कथनी और करनी के अंतर का ध्यान रहे

महत्वपूर्ण विषयों पर अपनी कथनी और करनी के अंतर का ध्यान रखना चाहिए | क्योंकि कथनी और करनी की प्रतिकूलता सदा ही खटकती है, किन्तु विशेषतया जब ऊँचे आदर्शों की बात कही जाए और स्वयं उसका पालन न किया जाए तो लोग पाखंडी और अप्रामाणिक ठहराते हैं |

उपयुक्त यही है कि किसी को आदर्शवादिता के पक्ष में जोर देना हो तो साथ ही अपनी ओर भी नजर डाल ली जाए कि यह हम स्वयं करते हैं या नहीं |

-पं. श्रीराम शर्मा आचार्य

Walk the talk

We must be mindful of any differences between our speech and our actions. Any contradictions between speech and actions are obviously

jarring, but these contradictions take on the heightened form of hypocrisy and fraud when we are trying to talk about an idealistic life. Hence, if we are going around talking of ideals, it is of utmost importance that we take a close and thorough look at our actions.

 

-Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

सफलता के तीन सूत्र

किसी भी क्षेत्र में सफल होने के लिए प्रायः तीन सूत्रों का अवलंबन लेना होता है। 1. लक्ष्य का निर्धारण, 2. अभिरुचि का होना और 3. क्षमताओं का सदुपयोग।

जीवन लक्ष्य का निर्धारण :- जिस तरह देशाटन के लिए नक्शा, और जहाज चालक को दिशा सूचक की आवश्यकता पड़ती है। उसी प्रकार मनुष्य जीवन में लक्ष्य का निर्धारण अति आवश्यक है। क्या बनना और क्या करना है यह बोध निरंतर बने रहने से उसी दिशा में प्रयास चलते हैं। एक कहावत है कि 'जो नाविक अपनी यात्रा के अंतिम बंदरगाह को नहीं जानता उसके अनुकूल हवा कभी नहीं बहती'। अर्थात् समुद्री थपेड़ों के साथ वह निरुद्देश्य भटकता रहता है। लक्ष्य विहीन व्यक्ति की भी यही दुर्दशा होती है। अस्तु सर्वप्रथम आवश्यकता इस बात की है कि अपना एक निश्चित लक्ष्य निर्धारित किया जाये।

अभिरुचि का होना :- जो लक्ष्य चुना गया है उसके प्रति उत्साह और उमंग का जगाना - मनोयोग लगाना। लक्ष्य के प्रति उत्साह, उमंग न हो, मनोयोग न जुट सके तो सफलता सदा संदिग्ध बनी रहेगी। आधे अधूरे मन से, बेगार टालने जैसे काम पर किसी भी महत्वपूर्ण उपलब्धि की आशा नहीं की जा सकती। मनोविज्ञान का एक सिद्धांत है कि 'उत्साह और उमंग' शक्तियों का स्रोत है। इसके अभाव में मानसिक शक्तियाँ परिपूर्ण होते हुए भी किसी काम में प्रयुक्त नहीं हो पातीं।

क्षमताओं का सदुपयोग :- 'समय' उपलब्ध संपदाओं में सर्वाधिक महत्वपूर्ण है। शरीर, मन और मस्तिष्क की क्षमता का तथा समय रूपी सम्पदा का सही उपयोग असामान्य उपलब्धियों का कारण बनता है। निर्धारित लक्ष्य की दिशा में समय के एक-एक क्षण के सदुपयोग से चमत्कारी परिणाम निकलते हैं।

सफल और असफल व्यक्तियों की आरंभिक क्षमता, योग्यता और अन्य बाह्य परिस्थितियों की तुलना करने पर कोई विशेष अंतर नहीं दिखता। फिर भी दोनों की स्थिति में आसमान और धरती का अंतर आ जाता है। इसका एकमात्र कारण है कि एक ने अपनी क्षमताओं को एक सुनिश्चित लक्ष्य की ओर सुनियोजित किया, जबकि दूसरे के जीवन में लक्ष्यविहीनता और अस्त-व्यस्तता बनी रही।

-पं. श्रीराम शर्मा आचार्य

3 Formulas for success

To succeed in any field, one has to apply three formulas: 1. Establish the goal, 2. Have a keen interest, and 3. Proper utilization of capabilities.

1. Establish the goal in life: Establishing a goal in life is as much crucial as the need for the map when travelling across unknown places and a navigation device to sail across the sea. When we know well and always keep in mind what we want to be in life and what we want to do in life, we will surely keep making continuous efforts in those directions.  There is a famous saying—"There is no wind that blows right for the sailor who doesn't know his destination." In other words, the ship of such sailor would remain drifting aimlessly at the mercy of the ocean waves. An individual without a goal is also destined to meet the same fate. Therefore, the first and foremost necessity is to establish a goal.

