How To Develop Virtues

You Are the Source of All Virtues

As human beings, we have tremendous qualities and virtues. You don’t have to look for virtues outside – you are the source of all virtues. But in the stress of day-to-day life, these virtues get hidden.

A seed has a membrane around it that doesn’t allow the seed to sprout, but when the membrane is soaked in water and it gets the right atmosphere, the membrane loosens and the seed sprouts. That is how the seed becomes a tree. Sadhana is a way to soak the seed; Yoga is a way to manifest all the perfections that are already within you.

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Virtues Get Covered Up by Three Things

• Mala
  Mala are impurities. If there are toxins in your body, it reflects on your mind and affects your behavior. Impurities of the body and mind are called mala.
  You get a lot of negative thoughts if your bowel movements are not okay. If you have constipation, the impact of it on the mind is negativity. Anyone who says I have constipation knows for sure that they are going to have negative thoughts sooner or later because the toxins in the body are increasing and it is going to affect the brain too. This is called Mala, or the first sheath that covers your beautiful being.

• Avarna
  Avarna is the veil of ignorance that surrounds you through identification. There is a saying in English: As you sow, so shall you reap. You have sown the seeds. You have put the labels on yourself – I am so bad, or I am weak, or I am hopeless, or I am arrogant. Whatever label you put on yourself creates a sheath around you. Avarna is a veil that has come from many lifetimes.

• Vikshepa
  When you put wrong concepts about yourself in your mind or form wrong concepts based on what you hear from others, that causes a disturbance in you, and that is called Vikshepa.
  Your interaction with people can create mental disturbances. Just one person, whom you are friendly with, tells you some news and that news can disturb your mind. It can throw you off normal. And later, after 1 or 2 months, you come to know from your friend that what you heard was not true. However, by that time, it has already caused so much restlessness or agitation in your mind. So Vikshepa is agitation getting created in your mind by hearsay or the opinions of other people.

So these 3 things keep you shrouded and limited. Meditation and yoga can help you come out of all this, and that is when you have full enthusiasm, energy, joy, and your virtues come up to the surface.

A Touch of Positivity

Satsang can also help you come out of Vikshepa and wrong indoctrination that gets into your head. Satsang brings positivity. Then, when someone comes and tells you this guy is a hopeless guy and you say, “Ok, so what!” You don’t get affected by that. Otherwise, if someone says this guy is a hopeless guy, you say, “Oh yes, he is a hopeless guy. I believed in this guy, and I went to tea with him and gave him money…” and this way the mind goes on. So, Satsang takes you out of this cycle and gives you a positive attitude.

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