Self-realisation through control of the mind can be achieved in many ways. One has to come to terms with the three faculties of man; emotion, intellect and physique or one could describe them as ‘ manassa, vaacha, karmana’. The combination of all three or the implementation of them will help us in obtaining our goal. The three faculties working in harmony can only result in the desired effect. Once this is attained, accepting the others or others’ viewpoints become easy, lack of which could explain the escalating troubles all over the world.

Emotionally charged situations can make even the most rational human being behave in an irrational manner or similarly, illness of self or the dear ones can lead to totally unexpected behaviour. All these only prove that complete harmony of our faculties is essential in self-realisation and to stay in the right path in achieving our goal in life. Having a goal or focus in life, be it a person, God or an institution, will provide us with the right motivation. There are many ways of measuring up to the focus; trying to please, emulate or avoiding things that may not fit in with the ideals of our focus may be a few of them.

Our elders have told us, "Think before you say anything". How many of us put this into practice, knowing that it’s true? One has to be aware of the difference in the impact of each, the thought process leading to the words and the action that follow.

We should have control over our emotions and thoughts or learn to control them before they enslave us. One should always remember that the ‘said words’, the written words and the ‘done deeds’ can not be taken back and therefore, it’s important to think before doing any of these; each has different impact in any given situation. It’s easy to blame drinks, illness or unfortunate incidents, to justify one’s behaviour or the recipients may be even kind enough to justify the other’s actions, blaming it on something or the other!

A bit of commonsense and understanding of fellow beings may be all that we need to solve the problems that we face in the world today. We have seen mass killings in Gujarat, Palestine, Israel and the United States recently, where innocent people are suffering due to this. Disharmony of our three faculties, the inability to communicate with others and the fear of those whose views are different from our own, hold key to the devastation that we see before us. Let’s hope and pray for harmony, peace and better understanding of one another.

© E Menon 2002