Perspective

Our aspirations in life are generally governed by the perspective we have at any particular point in time. When we are happy we behave in a certain way and when we are sad we have default remedies which provide a temporary fix to those flickering negative emotions. We can wake up on all seven days of the week feeling different; and for many of us, our perspective in life is usually a puppet, with the hand of our ever-changing desires and emotions playing puppeteer.

Introspection can give us a little insight; is our perspective on life properly situated to enable us to transcend the temporary and flickering nature of our desires and emotions; or maybe even transform them? And how can we curb this constant change of perspective?

One of the initial struggles we go through in spiritual life is the constant battle between satisfying our senses on a daily basis; and the desire to be spiritually grounded. We desperately want them to coexist, but it’s a fruitless aspiration, we cannot have both, just like trying to balance on water with each foot in a different boat, at a certain point we have to choose the boat we want to be in. We may be searching for peace through so many avenues, but it doesn't quite cut it; we don't feel lasting satisfaction, but we still carry the same habits, the same routine and ultimately, the same lifestyle regardless of the outcome. If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always got. If we want change, if we want to discover the peace we are searching for, there has to be change, we cannot have it without change and therefore, we must ask: are we looking in the right place?

The ancient Vedic literatures; in particular The Bhagavad Gita, give an insight into who we are, what our relationship is with each other, the universe, and God. Based on this relationship, these jewels of wisdom give recommendations on how we can achieve substantial and everlasting happiness beyond the temporary and limited nature of pleasure which is derived from the senses; more importantly, they give valuable insight not only into what we need to do to achieve this, but also how we should endeavour to do it.

As spiritual practitioners, whether you are a mother or a father, a teacher or a manager; young or old, we are influencing and affecting the world; what we speak and what we do will establish the standard for people’s conception of spiritual life. It can either increase people’s faith, or destroy it completely.

A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada; widely regarded as the foremost Vedic scholar, translator and teacher of the modern era; explained that you will make spiritual advancement by accepting responsibility, and to the degree you accept responsibility you will become more God conscious. This doesn’t exclusively mean the responsibility of committing to different projects or personal spiritual practice; this is definitely important, however our main responsibility is to perform those duties with the proper care, attitude, behaviour and words. - It's not what you do that counts, but how you do it.

We can see from our own experiences with others; it’s not what they have done or achieved, it’s how they made us feel which leaves a lasting impression. As we start dovetailing our life’s’ activities within a spiritual community, inevitably, just like any other community, we will have bad experiences with other practitioners which can potentially result in either of us moving back to our old ways in order to find that quick fix of satisfaction or happiness, but we must never lose perspective; this is why it’s imperative from the very beginning to focus on how we practice spiritual life, not just what we do.

We may be able to change the focus of our life’s activities to become more spiritual, but if we aren’t conscientious of how we go about it then our inattentiveness can be the cause of misunderstandings, quarrels and even distrust with one another, as a result it may send others spiralling back into their old ways, and the same old sense pleasure which failed to give lasting peace in the first place starts to pose itself like a very alluring escape from the so called relationships in our spiritual community; but again, whether we are the victim or the offender, we must always look back at perspective, which means our choices should always be in harmony with the knowledge of who we are, what our relationship is with the world, each other and God; and not in harmony with the unrelenting and unrestricted demands of our senses.

In order to cultivate and maintain healthy relationships it’s essential to develop the capacity to view things in their true relation or relative importance and what can be more important than relationships, regardless of who is right or wrong? The ultimate perspective in every situation, in all circumstances is to selflessly love, serve and help one another to achieve spiritual success in this lifetime, everything else is just detail.