Chapter) Harmony in the Self

- Understanding Myself
6
BasicHuman Aspiration
Continuous Happiness and Prosperity

Happiness is to be in Harmony

Programfor Fulfilmernt of Human Aspiration

Jnderstanding Harmony and Living in Harmony at AlLevels of Being
G Harmony in the Human Being
Chapter 5-7
Harmony in the Family Chapter 8
Harmony in the Society Chapter 9
Harmony in Nature/Existence Chapter 10-11

Process of Understanding
Whatever isstated is a Proposál (Do not assume it to be truelfalse)
Verify it on your own right
Proposal 2 What is my purpose?
Experiential Validation What is my role (value)
Live according to it with myself?
Verify it
on the basis
of your
Natural 2a) (26)
Behaviour Work
Acceptance with with
Human Being Rest of Nature
Right
Understanding Mutual Mutual
Happiness Prosperity
 96 | A
Foundation Course in Human Valuesand Professional Bthics

Recap
InBody.
the previous chapter, we discussed buman being as the co-ex'stence of the Self and the
We discussed categorically the needs, activities and response of the Self and the
Body.We understood the Self as aconsciousness entity and the Body as amaterial entity
we saw that the Self makes all the decisions, regarding itself as well as regarding the Bo
There is harmony in the human being when the needs of the Self as well as the needs of
the Body are fulfilled:
The need of the Self is continuous happiness. It is fulfilled by right understanding
and right feeling which are activities of consciousness.
The need of the Body is physical facility. It is fulfilled by physio-chemical things
which are material in nature.

Having esplored the harnony between the Self and the Body, now we willexplore into the
activities of the Self and see how harmony can be ensured among all the activities of the Self;
ultimately, leading to harmony in the Self, resulting into astate of continuous happines.
Let us take adeeper look to try and investigate into the Self.
Activities of the Self
We can easily see that we are involved in various activities all the time. Activities like
eating, sleeping, playing, studying, ett. are going on. In chapter 5, we tried to distinguish
between the activities of the Body, the activities of the Self and the activities where both,
the Self as well as the Body are involved. When we say.'my activities', we are generally
referring to our imagination, our activity of making decisions, our desires, our thoughts,
our expectations and so on. It is necessary to understand the Self with precision,so as to
be able tounderstand harmony in the Self.
Power Activity
1

3. Desire Imaging
4. Thought Analysing-Comparing
Self
5. Expectation| Selecting-Tasting Imagination
Information
Body
Behaviour Work
Fig. 6-1. Activities of the Self
In fig. 6-1, three sets of the activities of the Self are mentioned. These are the initia
activities that we will study. It is not just amatter of reading about these activities, but it
 Chapter 6 97
Harmony in the Self - Understanding Myself
/s ratherimportant tossee these activities going on in you. It is important to experientially
validatewhatis being discussed here. Only then will it make any difference in your living
Your happiness or unhappiness all depends on yourown state! So, let us start exploring
the Self
into the activities of
Desireis about what you want to be. It is the name given tothe activity of imaging, Since
we use the word desire quite often, we are talking about it here, but what we can actually
observe within. is the activity of imaging. It is like that for other activities of the Self also.
So, desire is the power for the: activity ofimaging, You are making an imageeiin the Self. When
we say desire, it is in the form of animage which you have created within. For exarmple, if
there is a desire for a big house, you want to become the owner of a big house. So, when
yousaydesire for a big house it means you want to be the owner of a big house and you
Lote an image of this. Desire means imaging of what you want to be'.

Thought is the power for the activityof analysing, trying to work out the details of 'howto
AlAl your desire. When you have adesire for becoming an owner of abig house, you try to
work out the details of the house. For example,will you have a dining room,a bedroom,a
litchen,averanda, a bathrooil, so on and so forth- this is called analysing. You are trying
to separate different parts of the image, trying to work out the details of the image, trying
to analyse the image -that is called thought. You generate lots of possible details, and you
are taking up some of them. For the verandah, you may have lots of possibilities - an open
verandah, a partially covered verandah and so on. You compare these possibilities and
take up some of them. Which ones you will take up and which ones you will not depends
on your basis for comparison. Thought is the activity of analysing based on comparing
various possibilities to fulfil your desire.
We can see that desire is about 'what to do' or 'what to be' and thought is about how to
fulfl the desire. So, thought is about how to do.
Expectation is thepower for the activity of selecting based on tasting. For example, when
you are desiring for a big house, you have an image of it, you are analysing that image,
trying to work out the details of it, and now you are trying to fill the finer details, like the
smoothness of the walls, the colours, etc. - that is the activity of selecting. Here is a house,
a drawing room and you want to decide whether to put white colour, green colour or blue
colour on the wall.This selection of colour is based on your taste. If you had visited some
place and you saw acream colour room which you happened to like, it is now part of your
taste. So now when you are selecting colours, you selected for cream colour. Expectation
is the activity of selecting which is of course on the basis of tasting.
We can take more examples to exemplify each of these activities.You have selected the
style and colour of your clothes. This selection is based on your taste. You may like to wear
loose cotton clothes - that is your selection. You have selected clothes which are blue in
Colour - that is your taste. Your friend might like to wear tight syntheticclothes which
are black in colour - that is his selection based on his taste. You may or may not be aware
observe the way
Oryour taste, but every selection you make is based on your taste. Try to
you sit. You select the posicion and posture every few minutes. That is also based on your
taste for comfortability.
 AFoundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

