Agents of change

To see change in our lives for the better, we need to work on various factors of our daily life. The sloka we discussed in my last column ( Small steps for change, April 17) from the Bhagavatam gives us 10 such factors. We had seen the first five and to summarise, they were: 1. What we see or what we listen to has a tremendous impact on our life. (Literature) 2. What we consume has a marked impact on our body and must be regulated. (Nourishment) 3. The company we keep greatly influences our personality. (People) 4. The places we frequent must be conducive to the goals we seek to achieve. (Place) 5. Time is precious and must be used efficiently. (Time)

Sixth is our action. The kind of actions we engage in will ultimately shape our lives. Even animals and birds work to appease their hunger. Working for oneself is not remarkable. The special quality of human beings is their capacity to work for others. We can try to do what’s within our capacity to help other human beings.

Seventh is our birth. Our birth is the result of all our actions in our previous births. Now that we have got a human birth, we should improve ourselves. Moment to moment we are born anew. When we get angry, an angry person is born. When we are peaceful, a peaceful person is born. If we remember this, we will become aware of the quality of our thoughts.

Eight is dhyana. We think of meditation when the word dhyana is used. The word also refers to the direction of thoughts that determines one’s personality. Continuous and consistent thoughts in a given direction will shape your life. If we want to improve the quality of our lives, we should have a higher ideal in life and work towards it. We should learn to choose values instead of valuables. We should always remember our ideal, while engaging in our daily activities.

Ninth is mantra. Mantra is not just what we chant; it is our slogan in life. When we face difficult situations or a crisis, single slogan can help us. Think of Swami Vivekananda’s call to “arise, awake and stop not till the goal is read.” Now that’s a mantra!

And last is sanskar (mental impressions). Sanskar we have accumulated from our past lives and the sanskar we have cultivated in our present life make us what we are. The impressions and tendencies we have inherited combine with our culture, education and training to mould our personality.

These 10 points have the potential to change our lives.

Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and

storyteller. © Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.