Practice of Purity, Patience and Perseverance
Breakout Session with Dr. Venkat Sadanand
Session Opening
Dr. Venkat Sadanand opened the session by sharing about the 3 aspects of self: Body, Mind (worries about mundane things) and Atma - the true “I” (unaffected by happenings in life/does not react). He said that when you realise the true I, you realise how foolish you had been all this while.
"Discard the input from your senses! Have faith in me! Patience is to wait till God guides you further! Persevere till you achieve the goal of this life, realising the Atma" - Sathya Sai Baba
For the breakout session, participants were divided into two groups. In each group they had the opportunity to share their experiences pertinent to the topic of practicing of Purity, Patience and Perseverance. Challenges were identified based on these experiences and possible solutions were offered. The challenges faced and the pragmatic solutions and insights are summarized below.
Challenges Faced
- Putting theory into practice
- Aligning body, mind and spirit.
- Alignment between thought, word and deed
- To get rid of negativities which tend to dominate an individual and to bring out the positive aspects
- Discipline and practicing patience
- Peer pressure when trying to follow a healthy lifestyle
- Trying to control one’s emotions and remembering the divinity within
- Taking things for granted
- Trusting the process as there is fear of what one might need to give up in one’s journey towards a healthy lifestyle
Pragmatic Solutions and Insights
- Always have clarity, keep reminding yourself who you really are; what is your duty
- Body connection messes the process of decision making
- Importance of self-audit
- Listen to your inner voice when taking decisions in difficult situations
- Integrate Thought-Word-Deed
- Follow the 10 criteria for Purity
- Aligning awareness with action.
- Importance of good company
- Always finds a vegetarian shop
- Knowing and believing in Swami as He knows what is best for us - Seek Swami’s guidance and He always helps
In Summary
- Creating awareness of Divinity in self and aligning that awareness with action.
- To attain the purity of heart through constant Sadhana with patience and perseverance to hear his voice that will guide us towards dharma