Selfish people may seem to have an easier life to begin with though that too is debatable.Ā Some may find it easier but as they move further things begin to change if they continue on the road of selfishness.Ā They begin to lose friends and loved ones and eventually get isolated and unhappy. They try to gather friends by throwing money or on the strength of material success. They try to gain happiness by buying comforts and whatever else money can buy. But eventually the law of karma takes over and forcefully extracts from them the needed sacrifice.Ā
The Gita reminds us:Ā
‘The egoistic soul in a worldĀ Ā ofĀ Ā sacrificeĀ is as if a thief or robber who takes what these Powers bring to him and has no mind to give in return. He misses the true meaningĀ Ā ofĀ life and, since he does not use life and works for the enlargement and elevationĀ Ā ofĀ B.G.3.16Ā his being throughĀ Ā sacrifice, he lives in vain…..’
Sri Aurobindo adds:
‘Indeed,Ā Ā sacrificeĀ is imposed and, where need be, compelled by the universal World-Force; it takes it even from those who do not consciously recognise theĀ Ā law,āinevitably, because this is the intrinsic natureĀ Ā ofĀ things. Our ignorance or our false egoistic viewĀ Ā ofĀ life can make no difference to this eternal bedrock truthĀ Ā ofĀ Nature. For this is the truth in Nature, that this ego which thinks itself a separate independent being and claims to live for itself, is not and cannot be independent nor separate, nor can it live to itself even if it would, but rather all are linked together by a secret Oneness. Each existence is continually giving out perforce from its stock; outĀ ofĀ its mental receipts from Nature or its vital and physical assets and acquisitions and belongings a stream goes to all that is around it. AndĀ always again it receives something from its environment gratis or in return for its voluntary or involuntary tribute. For it is only by this giving and receiving that it can effect its own growth while at the same time it helps the sumĀ Ā ofĀ things. At length, though at first slowly and partially, we learn to make the consciousĀ Ā sacrifice; even, in the end, we take joy to give ourselves and what we envisage as belonging to us in a spiritĀ Ā ofĀ love and devotion to That which appears for the moment other than ourselves and is certainly other than our limited personalities. TheĀ Ā sacrificeĀ and the divine return for ourĀ Ā sacrificeĀ then become a gladly accepted means towards our last perfection; for it is recognised now as the road to the fulfilment in usĀ Ā ofĀ the eternal purpose.
But, mostĀ of it, theĀ sacrifice Ā is done unconsciously, egoistically and without knowledge or acceptanceĀ of Ā the true meaningĀ of Ā the great world-rite. It is so that the vast majorityĀ of Ā earth-creatures do it; and, when it is so done, the individual derives only a mechanical minimumĀ of Ā natural inevitable pr of it, achieves by it only a slow painful progress limited and tortured by the smallness and sufferingĀ of Ā the ego. Only when the heart, the will and the mindĀ of Ā knowledge associate themselves with theĀ law Ā and gladly follow it, can there come the deep joy and the happy fruitfulnessĀ of Ā divineĀ sacrifice .’
So let each one follow what they wish to but the Law catches up in the end. To those who seek material success alone through devious, selfish means may get money but lose much and the most important things in life. The unselfish ones may or may not always get material success, for success depends upon a number of factors, but they are blessed with peace and happiness, love and friendship, above all an opening of the higher God knowledge. To each his own choice and the consequences.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