The root of selectting-tasting andanalysing comparing is the desire. You mayyhave a

to be comfortable,, so you are selecting body postures that provide comfort.
adesire to be knowledgeable, so you are analysing courses available in You may desihavete
your
want to be and college
selecting some of them. At the root is a desire for what you
it and
is in
form of an image -not just a physical image but animage that also contains some the
somepurpose.
Can you observe within yourself and see that the activitiessofimaging,
fe ling.
and selecting-tasting are going on?
analysing-comparing
Youmay observe that you have a desire to be a person with a good job. Thern you may ha
many thoughts about how to get a good job - shall I try for campus recruitment, shall
Iapply directly to the companies that do work in the areas of my choice, shall I Con ek
my seniors' and soon. There may be many thoughts like this. You may be dropping sOma
of these thoughts when you compare with your criteria - Twant to consult that senior
because (s)he has always been nice to speak with, Idon't want to apply directly because the
placement office will disqualify me from campus interviews ifIdid that' and so on. Then
there may be many selections depending on your taste - this set of companies, because
they offer the best package' and so on. Is that happening in you?

Activities of the Selfare Continuous

We have the power of desire, i.e.we have the capacity for the activity of imaging, SO we
are able to image. We have the power of thought, i.e. we have the capacity for the activity
of analysing, so we are able to analyse. We have the power of expectation, i.e. we have the
capacity for the activity of selecting,:so we are able to selcct. These powers are inexhaustible,
so the activities are continuous!

Try toobserve if these activities are going on in you continuously or not. Are you having
some desire or the other all the time? Like thedesire to be happy- is that always there or
sometimes you have no desire at all? Are you having some thought or the other continuously
or there are times when you stop thinking? Are you having one or the other expectation
all the time or there are times when you have no expectation? Like do you always have the
expectation to keep the Body comfortable? And you keep selecting some body-posture or
theother? Start by observing your activities during the day, and later you can make the
observations during the night also.
If you are not able to see that it is continuous, you have to go on finding out, go on exploring
checking whether there is any time when there is nodesire, when there is no thought or
when there is no expectation. Find out if these activities are not going on or they are going
on, but you are not aware that they are going on.
The activities of imaging, analysing-comparing and selecting-tasting are always going on;
whether we are aware of them or we are not aware of them; they are continuous.
 Chapter 6 Myself| 99
lamony in the Sel Understanding
Activities Together
Constitute Imagination
Now,if youputthese activities together, it is called imagination. We may not immediately
eable to observe our desire, thought and expectation distinctly. but it may be easier to
seethat sonnething is going on within. Oneimagination or the other is going on in us all
the time.

Youcanlook into yourself and find out

time or you can
stop it. It is important whether this
to lookinto imagination
is going on in you all the
find? lIf you observe yourself, you will find that
yourself to find out. So, what do you
all the time.
some imagination or the other is going
on
Evenif youobserve yourself for five minutes you will find
ing place. You may o tnis exercise to just observe some 10, 20, 30 imaginations
yourself for five minutesand see all
that is going on inside you!

