Unleash the power in you!

Mankind is at a crossroads today. Thanks to science and technology, man the unprecedented power, on one hand, but has become a mass of doubt and despair, on the other. Technology has certainly brought many benefits. If used with wisdom, these can eradicate many of the sufferings that we face. And if these are abused, they can destroy the entire race a hundred times over. Alongside this progress, there continues to be so much of animosity, hatred, jealousy, cynicism and violence in the society. The reason for all this is lack of character. Swami Vivekananda rightly called for a man-making education as the only antidote for today’s problems. This requires change. The youth have to be rightly motivated, so that, they could use their talents, intelligence and knowledge to get rid of the poison of negativity. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna a vital truth, ‘Let a man lift himself by his self; let him not degrade himself; for he himself is his friend and he himself is his enemy’. The youth should learn to be their own friend by developing a positive, constructive, pure and friendly attitude towards oneself and the world. A person becomes a friend to oneself when he manages his negative emotions and keeps his focus on positive and higher thoughts. One who has developed this quality of remaining positively focused, even though he is surrounded by trials and tribulations, will not allow his mind to be coloured or overpowered by them. He will hold his head high and solve the problems with joy and strength.The hallmark of great leaders, athletes, scientists, musicians, artists and host of others in the world is their capacity to overcome negative ideas and remain positive. They constantly feed their mind with positive thoughts on a regular basis.There is an interesting anecdote of a landowner who lived near the town of Beaumontin, Texas, in America. He was forced to sell portions of his land to feed his family. An oil company manager told him, that there could be oil on his property and offered to pay him royalties if he would permit them to drill on his land. The landowner agreed, as he had nothing to lose. Surprisingly, there was indeed an oil well there and that was the discovery of ‘Spindle Top’, the most productive single oil well in history. The landowner became an instant multimillionaire — or did he? The reply is ‘no’. In fact he had been a rich man ever since he owned the property but did not have the knowledge of the oil available and consequently did not capitalise on it.Similarly, everyone has in himself an incredible ability, talent and divine wealth, which remains unrecognised and underutilized. We should get acquainted with ourselves by doing a little mental drilling and exploring, for we have nothing to lose in the process. And what is the tool for this task? Self discipline is the key to all great discoveries, achievements and challenges in all walks of life! Self discipline fortifies the mind against all weaknesses, and gives a unique value and dignity to life.Glorifying the importance of self discipline, Swami Vivekananda says, “Man is man so long as he is struggling to rise above nature and this nature is both internal and external.” Today, the menace of negativity has become an epidemic. In order to strengthen the mind, the classic example given in the scriptures is that of a single thread which is very weak, but, when many threads are combined and twisted together to make a rope, it can control an elephant. Similarly, a healthy and wholesome diet of positive thoughts, which Sri Krishna calls as ‘Daivi Sampat’ (spiritual wealth) in the 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, should be administered for the whole mind in order to make the youth strong.