Yesterday, Saketh brought up an interesting point — one that affects us in many ways, on different levels, every day of our lives. What is our duty? What is the right thing to do? Especially in college, these questions are often escalated; as a freshman, college is my first exposure to the realization that the world is not, in fact, colored in black and white. Growing up at home, I was always taught in terms of absolutes — what takes you towards God is right; what takes you away from God is wrong. Telling the truth is right; lying is wrong. Purity is right; impurity is wrong. Detachment is right; overemphasis on materialism is wrong.
In theory, these ideas are so clear — but now, when so far away from home, away from the guiding words of our parents and teachers, situations have popped up where I am no longer as sure of what would be the moral thing to do. I am, metaphorically (those of you who know me know this can’t possibly be literal, haha) finally, finally taller than that moral fence which kept me from getting distracted or destroyed as I was growing a strong character — within the fence, the world was black and white, and I knew exactly what to do in the limited situations I was exposed to. Now that I can see beyond the fence, I am forced to encounter all different shades of grey — and slowly, I am learning how to define what is the moral path when put into these situations.
Take, for example, one of Swami Vivekananda’s most inspirational quotes (for me, at least):
Strength is life, weakness is death.
Swamiji is very clear on what is the right path—we must always be strong. In theory, this quote is perfect; I could write for hours about what consitutes mental strength, why the development of moral strength is so important, and how one must be physically strong as a prerequisite to developing the aforementioned strengths. In practice though, it is much more difficult.
What is a greater show of strength — to stand up for yourself and tell someone off when they have hurt you? Or to wait until you know the reason why, and then decide which approach to take? Which shows greater mental strength — being able to find the solutions to your problems yourself without needing the support of others? Or asking others for help to solve your problems? Which shows a high level of moral strength — not telling others about the problems of someone else who may (or may not) need help for fear of gossipping? Or telling others, in hopes that the person will be helped rather than become subject to gossip?
These questions are really tough to answer — and slowly, I am figuring out the answers by talking to peers and other people whose judgment I trust here. I guess ultimately, the moral answer will be based on where our priorities lie — and I guess that part of the process of becoming adults (in terms of more than just legal age) is figuring out, firmly, what our priorities are in the different aspects of life.
Before discovering Swadharma, I had no idea that others were also struggling with these questions — for me, this blog has become a way for me to get your trusted advice on issues I am struggling with, and an important way for me to become exposed to other possible situations, ideas, and ways of thinking.
Our goal is to make Swadharma a site that can help many more people, just as it helped me — so please, write your comments, write posts, and share your thoughts without hesitation! We are all struggling to become the best versions of ourselves, and I’m sure we can all use all the help we can get.
Related posts:
Post a Comment