Imaginationgets EXpressed in Behaviour and Work

A1l the decisions are made in our
manbeing is taken at the level ofimagination.
The decision regarding behaviour with
the imagination. Similarly, for any work we do with
wost of nature,the decisions are taken at the level of
are taken. Can you see that?
imagination. It is where all decisions
Vou may select to express something outside as behaviour or
work or you may select not
toexpress anything outside. That decision is also taken at the level of imagination. When
itcomes tothe expression outside, the Body is used as an
instrument. In behaviour,you
mav use the Body to share your feeling of respect for your friend by way of words. In work
with rest of nature, you may involve your Body to sow the wheat seeds and so on. Your
behaviour or work is simply an expression of your imagination in which the Body is involved.
Whenyour imagination is in harmony with your natural acceptance, it leads to harmony
within and therefore, a state of happiness. If this imagination is in contradiction with
vour natural acceptance, it leads to disharmony and unhappiness. It is very important
to see what is going on in our imagination, to be aware of our imagination, because our
basic aspiration of happiness depends upon it. This is what we have to start looking into.
One of our colleagues related this incident: I remember conducting a workshop in a
smalltown for agroup of teachers. Iasked them "can you tell me what is your desire"?
One of them said "as long as Iam alive, I want unlimited wealth and after death, I
want moksha (liberation)". Now these are quite contradictory desires! When he is
working for unlimited wealth, he will keep worrying about what will happen to his
liberation. When he is working for liberation, he will keep thinking about what will
happen to that unlimited wealth. With these contradictions, he will be in a state of
unhappiness - can you see that?
When we are comfortable within, when we are in harmony within, when we are in a state
of happiness within, our behaviour and work is also likely to be harmonious. When we
are uncomfortable, in disharmony, confusion and unhappiness within, our behaviour and
work is also likely to be disharmonious.
100 AFoundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

We are taking this example again and again just toclarify the point. When you are thinki
of taking revenge from someone for two hours and after two hours youdrop the idea, is th
any execution outside? There is no execution at the level of Body, no execution in beha
and no execution in work. However, a lot has taken place at the level of imagination ax
this becomes the source of your happiness or unhappiness. For these two
hours,
thinking of taking revenge, of opposition which is not naturally acceptable to you;youso,werefor
these two hours, you were in the state of contradiction, of unhappiness. The other person
may not even know of it as you have not expressed it outside!
Similarly, when you think for two hours about afriend with afeeling of respect, about ho.
to express your feeling of respect to him, you are in harmony within because the
of respect is naturally acceptable to you. When you are in harmony within, you are in feeling
state of happiness. Of course, if you express this feeling of respect to your friend, it will
lead to happiness for your friend also, since respect is naturally acceptable to him as wel
Observe your own state of imagination and try tocorrelate your expression, in terms of
behaviour and work. When is your behaviour fulflling for the other? When is your work
mutually enriching?
Find out if imagination is going on or not going on? Is it going on continuously or there is
apoint of time when there is no imagination taking place? Can you see that you decide at
the level of imagination and that your behaviour and work is just the expression of your
imagination? Can you see that you use your Body, as andwhen required, for expressing
your decisions? You may be aware of it or you may not be aware of it, so keep on observing
and keep on verifying this.
While the Self is central to human being, ifyou look at the Self, this imagination is central to
the Self in the sense that happiness and unhappiness depends on the state of imagination.
With that, it also connects the Self to the world outside, in terms of behaviour with human
being and work with the rest of nature. It, further connects to natural acceptance within.
In that sense, the imagination plays a central role.

