Hi,
What time of the day do you get up from your bed? Early or late? You may be an early riser. Or you may be the one who gets up from the bed late. But the question then is about what you do with your time after getting up from the bed and how you begin your day? It is the quality of our thoughts and deeds that we invest our time for that determines how successful and happy we are. Are we using our time for the good of ourselves and also that of others? Or are we just whiling away our precious minutes in activities of neither any use nor any significance. It is not the time of the day at which we get up from the bed but how we invest the time for after getting up from the bed is what determines who we are. Let us take a look at these two examples from The Ramayana.
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What time of the day do you get up from your bed? Early or late? You may be an early riser. Or you may be the one who gets up from the bed late. But the question then is about what you do with your time after getting up from the bed and how you begin your day? It is the quality of our thoughts and deeds that we invest our time for that determines how successful and happy we are. Are we using our time for the good of ourselves and also that of others? Or are we just whiling away our precious minutes in activities of neither any use nor any significance. It is not the time of the day at which we get up from the bed but how we invest the time for after getting up from the bed is what determines who we are. Let us take a look at these two examples from The Ramayana.
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What you do with your time tells who you are and what you become.
Valmiki described the differences between what Rama and Ravana did with their time on different occasions and left it to our wisdom to learn about what is good and what is bad.
During the period of life in the forest, Rama used to get up early in the morning. One day, Rama, Lakshmana and Sita Devi woke up before the sunrise and proceeded towards the river Godavari for their daily bath. It was winter season; the weather was chill and icy; and the water was quite cold in the river. On their way, Lakshmana felt bad that Rama had to suffer such harsh conditions and also remembered that their brother Bharata was also going through similar conditions in order to observe asceticism following the trend of Rama. Lakshmana expressed his anguish and talked badly about Kaikeyi as the root cause of all these problems. Rama immediately stopped Lakshmana and told him not to talk ill of their mother Kaikeyi but advised him to continue telling the good things about their brother Bharata." Rama thus did not allow Lakshmana entertaining any negative thoughts at that time.
On the other hand, Ravana was also an early riser. He also used to get up early before the sunrise every day. On one day, he got up early and remembered Sita Devi who was already abducted and kept in the AshokaVanam. His mind was filled with thoughts of approaching Sita Devi and persuading her to accept him. He soon went to her with the thoughts of obtaining her consent.
Look at the difference between Rama and Ravana. Both were early risers. While Rama used his early hours (brahmamuhurat) for cleansing himself and offering oblations; and did not allow Lakshmana to think or speak ill of others, Ravana spent his early hours cultivating negative thoughts and indulging himself in immoral conduct.
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During the period of life in the forest, Rama used to get up early in the morning. One day, Rama, Lakshmana and Sita Devi woke up before the sunrise and proceeded towards the river Godavari for their daily bath. It was winter season; the weather was chill and icy; and the water was quite cold in the river. On their way, Lakshmana felt bad that Rama had to suffer such harsh conditions and also remembered that their brother Bharata was also going through similar conditions in order to observe asceticism following the trend of Rama. Lakshmana expressed his anguish and talked badly about Kaikeyi as the root cause of all these problems. Rama immediately stopped Lakshmana and told him not to talk ill of their mother Kaikeyi but advised him to continue telling the good things about their brother Bharata." Rama thus did not allow Lakshmana entertaining any negative thoughts at that time.
On the other hand, Ravana was also an early riser. He also used to get up early before the sunrise every day. On one day, he got up early and remembered Sita Devi who was already abducted and kept in the AshokaVanam. His mind was filled with thoughts of approaching Sita Devi and persuading her to accept him. He soon went to her with the thoughts of obtaining her consent.
Look at the difference between Rama and Ravana. Both were early risers. While Rama used his early hours (brahmamuhurat) for cleansing himself and offering oblations; and did not allow Lakshmana to think or speak ill of others, Ravana spent his early hours cultivating negative thoughts and indulging himself in immoral conduct.
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It is good to get up early from the bed. But, unless it is used for a good cause, it is meaningless. It is important to be conscious of where our time is spent. There is no meaning in taking pride about how early we get up or how punctual we are at our office unless we use that time for quality thoughts and deeds. It is what we do and how we do at our workplace with the time we have that signifies our level of success at work. It is not only the quantity of time but also the purpose for which it is spent that matters. At the end, it is what you do with your time that determines who you become more than what time you got up from your bed or how many hours you spent at your work place.
To your continued SUCCESS,
With love,
Siva
PS: For "Monday Motivations" published earlier on this blog, please find them at the link given below:
