© Ankush kumar 2020 All rights reserved All rights reserved by author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within. First Published in July 2020 ISBN: 978-81-946858-1-4 BLUEROSE PUBLISHERS www. bluerosepublishers. com info@bluerosepublishers. com +91 8882 898 898 Cover Design: Tyngshain Pariat Typographic Design: Tanya Raj Upadhyay Distributed by: BlueRose, Amazon, Flipkart, Shopclues

This book is dedicated to all those who know they are living but are not alive, with the hope that they know that if they are living, then its with a purpose.

FOREWORD When a young man begins to question the meaning of life and whether one is born to just live this life somehow and then die, and that there is nothing more to it than this, he begins to try and find the answers to his existence. In the process of doing so, he uncovers truths that he realizes he not only needs to apply to his own life, but also requires to share these with others so that they may benefit from his own learning. He wants to hold their hand and guide them gently along the path, to realize their self worth and the purpose of their existence, through the words he writes. According to him, there are some basic fundamental principles of life that a person has to do justice to, and if he does that, he is on the way to finding the answers to leading a successful and more importantly, a meaningful life. Some of these basic fundamentals are the self and selfimage, our thoughts and attachments, the opportunities that surface, the actions we take, the problems and criticisms we face and the plans we make to reach our goals in life. The achievement of our goals are influenced by these factors, but the overall arching factor to achieving what we want is our attitude and approach to all that life throws at us, the good and the bad. If we are willing to strive and move out of our comfort zones, we can achieve a great deal. If we are ready to plan a path to our goals, and choose our company wisely, we are once again moving towards what we want. It is primarily our attitude and our willingness to bring about change despite everything that will enable us to move forward in life. Only we are responsible for the life we want to lead.

Written in simple, everyday language, the book is easy to read and follow. It can be a guide and helping hand to those who seek to create a satisfying and successful life. ~Abha Iyengar, 24th June 2020 New Delhi

PROLOGUE No force in this world can ever change or modify you without your inner will “The self is the sun shining in the sky, The wind blowing in space; he is the fire At the altar and in the home the guest; He dwells in human beings, in God, in Truth, And in the vast firmament; he is the fish Born in water, the plant growing in the earth, The river flowing down from the mountain For this Self is supreme!” (Katha. II. 2. 2) Dear reader, life is such a critical tragedy and a fun-filled comedy that it encompasses the entire life of an individual. No one can ever judge the infinite set of uniquely designed question papers it sets for us all. It’s a complex web with many elaborate perceptions, many different opinions on a single aspect and much variability. Yet, fundamentally, as humans, we have our basic virtues and it is these that stand and mark the foundation till the end. With a resolution to analyze and realize them, I place this small effort into your hands with the hope it solves your hidden queries. There is a great deal of pressure upon us. Forces operate from within us or from outside. Life goes smoothly when both of these are balanced. In the case of an imbalance, you will never be able to enjoy life well. Learn to grow, learn to decide and plan well. Surely, life can be an enjoyable

experience for you. Believe in yourself and modify yourself along with the times. Explore the reasons to live soundly with the passing years. Stay excited and grow mature. Before he steps into this world, an individual begins to learn the purpose of his existence. The mother starts her first efforts to support her child, exposing him to the world. Once out in the world, the child becomes an entity; an independent and unique individual. It becomes important for him to seek the purpose of what life is meant to be and how it should be channelized. It becomes important for him to know that no one is alike nor does each one have a similar purpose. He cannot define situations. All he is expected to do is to know that life exists on principles which are sovereign and potent. The only thing that varies is the perception on an individual basis. So, the only thing that this book aims to do is make you realise those principles and understand that a balanced and fruitful life does not go against established truths, but gives you the much-needed insight on how to live peacefully and happily by knowing what impressions you should hold of life, and thereby fulfill your expectations.

INTRODUCTION This book is written by an amateur. Believe me, sometimes all you need is someone who can listen to you. I know how you feel. Life betrays us badly at times. It makes us feel helpless and restless. It makes us feel low beyond a limit. I know that feeling, my friend. I know how lonely it gets sometimes. I promise to help give an insight into your life. The life you received did not come with a guarantee that it will give you the best of everything. It is you who decides what you make of it. Your life lies in your hands and only you are its supreme master. Believe in your worth, my friend. Stop blaming someone, or cribbing. I promise to walk beside you in words. My words may sound absurd, routine or bitter along this journey. I request you to tolerate me. Only when you start becoming aware and remind yourself of what your true worth is when you know what your life means to the others around you. I guarantee you peace and satisfaction, though. Believe me or not, I assure you that if you ask yourself what I tell you to ask yourself in the pages ahead, you will yourself answer the questions that life throws at you. Believe that you are worthy and strong, and your capability is great. A writer only promises to stand by you throughout this book. I sincerely hope that by the time you finish reading it, you will develop more clarity about the things you want in this one time opportunity given to you called Life.

CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 PREPARING THE SELF ....................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 JUSTICE TO THE THOUGHTS ......................................... 23 CHAPTER 3 JUSTICE TO THE OPPORTUNITIES ................................ 39 CHAPTER 4 JUSTICE TO THE ACTIONS ............................................. 49 CHAPTER 5 JUSTICE TO THE PROBLEMS .......................................... 59 CHAPTER 6 JUSTICE TO THE SELF IMAGE ....................................... 77 CHAPTER 7 JUSTICE TO THE ATTACHMENTS ................................. 93 CHAPTER 8 JUSTICE TO THE PLANNING ........................................ 108 CHAPTER 9 JUSTICE TO CRITICISM ................................................. 118 CHAPTER 10 JUSTICE TO THE PURPOSE OF LIFE ............................ 126 CHAPTER-11 JUSTICE TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF LIFE ................ 135 CHAPTER 12 ARE YOU TRUE TO YOURSELF? .................................. 140 CHAPTER 13 ARE YOU JUST PHYSICALLY EXISTING? .................. 146

PREPARING THE SELF

CHAPTER 1

PREPARING THE SELF

I am pure consciousness, the witness of all!! I am free from the thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’! I have no lord! All are myself and I am all! I am unique and I transcend all! I am my own eternal bliss, pure undivided consciousness! -Kundika Upanishad “Create a mist of hope, Create a mist of scope… Never limit the limits, Believe to pack the best kits, Reasons to live, reasons to cheer, reasons to laugh and reasons to clear, Lie with you, my dear, You harbour the goal in you, cherish it and live it, Believe the reasons to be perfect and then don’t disbelieve it…” The true is within you… There have been a majority of times when I confronted myself, and others. Most of the people around me turned out to be dissatisfied with the way they were. They often perceived themselves to be different from who they were, simply because most of them were not living as the ones

1

ANKUSH KUMAR

they wished to be. Many aspire high, many have dreams but still, they may not become what they aspire to become each time, or even never at anytime. The resultant feelings are all a result of our thought processes, which often tend to bring down our decisionmaking ability and confidence level to the worst place. We may confront four major feelings: Fear, Hatred, Lack Of Moral Support and Lack Of Self-Confidence. The cyclic nature of these four factors is what may be called the Pessimists’ quad. It is these four factors that play a dominant role in our results. They invite the subset of many underlying feelings which decide the ultimate output of the individual. These factors are totally under an individual’s control. If I say “totally”, it means totally. It is like, they ask you every time about what it is that you want to do. If you say ‘yes’ to them, they invite each other in a cycle. Lack of self-confidence invites fear, fear brings with itself hatred towards the task we are about to do and kills us morally. The moral support that we expect is the catalyzing factor. It inhibits us by making us question our worth. Most people remain confused if they are worthy of something that they want or not. This either leads to them to becoming fearless or extremely fearful. In either case, the consequences are always negative. The individual loses his optimistic ability and the optimism is killed by his inability to see the things as he wants them to be. Now, I will explain how this starts. It begins with when we lack a positive self-image and have no clarity of what we really want to pursue. Without a clear approach, we cannot define our boundaries. Without clarity of aims, desires,

2

PREPARING THE SELF

destinations and goals, all one needs is to know and accept the power that one holds within. But how to pursue that?

We keep running to seek this. Someone to tell us who we are and what we have to do. It keeps us confused without clarity and in the end we realize we have lived a different life than we wanted to. This becomes another cycle and the quad replicates itself in a new form. It keeps repeating itself in our lives, leaving us exhausted and hopeless about our lives. We not only fail to see that we are blessed with many qualities but also fail to bring them to their full fruition. Many spiritual leaders help us analyze the in-depth power within us, often making us realize the immense talents we “may” harbour. But does it make us feel like a master as soon as that happens? No, definitely not. Once the workshop is over or the book is finished, we are still engrossed with the same thoughts once again, proving that we were not made aware of ourselves as we should have been.

3