State of Imagination
We may find it difficult, at first,to observe our imaginations. We may then be able to see
some of them, maybe with gaps in between. We may remember some imaginations and
not others. Some imaginations may be connected to each other; some may be disconnected
and even very contrary to each other.
Youmay remember there was a TV serial caked 'Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapane'
(Beautiful dreams of Mungerilal). It is about the day-dreams of aperson called
Mungerilal. What it depicts in each of the episodes is, that in first one minute he is a
peon sitting outside an office on astool and soon he takes off into his imagination for
some twenty minutes (of that episode) and in last one minute, he realizes that he is
the peon sitting outside the office on his stool. These twenty minutes, he imagines
all kinas of very interesting things.
 101
Chapter 6 | Harmony in the Self- Understanding Myself |
is
Now if youstart looking at yourself, you will find that it is not only Mungerilal whoWe
other.
having these imaginations - we all are having such imaginations, oneafterthe
where
or may not beaware of ourimaginations. We may or may not be able to find out
may
from, butimaginations are going on in each one of us.
they are coming
reading this book, you can find out whatis going onin your imagination. Even
Asyou are the other. Are you
in five minutes,so many imaginations will be taking placeone after
attention is in the book and
able to see that? Are you aware of them? How much time your
how much time you are imagining other things? To comprehend one paragraph, youmay
heable toobserve that you h£ve to read it more than once, even ifit is of interest to you.
That is because you are thinking of many other things in between while reading. When
wOu look at the things to which your attention goes to, those are the things you consider
important. Sometimes youthink what is written in the book is important and sometimes
you may think of your friends who have gone for a movie!
That is why when we are conducting a class for this course, we keep repeating the
importantpoints many times, beccuse we have an idea about what may be happening
in the students. They may be going from one imagination to other imagination. By
the time we speak something, we state some important puint, the student picks up
a few words and then (s)he takes off. (S)he starts imagining something, something
else and soon. For ten minutes (s)he is off the class, in her own imegination and (s)
back
he does not know what is going on in the class. Ten minutes later (s)he comes
and tries totrace what is being talked about. You see, we are clear that every student
to focus.
wants to know,wants to understand. We also have an idea about their ability
board. We also
By keeping both these things in mind, we write the contents on the
back after 15 minutes
keep repeating 10 times, 20 times so that even if (s)he comes being
(s)he should be able tofind out what is being talked about, to get the point
relevance
discussed. Slowly, over time, things settle down as (s)he is able to see the
the discussion
of what is being discussed. Then, her attention stays for more time on
and we can go faster.
goes.
An example has been shown in the fig. 6-2. It shows the way imagination and
assignment
While a student is sitting in the classroom, the teacher is giving an remembers his
he(student)
the student is writing down the assignment. Suddenly last time he saw amovie
friends whoare planning to gofor amovie. He recalls the
escapades of the hero and the
with them. Many scenes may flash before him - of the
back to the classroom. The
heroine. Aloud thud of the dropping duster brings him assignment. Anoop sees his
board has now been filled up with 20 questions for the
Surprised at that, he starts
notebook where only the first question has been written.with the teachers'pace, so he
up
writing the questions. He thinks that he can't catch
questions. He willget it from the notes of
starts planning how to get a copy of the imagination about the movie. Anoop
one of his friends. Again, he slips back tothe
with a lab in the basement. He wants to
alsowant to be a scientist, have a big house
decent grades for that, he thinks. And so, it
have a nice family. But he has to get some identify the desire,
goes, one imagination after another. At this point, you may try to
to many thoughts, selecting
the thoughts and the selections. One desire is leading
102 AFoundation Course inHuman Values and Professional Ethics

one of them and further analysing it and so on. Also try to identify the basis for the
selections, the basis for comparing
The moments yoU
My college My friends My best friend with your best friendspent
the
previous day

Next??? Who can help you complete The assignments that

the assignment? remained due

Fig. 6-2. Tracing One's Imagination

Ifyou try totrace your own imaginations, you will get an idea of the activities going on in
you. .You will find out that you (Self) are deciding the content of your imagination. You wll
find out that your imagination stays on those contents that you consider valuable,consider
important. When you do this exercise, you will find that many of your imaginations are
in harmony with each other, some are contrary to each other or contrary to your
natural
acceptance.
Find out how you feel when your imaginations are contrary to each other - äre you
comfortable or uncomfortable? You will find that only when your imaginations are in line
with your natural acceptance, it leads to happiness. Only when your imaginations are in
harmony with each other it leads to happiness. This is asignificant observation to make. It
points to the fact that your happiness and unhappiness depends on your own imagination!
If youare not aware of your imaginations, they are stillgoing on - making you happy or
unhappy, all without your awareness!
Once you start lcoking at your imagination, becoming aware of your desire, thought and
expectation, you will be able to find out the state of your imagination. Refer to fig. 6-3.
Your imagination could be well organized, in harmony or it could be a random mixture of
harmony and contradiction. It could be in harmony or in contradiction with your natural
acceptance.
Desire (in line with the
natural acceplance )
D1 02 D3 D4 Sub-Desires

TÍ1 T12 T13 T14 Thoughts

Expectations
E111 E112 E113 E114

Imagination in Harmony Random Imagination

Fig. 6-3. Stale of Imagination - in Harmony or in Contradiction

 Chapter 6 | Harmony in the Self -Understanding Mysell | 103

youfind?ls yourimagination
well organized or random? Or nothing seems to
do
What unaware of what is
oryouare
happening going on?
be
inaginationis signifi(ant because allthe decisions are made herel Everything we feel,
everything
This wethinl and everything we do is decidedhere. The state of imagination gives
preiseidea about our ife. Ifthe imagination is well organised and in
very
it
harmony,
usa
be in}harmony will be lhappy. On the other hand, if theimagination random
is
lifewill
and confused,so willthe life be - sometimes happiness, sometimes unhappiness.
twhich state is desirable and what your current state of imagination is. It will give
Findout
anidea about
yourself.
you

