If we value promotions and material goals then quite evidently our mind and heart will naturally chase the things that we desire, but one must understand however is that in the world it is not always that we shall get what we desire. It is the dispensation of destiny that operates in ways that we do not comprehend. The strangest of things is that even when we get what we desired with ease, very often we discover the futility of it all. It is also true that many times we do not get what we desire even when the system is supporting us.
This world is fathered by a clash of forces and when there are a number of claimants to a position, then it is not the justice but the balance of forces and their strength that wins the prize. In a race, for instance it is not the good human being or the kind hearted man who wins but the one with a greater stamina and swiftness and speed. The important thing therefore is to study one’s nature, one’s strengths and weaknesses, most importantly one’s temperament and see what one is really meant for. But even when we know that none can guarantee that success will be ours.
The deeper reason for this disparity is that the real intention behind the play of nature is not success nor competition but a progressive evolution through challenges at various levels of our being. And in this process of evolution, it is not the one who succeeds immediately who stands a better chance but the one who is more supple and resilient to defeat, one who refuses to give up, who knows how to find new ways to diversify and change. The strong predator tiger who devours the deer is a vanishing species whereas the preyed upon is thriving and multiplying.
Those who get success easily, get promoted through the support of the system, pay a heavy inner price for it. True they may not realise it immediately but sooner or later the balance of justice catches up in strange ways and one finds oneself bruised where one least expected. Success comes with its own price, and while we see a man climbing up the ladder of ambition, we fail to notice so many other things that he leaves behind – relationships, love, Godward aspiration, kindness, spiritual growth among other things. One cannot be successful in every sphere of life after all. What is therefore important is to decide once and for all what is it that one wants in life. If one wants worldly success then go for it and see what it means and where it leads. If one is also interested in spiritual life then it would surely create a pull and the net result will depend upon which tendency is stronger, – the ambition for worldly success or the pull towards spiritual truths.
But a time would surely come when one has to make the definitive choice because the two are different spheres and fields of endeavour. The methods are also very different. Worldly success demands that you be an aggressive go-getter. It also means keeping good relations with people who matter. It means suppressing not only the spiritual impulse but often, though not always many noble human qualities in the bargain. The path to spiritual success, on the other hand opens through detachment from the absorbing interest we take in expanding the empire of the ego, the renunciation of desire and the fruits thereof. Here we care more for our relation with the Divine rather than with human beings or trying to please them. So look sincerely within and see what you really want in life. Give that the primary importance and let other things slowly be subordinated until they remain only as a framework to support the bodily life and as a minor aid in spiritual life or as an instrument for the self-expression of the growing Spirit within us.
Affectionately
alok da
