Page 231 - Basic Writings of Sriramchandra

Reality at Dawn - Ways and Means
find it a hard task to restrain the diverse activities of the mind, or to disregard its biddings. Their theoretical advice and lectures in this respect are, therefore, not of much avail to them and almost none of those attending their lectures has ever been able to achieve the object in a practical way. Besides the present circumstances and the environments too contribute much towards the ever- increasing activities of the individual mind. Almost everyone, today, feels his life to be a hard struggle for existence confronting acute problems of poverty, insecurity, distress and rivalry and it is almost impossible to keep himself free from its effects. The result is the constant unrest and disturbance of mind. We breathe in the same thing from the atmosphere and are consequently led away by circumstances and surroundings. Our individual mind has become the weathercock, turning its face at every blast towards the direction in which the wind blows. The real hero in the struggle is one, who braves them courageously and keeps oneself free from their effect.
I, no doubt, agree with those who say that every evil has its origin in the mind and which alone is, therefore, responsible for it, though at the same time I may remind them that it is the very same mind that leads us to virtue and also helps us to realize our highest self. So it is not every evil alone that proceeds from the mind but also every good. Hence those who condemn it in the bitterest terms have no justification for it at all. It is really only due
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