how that image is outcome of something, you would have seen in the past. So, you imitate others in the process of changing. You try to destroy your original being, your self persona elopes; in the process of changing. There’s a story in Panchtantra. A donkey put on the skin of a lion and entered in a farm of sugarcane. All guards run away with fear. It ate enough and then started making its hee-haw sound. Soon everybody knew that it was a donkey, not a lion. And they beat the donkey. I’m not saying here that you are donkeys, though many of you believe it as your wives call them with this name. I just want you to understand that you cannot change, though you can improve.

Whereas the word “improve” has a different meaning altogether. It doesn’t cause you to imitate. Improve simply means - greater self-manifestation. When you try to improve, you discover new dimensions of your existence deeper in yourself. Remember, there is no comparison with anyone else in the process of improvement. Do you understand it? Initially your parents, guru and teachers etc. want you to change. And as you grow up, your minds get steeped in this thought that you should change in order to be better. And it is the problem. You want to change, not to improve.

All these authors, their books and courses teach you how to change. They don’t show you how to improve, because they don’t know anything about it themselves. We will discuss about it more deeply in our next meeting.

7 Comments:

  • At February 20, 2006 1:25 PM, Blogger shabda said…

    आप ने मेरी ब्लोग पर हिन्दी मे पोस्ट किया । काफ़ी अच्छा लगा । आप हिन्दी मेँ कैसे पोस्ट कर्ते हैं ।

     
  • At February 26, 2006 11:26 PM, Anonymous SHUAIB said…

    good post

     
  • At April 25, 2006 8:02 PM, Anonymous Harooki2 said…

    I am interested in any self-improvement practices from countries other than the United States to be discussed in my MindWatchers blog. Perhaps we can exchange some ideas.

     
  • At June 03, 2006 7:15 PM, Blogger Asif Ali Rizwaan said…

    hi prateek, improvement and exasperation both are change in positive and negative sense of change respectively. But change itself is a neutral word.

    It's all politics in the change. Nobody really want to change themselves up, but to pretend and to gain some favors from a few people, they act by the book. it's all about getting other's YES for your desire.

    The donkey story was telling 'no matter how much one pretends to be someone else, one will be revealed, sooner or later by one's inherent nature'

    I'd say 'improve' is not the word you are meaning but 'Realization' or 'seeking-self'. A person can improve comparison and can improve his imitation skills. so, I think 'improve' is not the right word with the appropriate meaning.

    A child is told right from his early childhood that 'look at that person' he is good. 'you should be like him'. Because they themselves don't know who they are.

    Nobody says you to be yourself. But I remember Osho, and Gurumaa says that "Be youself, Don't copy others, You are unique!" A rose trying to become Lotus will destroy its own beauty and uniqueness.

    And those western self-help books, they are more of "How to win friends and influence people", "Think and grow rich", and their main theme is how to Gain THAT power which will make you control others (physically, psychologically, financially, technologically... you name it)

    Eastern thinking has been concerned with "Who am I?", "What Am I?", The quest for the self, knowing oneself.

    Eastern Civilization knew for many thousands of years that the "EGO" is false identity, then the question comes "What is the Truth?", "What is MY true Identity?"

    If you observe in your own body, everything changes, body, cells, looks, bones, everything changes with time. but there is ONE thing that never changes... Who and what is that ONE...?

    I know the ONE knows ;)

     
  • At August 22, 2006 10:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    There is no need to "change" or "improve" oneself. God has created each human in a manner which is perfectly suited to his/her own life trends and circumstances. God has also given each human being the Inner Voice that indicates the path best suited to him/her under any given circumstance. All one needs to do is faithfully follow this Inner Voice. The problems / contradictions we face in life is mainly due to being indifferent to or overriding the guidance of this Inner Voice. All we need to do is listen to this Inner Voice and have the courage to follow it. This will bring about the best changes/improvements in one's life

     
  • At February 13, 2007 10:01 AM, Anonymous alok said…

    We are twisting words here. Change is eternal, continuous, real and true. It is true to even an atheist. Change is not about copying, it is much deeper than that, it could be something new, never seen or heard in past. It could be destruction and recreation. Realization of what? Who am I? I will keep-on knowing myself gradually over a period. How realization can be an event? where it is a process. Are we looking for absolutes? There are none. Therefore everything which is relative can’t be TRUTH. This requires avoidance and moderation of extreme both in thinking and action. What is improvement? It is change. Wood changing into beautiful and useful table, you may call it improvement I will call it change.
    More of it some other time….

     
  • At April 07, 2008 11:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    self-improvement, my @$$!! Fuck u!

     

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