Inner Transformation Series - 6 - Acceptance: A Vital Step to Inner Transformation - Part-1

[Ravishankar.G]

Dear All,

Everyone knows what he should be. What someone is and what he should be are never the same. There is always a gap. When someone is not what he should be, he becomes miserable and angry; and he feels jealous when he sees someone else where he thinks he himself should be.

A vital step in inner transformation is one simple truth: If we cannot accept ourselves, we cannot accept anybody else. We have to teach ourselves to accept what we are right now, to start with.

Acceptance, both of ourselves and of our circumstances, quiets the mind. Acceptance is not about becoming a doormat, but accepting that everything comes in twos—joy and sorrow. The moment we understand life as it is, without putting our likes and dislikes into it, we understand that it comes in a beautiful, perfect package.

What we want in life is happiness. Nothing else. Everything we do is in the hope of happiness. But the mind does not give us happiness. People say happiness is a state of mind. I would not agree. Happiness is the state of “no mind”. Think of your own experience of the highest happiness ever—the birth of a child, the day of your marriage, a special show of affection from your child. What was the mind doing then? You probably cannot recollect your thoughts from that time. That’s because the mind was quiet then. It was simply enjoying the moment. The moment thoughts flood the mind, happiness is gone. In seeking happiness, we actually lose it. The mind takes us for a ransom so it can be quiet for a while. It’s like a child asking for potato chips. He cries and cries till his mother, tired of his crying, gives it to him to quiet him. But it’s only a matter of time before he starts crying for more. Similarly, the mind cries to have its desires and ambitions fulfilled. It says, “If you fulfill what I want, I’ll be silent for a while.” And we call it happiness.

In corporate training sessions, 95% of well-read MBA professionals say that achievement is happiness. So they are essentially saying, till I achieve, I can’t be happy. Happiness is something we are entitled to 24X7. But we choose not to take it and instead impose a condition on ourselves that we will take it only after we achieve. Religion, on the other hand, teaches us that we are entitled to happiness here and now. That it is a birthright that is always available to us. That we are the children of immortal bliss.

Acceptance starts inner transformation. Stress is the time limit between facing a problem and our acceptance of it; not the time between the problem and finding its solution. Let’s say I am stuck in traffic. As long as I keep thinking “Oh why should this happen exactly when I’m in a hurry!” or “I should have taken the other route. Why didn’t I do that!” etc., I am extremely stressed. Until I accept that I am stuck in traffic, I can’t even ask the question “What next?” But once I realize and accept that I AM stuck in traffic, then the stress is gone! I can now calmly think about what to do next. Maybe I can use the time to make some long-pending phone calls, listen to some music or a lecture, or better still, chant the Names of God. Perhaps I can take a detour and find a different route to my destination. The minute I “accept” the situation, the mind is clear, stress-free and “what next” becomes the natural next-step.

This is the power of acceptance. Acceptance is not necessarily equal to agreement.

!!! Will Continue !!!

Regards & Chant The Maha Mantra:
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare