Making
Right Decisions about the Future
Carlos
Cardoso Aveline
Every time we approach a new year, automatic routines
are left aside. This is a time of transition; a time to take some rest and to
dream. It is the right moment to evaluate the past and make decisions as to the
next phases of life.
A new cycle begins: the future is a
blank page, but the past is alive and old scenes emerge again in front of us.
Old situations may disappear into thin air as we awaken to the new possibilities
before us. Infinite potentialities open a renewed horizon. We have a sharp
perception of the fact that time does not stop. Individual life is not eternal.
It is better to take advantage of opportunities while they are available.
Each moment is unique, and every
waste potentiality has a price to pay in the future. “Carpe diem”, says the
classic axiom: seize the day, use the present time well. And this is not an
invitation to short term pleasure. It reminds us that later on we will have to
render account of each instant we threw away.
Questions then emerge that sometimes
are uncomfortable. What are the most important things we did so far in the
present lifetime? What are the mistakes which we do not want to make again?
What are the good actions we want to perform in the next cycle? Are our
personal goals clear-cut and realistic? What are we willing to sacrifice, in
order to obtain them?
The main blessing of the calm days
surrounding the New Year consists of the possibility to better re-examine one’s
lessons from the past and future potentialities. Instead of speculating on “what
the future has in store for us”, as if we were the mere spectators of our own
lives, the correct thing to do is to take over the command of our existence. After evaluating what we have learned so
far, we may ask ourselves:
“Considering the
present conditions and trends for the future, what goals should be aimed at in
the following years? What objects are both realistic and transcendent?”
With a pen or a
computer, we make plans. We write down a list of actions which can radically
improve the quality of life. Among them:
* Paying more
attention to each instant;
* Abandoning this
or that negative habit;
* Taking better
care of physical health;
* Dedicating
more time to esoteric philosophy;
* Using less
material resources;
* Preserving
vital energy;
* Improving
personal relationships;
* Abandoning
activities that seem to be urgent, but are unimportant;
* Prioritizing
activities that are important to us, even if they do not look like urgent;
* Acting with
altruism, which strengthens the sacred affinity between us and our own immortal
soul.
The next step is to
make sure these promises will not be forgotten. One should assess his strength
realistically. Perhaps one can swim against the stream and defeat laziness, as
well as other obstacles. The danger exists of following an easy path and
abandoning the noble decisions made in a special moment: the occult power of blind routine must be defeated. Robert Crosbie wrote:
“Resolutions will
never do us any good if we do not sustain them. A mere desire will never get us
anywhere. We have to maintain the desire; we have to stick to the resolution.
We have to exert our will, and cleave to the object of that will throughout.”
[1]
Each individual has
his personal karma, that is, his own complex combination of actions and
reactions, causes and effects, in the short and long term. When seen from a
rigid point of view, this multidimensional fabric of possibilities and
limitations is called Destiny. In
fact, karma is an open process which one can change and which depends on the
way we react to it, at each new moment, on the basis of our free will.
Eastern Philosophy
teaches that there are three kinds of karma.
The ripe karma,
which we are harvesting at every moment and situation, is called Prarabdha. The accumulated karma, which
we have already sown but is not ripe yet, is Sanchita. The new
karma, which we are sowing each moment with our actions and thoughts, is called
Kriyamana.
Of these three,
the most important karma is the one we are planting right now. For this karma
depends on us and on our free will. It is not possible to avoid the
consequences of the past. But we freely choose whatever we plant for the
future, and that includes the way we harvest the ripe karma. Can we see the
positive opportunities hidden beneath apparent obstacles?
The daily duties
and responsibilities correspond to our ripe karma, prarabdha. Yet it is
always possible to open new roads while we fulfil our duty. The kriyamana
karma - produced according to our free will - has two central aspects. On one
hand, it is the choosing of the actions which start with our own free
initiative. On the other hand, it is the choice of how we will face or take
advantage of the obligations, challenges, and opportunities which the ripe
karma - prarabdha or “destiny” - places in front of us.
As we make vows
and resolutions as to the next year, we are thinking of those areas in our
lives in which we have an effective ability to choose, and they are more
numerous and deeper than they appear at first sight. Some of them are obvious,
others are subtle. It is wise to carefully examine what we do during leisure
time. Because it is in the free time that we have the opportunity to create new
and more karmic tendencies. Leisure is not a synonym to idleness. Our free time
has a sacred potentiality: it is the open space of kriyamana karma.
What should we do, then, to make sure
our New Year decisions become reality?
The first step is to
realize the real purpose of life: obtaining self-improvement, creativity and
inner peace.
The second step
consists of defining clear-cut goals which depend on yourself. Do not decide,
for instance, that this or that nice thing will happen to you. This would be
only a desire for facts that do not depend on you, and perhaps the fancy of
harvesting something you have no sown.
Do not decide that
the other persons will be friendly towards you, but choose yourself to be friendly
toward them. Don’t decide that your boss will raise your salary, but resolve to
work harder and take better advantage of your professional opportunities.
During our
spiritual infancy or when we are psychologically childish, we depend on a
“Father Savior” and expect some god or symbolical authority to do everything
for us. As we adopt an adult attitude, we accept our self-responsibility before
life. Our religiosity ceases to be based on blind belief and automatic
obedience, and adopts as its foundation an understanding of the unity of life
and a feeling of solidary independence. For the Pure Land Buddhism, for
instance - one of the most popular in Japan - Amida Buddha is not an individual
Master. It is the Eternal Light and the Infinite Life. In a traditional
meditation of this sect, each practitioner considers himself as part of a chain of universal love which animates
the cosmos:
“I am a link in
Amida Buddha’s golden chain of love that stretches around the world. I must
keep my link bright and strong. I will try to be kind and gentle to every
living thing, and protect all who are weaker than myself. I will try to think
pure and beautiful thoughts, to say pure and beautiful words, and do pure and
beautiful deeds, knowing that, on what I do now depends not only my happiness
or unhappiness, but also those of others. May every link in Amida Buddha’s
golden chain of love become bright and strong, and may we all attain perfect
peace.”
In this prayer,
the practitioner understands that his happiness and, up to a certain extent, the
happiness of others depend on what he does in the present moment. This is the
unavoidable lesson of kriyamana karma. We must plant that which we wish
to harvest one day. Whatever one does not plant, one cannot harvest. The idea
is intimately connected to the philosophy of Epictetus, the Stoic thinker who
lived in the Roman world in the centuries 1 and 2 of our era, and who started
his life as a slave. Epictetus taught:
“Happiness and
freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are
within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up
to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and
can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.
Within our control are our opinions, aspirations, desires, and the things that
repel us. These areas are quite rightly our concern, because they are directly
subject to our influence. We always have
a choice about the contents and character of our inner lives. Outside our
control, however, are such things as what kind of body we have, whether we’re
born into wealth or strike it rich, how we are regarded by others, and our
status in society. We must remember that that those things are externals and
are therefore not our concern. Trying to control or to change what we can’t
only results in torment.”
Indeed, the great
source of unhappiness on the psychological plane is in the habit of wasting
energies reacting against that which cannot be changed, or artificially
manipulating factors that are beyond our reach and we are not capable of
controlling in a natural way. Thus we lose the opportunity to do that which
depends on us.
Epictetus adds:
“The things within
our power are naturally at our disposal, free from any restraint or hindrance;
but those things outside our power are weak, dependent, or determined by the
whims and actions of others. Remember, too, that if you think that you have
free rein over things that are naturally beyond your control (…) your pursuits
will be thwarted and you will become a frustrated, anxious, and fault-finding
person.” [2]
As one defines his
personal goals for the next year, he must consider the various aspects of his
personality. The human being is a complex totality. We are often contradictory.
Are there in ourselves some emotional centers which will promote an
“unconscious boycott” against our new decisions? How will we defeat laziness
and attachment to routine? How can we face the challenge of being consistent?
Progress must be
firm. One should avoid making decisions that are contrary to common sense, or
which one is not capable of acting upon with perseverance. It is better to make
resolutions that one can put in practice since the first moment, even if in
small scale. “You must go slowly, in order to go far”, as the popular axiom
says. Small steps make a long walk possible, and in time they will produce
opportunities for larger steps to be taken. Gradual transformations are easier
to manage.
It is helpful to
create simple daily practices which strengthen the decisions made. These are
some tools used by different persons, according to their temperament and
individual inclinations:
* To daily
reflect upon or meditate on your process of self-improvement;
* To keep in
more than one occasion along the day a few moments of silence and creative
introspection, aiming at the strengthening of one’s will;
* To record
in a diary the main lessons taken from one’s efforts;
* To mentally
reaffirm your main life-purpose the moment you awaken in the morning, and
before you sleep, at night.
The decision to
change routine demands courage, determination and sacrifice. One must leave
aside old and blind “rituals” which waste time and energy and to which we may
be attached.
Renouncing habits
requires austerity, a spiritual practice which can be defined as “indifference
to personal comfort”. The Sanskrit name of austerity is tapah, pronounced tapas.
This is one of the most important concepts in the esoteric tradition, for its
practice strengthens one’s individual will, without which we would be scarcely
able to do anything useful in life.
Tapah is not a harsh or insensitive attitude. True
austerity is but an external sign that we have a strong will to know our inner
essence, and that a sacred fire burns whatever is negative in us, while
enlightening our consciousness as a whole. Etymologically, the word tapah means “that which shines as the
fire or the Sun”. Life teaches us that even a small amount of austerity saves
us from great quantities of suffering.
What is, then, the
key to keeping one’s New Year promises?
We must clearly
define and re-examine from time to time our goals for short term and long term
future. We must work with calm and creativity to attain them. We must remember
that the existence of obstacles is indispensable in any learning process. As we
face challenges, we start to know little by little the secret to victory in the art of sowing good karma. The key to
the secret, according to Eastern philosophy, lies in the right combination of
the deeper meanings present in five words: 1) Altruism; 2) Perseverance: 3)
Self-respect; 4) Self-knowledge; and 5) Self-control.
NOTES:
[1] “A Book of Quotations”, by Robert Crosbie,
Theosophy Co., Mumbai, 108 pp., India, p. 5. The book is available in PDF at
our associated websites.
[2] “The Art of Living”, Epictetus, a new
interpretation by Sharon Lebell, HarperSanFrancisco, New York, copyright 1994,
first edition, 114 pp., see p. 03.
000
The above article was first published in Portuguese language
under the title of “Para Começar o Ano Novo”.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the
ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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