Basic acceptance is necessary. We accept the world; we accept that there is benevolence. We are not born merely to be destroyed. There are countless supportive factors that help sustain us. With that understanding, continuously doing our work and fulfilling our duties becomes the right approach. The other approach is to see only mistakes and evil everywhere, and to keep thinking, believing, and discussing that the world is deteriorating and that things were much better a few thousand years ago. In reality, even a few thousand years ago, the same problems existed. A 5,000-year-old scroll found in Babylonia stated that the world was declining and that children no longer obeyed their parents. Even today, we hear the same complaints.
Pain and pleasure are natural aspects of human life; we alternate between the two. Even animals experience this. The standard reaction is to withdraw from pain and chase pleasure. But we know these experiences come and go, and life continues. If such an attitude is cultivated, we will not react excessively. This “carrying on” attitude is the Yogic attitude.
I often repeat a sentence written about 10,000 years ago: Charaiveti — keep moving. Do not get trapped in arguments, overthinking, or worry. Keep doing. Each person, whether child or adult, must continue doing their part. Stopping action and merely thinking, worrying, or criticizing does not bring answers. One may spend a lifetime asking, “Why is it like that?” yet receive no answers. Meanwhile, one must still eat and sleep. These basics cannot be neglected. Life must go on.
The essence, therefore, is: do your duty. We may not like the word “duty,” as it feels like an imposition. Call it “work.” Do your work. There is often no choice. If you are born into a certain family or situation, certain responsibilities come with it. Instead of quarrelling and saying, “I don’t want this,” or “I don’t like that,” take up the work and do it.
In nature, when you perform your duties sincerely, things somehow align, and in the end, there is satisfaction. You may even say, “It was good that it happened that way.” There is a pattern that nature provides. Nature knows better. If you are placed in a certain situation, accept it and do what is required. Complaining, quarrelling, feeling miserable, and fighting life does not solve anything. There is no external authority that will come and resolve everything. Reality is what it is, and we must function within it.
These facts are simple, yet we often resist them. Every moment we quarrel, fight, dislike, feel disgusted, and ruin our own lives and those around us. The earlier proposition requires determination. A job is at hand — so do it. Only then are tasks accomplished. In practical life, people are doing their jobs, and the world keeps moving. Some work night shifts, some care for sick family members, some struggle with illness themselves. They may not feel like working, yet they carry on — and the world carries on.
If we stop at any point for excuses, the cumulative effect becomes damaging. If I say, “I don’t like to work,” and others say the same, eventually no work gets done.
At one point, The Yoga Institute worked with the government, training teachers under its instruction. For one installment, they refused to pay the 8 or 9 lakhs owed for food, tuition, and other expenses. We could have pursued it, set up offices in Delhi, and used influence to recover the amount. But we did not. We simply stopped working with the government. It may have been a loss to the country, but at least we saved ourselves further stress. We did not fight or complain; we continued our work independently.
Thus, situations may not always be to our liking. Accept them. The important thing is to do your job. Satisfaction follows, and something positive eventually emerges. It is worth reflecting whether to be an optimist or a pessimist — and whether that optimism is genuinely practiced or merely spoken.