191. Being Spiritual
Krishna says, “Humility, simplicity, harmlessness, forgiveness, uprightness, service of the preceptor, purity, steadfastness, self-control (13.8); dispassion ( vairagya ) towards sense-objects, absence of ahankaar (I am doer), perception of birth, death, old age and pain as flawed (13.9); non-attachment, non-infatuation with children, spouse or residences, eternal equanimity towards desirable and undesirable circumstances (13.10). Unwavering devotion to Me through yoga of devotion ( bhakti ), comfortable with self, away from gossip of crowds (13.11); perseverance in self-knowledge, perceiving the absolute truth ( tattva jnana )- This is declared to be knowledge, what is opposed to this is ignorance” (13.12). A point to be noted is that some of these are about the self and the rest are about our relationship with the external world. Secondly, these can be considered as virtues conducive to attaining self-knowledge. Anyone suffering from the disease of ‘I am superior’, ...