To live in this world and remain sane, it is necessary to have a broad outlook. We need to see the whole picture, otherwise we will become victims of narrow-mindedness. Our shortsightedness will make us blind to the consequences of our actions, hence we will remain enmeshed in our habitual patterns and unhealthy lifestyle.

In the cosmic plan, in the universal scheme of things, our attachments and images are not very important. So, why should we worry so much about so little? We need to step back and objectify the human experience. This drama has been going on for a very long time. The actors change, the props are rearranged, but the plot remains the same. Most people are self-involved and plotting for their own comforts and pleasures, and very few realize they are digging their own graves or building their own funeral pyres.

We are caught up in the gray matter between our ears, and everything we do and think is colored by what we have in our mind. It is impossible to see clearly so long as our mind is filled with images, preconceived notions, biased opinions, and false feelings. Only Wisdom can put our house in order, but first we need to open the door of our heart to let the wisdom enter.

Wisdom is very clear. It is both profound and simple. It is not complicated or ambiguous. But a bigoted person cannot grasp the simple truth because he is in the grip of ego. We are bigots when we are prejudiced against our own soul, when we deliberately go against our own true nature and ignore good advice. Any time we hold on to our small self, our ego gets very big and blocks our reasoning; hence, we become unreasonable and irrational.

Our unrealistic expectations are the result of a bloated ego. When our mind is puffed up with our images we become head-strong and are unable to cope with a challenging situation. Our life becomes problmatic and we become irritable and anxious.

We cannot always correct every situation, but we can always correct ourselves. Others will change in their own time---either for the better or the worse. They will not change just because we want them to change, or wish they would change, or insist that they should change. They will change only when they change their practices. Likewise, we will improve only if our practices improve.

It is not necessary to be goal-oriented. Rather, we should orient ourselves to the Absolute Truth. As long as we are involved with our temporary friends, relations, moods, desires, images, and feelings, we will remain disoriented and confused inspite of all that we accomplish or accumalate.

If we are clear about our supreme goal of liberation (MOKSHA), we will not be fooled by the stories of our mind, or by anyone else's story. We will be in the world, but not of it. We will remain duty-bound, but never bound up by superficial obligations and false attachments. We will do our duty without any aggravation or expectation. We will see this world as a big drama and never get caught up in its miseries, pains, and traumas.

What others have done to themselves, we cannot undo. All we can do is show them a better way by taking the right path ourselves and welcoming them to join us. Of course, we are duty-bound to enjoin ourselves with our loved ones in a spirit of selfless love. But those who remain selfish will lose even their own soul, what to say of their loved ones.

We need to shun all selfishness and pettiness. Let us enlarge our hearts to include the whole universe. When we feel the spirit of universal love, all our personal pains disappear and our mind is at peace. When our mind is at peace, we can see clearly and no longer distort the situation with our personal bias.

The healing begins only when we fill ourselves with inner peace. Peace is the product of harmony. As long as there is inner conflict there can be no peace. When our images are in conflict with reality, when our ideas and opinions are biased (based on ego), when our desires are unnatural and our feelings abnormal, we are bound to suffer from inner turmoil, stress, and anxiety.

It is natural for the soul to desire for liberation---for freedom from all pain and selfishness. It is healthy to feel inspired to do good, to speak the truth, and to live the truth. It is a very freeing experience to give up all your images and cut loose from all your false attachments. Those human beings who renounce ego in all their undertakings, become established in Supreme Consciousness. There is no other way to live in this world and remain sane.