Q&A with guruji - 3rd dec 07

(guruji, swami tejomayanandaji, was invited to deliver a talk titled 'can ambition and contentment co-exist?' by the EO/YPO chapter in mumbai on 3rd december 2007. the synopsis of the talk is available here. the talk was followed by a short Q&A session which is roughly reproduced here.)

Q : today is a materialistic world. there are two types of people. the first type who want to achieve at any cost and the second type who have nobler goals. the first person gets more and feels contented (maybe its ignorance). the second person loses out and becomes dissatisfied. what's your advice to the second person.

A : remember, the law is, 'you have to pay the price for anything in life'.
a person who bull-dozes his way through to apparent success ends up making more enemies. in such situations there will also be revolt.
and in the case of the second person if he cannot compete and feels doubtful then there is some problem with his belief. he would believe that in such a situation it is better to be dishonest!

sometimes we have this notion that if we share then we will get more and that we can 'encash' it immediately. but it is not instant.

in business 'wealth of credibility' is the true wealth.

immediate success can be gained by wrong means. but what we notice is that we may applaud what one 'has' but finally respect what one 'is'.

patience is the key requirement. if you feel sad and doubtful then there is something wrong.

its like saying that i have never taken a bribe in my whole life. but the truth is that you either didn't get an opportunity or were too scared to accept it. so its not really tested.

you have to remain steadfast. and therefore it means you have to pay the price.

even i today's world honesty and loyalty are still highly respected. we may be dishonest in our dealings to get ahead, but we expect honesty from others.

so the advice is - remain steadfast and don't get carried away by immediate results.


Q : no matter what we do in life it doesn't matter. we ultimately die and are forgotten. should we have any ambition?

A : the question doesn't arise.
- if you have ambitions, then even if you say you don't have you will still be driven by your ambition
- and if a person don't have any, then saying 'you should' will still not shake him!

you will always have desire. it only natural. it will always be there.

if you ask me, then i would say one should have ambition. when you have ambition, you grow. if we use our faculties they grow. swami chinmayananda used to say, 'if you rest you rust'. our BMI (body-mind-equipment) equipment also needs to be used so that it grows. so even materialistic ambitions are useful to help this growth.

but we also have to grow out of it. similarly we have to grow from 'materialistic' goals to 'non-materialisic' ones.

so remember -
1. you will always have desires and ambition
2. if you have them, you can't say don't have them
3. use them to grown and fulfil oneself and serve others also.


Q : how does one achieve bliss and realisation?

A :
1. by self-knowledge (the highest level)
2. make someone else happy (most practical). help any person. do whatever you can do.
3. do not become a slave of your senses and negativities like anger. be the master.

a related question is 'how to have lot of fun in life'?
by being serious. by thinking deeply and living a life of depth and meaning. not being shallow. be like the deep sea and not a shallow pnd which dries up!

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