Hello and welcome to episode 112 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today is part two of the discussion of family people and whether they can attain the spiritual levels of the great ones.
If you haven’t watched episode 111 then I suggest you watch that first so you can get the full benefit from this episode. It will help you with perspective.
We had a lot of questions following the last video. For example if one person in the family follows dharma but the other does not then what do you do? This is a really good question. This is why Krishna says family people find it so hard. There can be so many distractions and they have to juggle so many balls. In many cases dharma is compromised for other things. But there are exceptions and you can always be the exception.
If you are practicing dharma and others are not you may find that you will get into trouble. Dharma means living with high vibrations. When you follow dharma you see things through a different lens. Seeing things in a different way from the other people in your family can sometimes create conflict. They will not always be able to understand things on your level because they are intellectual.
Awareness
In some cases compromises can be made but you must realise that the problem is not with you or with the other people in your house. The problem is with awareness. The awareness in the house has been disturbed. This is what causes trouble. The problem is that the people who are high cannot come down and the people who are lower down are not ready to go up yet. Krishna says we need to tackle it based on the circumstance.
Non-resistance
In the bhagavad gita Krishna told Arjuna to fight and kill his enemies. He calls him a hypocrite and that he needs to stand up and fight. He tells him he must kill these people he has known all his life because that was his dharma because he was a Kshatriya.
Arjuna was giving all these flimsy reasons why he should not fight. He was practising non-resistance but this is only reserved for the highest people. Krishna told him not to compromise for the sake of peace. Krishna said that only from activity can you go to non-reaction. Only then can you resist evil and be detached from it.
So when you are in a family you must take a stand and encourage everyone to practice dharma. Not just you. I will share my story with you.
I would read the bhagavad gita every morning and I would tell people what was right and what was wrong, what they should and shouldn’t do. I wanted everyone to practice dharma. After a while I realised that it was no good. People were only understanding it at an intellectual level because their awareness was not high enough. I needed to detach from it all and just focus on the consciousness.
Detached
We must learn to be detached and have peace within. Say only what we have to when we have to. When we do this things will get better. Only then can you try to shoot those arrows and tell people how it really is. Don’t ever speak with anger. Only speak with love and practice resisting evil. When you do this you will have the capacity to avoid cursing people in your mind. You will be like a calm ocean with no waves.
People cannot change things within their own household but yet they try to make big changes on the outside. This is so wrong. They think they can tell others what to do yet they can’t make changes with their own wives and children.
I want to challenge everyone who says they want to change the world to go and say to their wives and children that they must change first. If they will not change then you cannot expect the world to change just because you ask it to. This is hypocrisy. If people really want change they should practice non-resistance and start at home. There is a beautiful saying: If there is character in the person there is peace in the home. If there is peace at home then there is peace everywhere in the world.
Start at home
It all starts at home. Start by just trying to move towards the consciousness. It will take time but make a valiant attempt but don’t be a hypocrite and demand that the world changes before you do. This is why I am happy to spend time at home with my family encouraging them to practice dharma. It does not work 100% of the time but it is still time well spent. What you do outside you do in your house and what you do in your house you do outside. This is dharma.
You must have the same attitude all the time. It’s no good speaking out only when you know you will win and keeping quiet when you think you won’t. Either always speak out or never speak out. Be the same towards all beings. Do not feel hatred towards anyone because they do not follow what you say. Just say what needs to be said. Either that or practice complete non-resistance and don’t worry about saying anything or not saying anything. Whatever you do, do it across the board.
The most important thing is to be true to your own words. Be the same person inside your house and out. Be the same at work and at home. This is how the great men and women of God behave. It is called Sama Darshana.
So don’t worry too much if other people in your family do not always practice dharma. Just make sure you pick one strategy and stick with it. Be the same towards all beings and remember to always fall back on the consciousness. Do this and you will achieve complete peace. Just keep going and it will work out. One day from activity you will fall into complete non-resistance.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