2. Having a keen interest: Next, one should have keen interest, great enthusiasm, strong determination and an attitude to work with total attention for their chosen goal. Without these, the prospects of success would always remain doubtful. No noteworthy achievement can be anticipated with half-hearted efforts or working without due attention. It is a psychological truth that enthusiasm and determination are the source of energies without which any amount of knack, talent, flair or know how would be of very little help.

3. Proper utilization of capabilities: Time is the most important among all the divine assets we have in our life. Proper utilization of time and, physical and mental capabilities can yield extraordinary achievements. Proper utilization of every single moment in working towards the set goal can produce miraculous results.

If we happen to look at the initial capabilities, qualities and other outward circumstances of both the successful and unsuccessful people, we may not find much difference. And yet they happen to end up worlds apart. The only reason for such difference is that the successful person engaged all his capabilities to work towards achieving his chosen goal while the unsuccessful person lost his way due to the lack of direction and being disorganised

 

-Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

निर्णय शक्ति

कोई मनुष्य यदि कल्पना कर सकता है और बिना विचारे उस पर आसक्त हो जाता है, तो वह एक खतरनाक मार्ग को अपनाता है । ज्यों ही एक कल्पना उठी, त्यों ही उस पर आसक्त होकर कार्य रूप में लाने को तुरंत तैयार हो जाना- एक ऐसा दुर्गुण है, जिसके कारण लोग अकसर धोखा खाते और ठगे जाते हैं । 

अपनी ही कल्पना के आवेश में ये कुछ का कुछ कर बैठते हैं । आत्महत्या जैसे दुःखद परिणाम निर्णय शक्ति के अभाव और आवेश में होते हैं ।

-पं. श्रीराम शर्मा आचार्य

The basic philosophy behind daily worship

The sole aim of performing rituals (of daily worship) and reading scriptures is to attain and enhance excellence within. The Supreme Being, i.e. God cannot be enticed into doing us a favour by material offerings or flattering words. All the conscious (i.e. living, life-force) and unconscious (i.e. non-living) elements of the universe as well as even God Himself is bound and governed by His Divine Law or the Cosmic Order. If God starts returning favour to anyone who praises Him or taking revenge on anyone who insults Him, the cosmic regulatory mechanism would disintegrate and the whole world would slide into a state of complete anarchy. In reality, such things never ever happen. It is a popular misconception that makes people to seek to entice God, to disobey the Divine Law and to think that their offerings can win them God's favour. Such childish thinking should better be got rid of at the earliest.

Worship is merely a kind of exercise, endeavour or training that helps our field of consciousness to receive and get enriched with excellences. The more one equips his/her consciousness with excellence, the more he/she would excel, progress and become eligible to attain divine status. The main purpose of Upasana (daily worship) is to connect the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. The (individual) soul represents our inner being which the hub of our feelings, beliefs and aspirations. The Supreme Soul (God) represents the pre- eminent ideals. Do remember that the Supreme Soul (God) isn't a person, form or a named entity but the sum-total of all the excellences, virtues and everything that is good in the world as well as the aggregate of all the individual souls.

-Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

Translated from - Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya’s work

Power of sound judgment

It is really a dangerous move to act impulsively on any idea that may come to our mind, without thinking carefully enough about its possible pros and cons or whether it is sensible or not. Doing something rash in this manner is such a shortcoming that often makes an individual an easy target of getting cheated. 

They would make a stupid mistake on the spur of the moment. The tragic incidents like suicide too are commonly caused by lack of using good judgment and acting impulsively.

-Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

Not only thought control but speech control is essential too!

Let’s say that an individual observes a proper thought control but his/her speech remains out of control. This would backfire on the thought control making it become weaker and ineffective. A habit of being talkative compels an individual to keep searching for new topics or issues to talk about (which, in turn, will compel his/her mind to keep on thinking about new topics). Therefore, observing a proper control of speech is also essential alongside the thought control. To store something securely, we may put it in a container. If the container has a hole, we will patch it up first before putting the thing in. But then we will also make sure that we close the lid firmly. Or else, the thing we have stored can get spilled over anytime.
Thought control would stop mental capabilities being wasted in needless thoughts, desires and feelings. However, its practical aspect and expression is channelized through speech. If speech is not kept under proper control, the thought control would eventually become ineffective and useless. Therefore, speech control must go hand in hand with thought control.
The first and foremost step in mastering speech control is to learn to speak less. Whatever that needs to be said should be expressed in bare minimum and carefully chosen words.