Aim at life not at living

"A log that glows radiantly for counted moments though is far better than the long-lived smoky hay. Therefore, O dear son! Live life like that glowing log, even though it is short, rather than opting for a longer stay like the smoking-emitting hay."

These words were said by a great mother, Vidula, to her son who had returned from the battlefield of Mahabharata due to the fear of losing life in the war that was being fought for righteousness. Vidula inspired her son to live a life of honour, even if it was short lived, rather than living a life of disgrace. It's true also because, after all, 'Life is not defined by how many years we live, but by the fact that how we live those years!' in other words, more than the quantity, it's the quality of life that matters.

To perspective come into picture when it is intended to gauge the quality of someone's stay on earth- one, 'the standard of living' and other, 'the standard of life'. While the former presents a shallow perspective and focusses on how much worldly wealth and riches one has accumulated, which define his 'status' in society; the latter refers to one's 'state' of existence, one's inner development and is, certainly, a more crucial one.

Reason being, it indicates the extent of our ascent from physical to mental to intellectual to spiritual level. But, contrastingly majority of us river our attention and surrender at the altar of the former. Someone has rightly said- 'For the sake of getting a living, often we forget to live.' As a result, we fail to attain the ultimate quality of existence that we had come to adorn ourselves with.

Despite our best efforts, we are unable to reach the pinnacle of perfection. Weaknesses and flaws, in subtle or gross form, continue to exist in us. However, in order to take the standard of life to the level of perfection, one needs to take into account some important factors. They are primarily- Our Choice of actions, Choice of Thoughts and Choice of Approach in dealing with the challenges confronting us.

One has to be watchful of the actions he makes, the kind of thoughts he harbours in his mind and how he tackles with the situations coming before him. In all the three factors mentioned above, we realise that, in order to reach our goal while walking in the direction of improving our standard of life, we need- wisdom, the power of discrimination, to discriminate between right and wrong actions; positivity in our thoughts to give a constructive turn to our mindset and hence our complete persona; and the skill to turn the challenges in our favour.

Superficially, it is not difficult to become the possessor of these attributes. Many people even try to deliberately project them in their personality. But, in the real sense, these precious qualities can be attained only by establishing connection with the root-source, i.e. our soul, the consciousness.

Once attuned with this powerhouse and the hub of virtues, a man enjoys a smooth ascend in the direction of improving the standard of life and succeed in achieving a perfect, flawless personality! All books of wisdom proclaim thus and so is the declaration by all enlightened saints and sages.

– Ashutosh Maharaj Ji, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS)