How can I tell whether the choice I am making is the right one or not? How can I sense whether I am moving in the same direction that the Divine has chosen for me?
I often find myself confused about how to make the right choice and whether the decision I am taking is truly the correct one.
The road we choose to take should be the one that takes us closer to the goal. Therefore, the first thing necessary is to be clear about the goal or the aim of life. Our thoughts, feelings and actions should be such as would take us closer to the aim we have placed before us.
This is the basic principle. In practice, however, there are in us different parts with different demands and different goals. The mind may want one thing while the desires want other things. The soul’s aspiration may be something else. This creates in us conflicting tendencies and contradictory wills, which create confusion.
One way is to keep the central goal clear and make our choices in tune with that while letting the other contradictory parts slowly weaken and drop off. In this case, we keep feeding and strengthening the central will while not paying much attention to the other needs and pulls.
If there is no clarity about the central aim, then one grows in different directions and in different ways, trying different things until one gets the clarity. The clarity may not come simply by intellectualising about it. Often it comes as we experiment and experience life in different directions to discover what engages the heart to the utmost.
The key is to be found in the heart. The heart, the inmost heart, is usually clear about what it wants by the feeling of love and joy. It is the mind that gets confused, weighing options and possibilities. It is however, better to follow the deeper heart even if the endeavour is likely to fail. We have to learn to listen to the heart. When the mind and the play of thoughts pulling in different directions is quietened and the agitation of desires ceases then the heart gives us the correct indication, the direction we must follow and the road we must take and the goal we must pursue.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