Possible Sources of Imagination - Preconditioning,

Sensation and Natural Acceptance
Theseedor root of the imagination is the desire. As we have seen, asmall desire expands
andfurther expands in expectation. If we can be aware of our desire, we can
inthoughti in line with our natural acceptance or not before expanding it further in our
checkifitis
imagination!
Nowthe next questionthat we want to investigate into is the desire - where is it coming
from? Ifyoufind it. hard to pinpoint the desire, look into the content of your imagination
asa whole. We want to find lout, "what is the motivation that is driving our imagination"?
1Esue look at this desire, thought and expectation, what is their source or motivation? Who
is deciding them? Are we decidingthem ourselves? Or is it someone else making the
decision, like parents, family members, friends, teachers, the social environment, etc.?
Eor example, you want to come first in theclass. Is it really your own desire? Did you decide
it vourself or it came from your parents,or itcame from your teachers, or it came from
upur friends or it came from the social environment - what is it? We don't usually ask this
question as to where it is coming from. It looks like we are deciding, but when we question
deeper that how these desires came; then we may findthat it came from the family, from
the teachers, from the friends and so on.
Power Activity
1. (3) Natural Acceptance
2.
Preconditioning
3. Desire Imaging
4. Thought Analysing-Comparing
Selt
5. Expectation\ Selecting-Tasting
IInformation Sensation
Body
Behaviour Work

Fig. 6-4. Three Sources of Imagination

104 AFoundatiouCourse in Human Values and Professional Ethics

If you look into it (refer to fig. 6-4), you will findthat there are three possible
motivation for imagination: SOurces of
1. Preconditioning
2. Sensation
3. Natural Acceptance
Preconditioning asa Source of Motivation for Imagination
Adominant source of imagination is preconditioning. Preconditioning means the belief:
notions, norms, ideas, views,assumptions, dictums, goals, etc. picked by oneself, or
prevailing in the family, in the society which may influence our imagination. For example
if parents say ten times you have to come first in the class, your desire gets conditioned
and you have the desire to come first in the cdass. If your friend also says you have to come
first in the class, if your teacher also says you have to come first in the class, you get.
strong desire tocome first in theclass. We tend to pick up whatever preconditioning is
there around us in society, in family, in school without verifying it for ourselves.
If youask yourself whether you want to come first in the class or you want to understand
what is being taught, what is the answer that you get? What is your natural aceptance?
Given all the choices, you will like to understand what is being taught in the class, provided
it relates to your happiness and prosperity - that is your natural acceptance. However.
you desire to come first in the class because somehow you have now started relating it to
your happiness or under the pressure (or influence) of your parents, your teachers, your
friends or the society around. It may not be your natural acceptance, but you have made
it your desire without verifying it for yourself.
Like this you can see that alarge percentage ofyour desires are motivated by preconditioning.
They are not your natural acceptance, but you have made them your desire under some
influence or pressure; and you may not even be aware of it! If you are not even aware of
them, they are riskier for you as they might mislead your desires and you may not even
notice it. In fact, a little awareness will show that the way we dress, what we select to eat,
the way we talk, the way we behave...most of these are coming from our preconditioning
One of our friends related an example about a metro city of India which he visited
fifteen years back. He along with his friends was going to meet someone at his house.
Inthe metro train, he found that most of theyoungsters were wearing torn trousers.
He was quite surprised to see this as he was in a metro city. He naively asked one
of his friends if people in the city were facing some economic crisis. The friend was
surprised and asked what happened. He said 'people are wearing torn clothes - the
trousers are torn at the bottom". The friend laughed and replied, "Don't you know?
This is the fashion today" Now this was quite unexpected for him and he kept thinking
if they have to wear torn dlothes, why do they need to get it stitched"? But you know
this is fashion and this fashion means some preconditioning has been created around.
So, now we are paying for stitching the trouser and we are paying for tearing the
trouser. Similarly, those heels offashion -fashion of high heels, low heels and it keeps
changing every few months. Our preconditioning is changing and we keep changing
 Chapter 6 | Harmony in the Self-Understanding Myself | 103
andshoes. Does it happen with you? Find it out. You may get so many
theclothes experience.
chings from your
preconditioning| keeps on deciding our desires,thoughts and expectations. Can you see
Our
that? The prevailing preconditioning is one major source of motivation for imagination.
Sensationas Another Source of Motivation for Imagination
Another m
major source of our desire, our imagination is the sensation. Sensation is the
information wegetfromthe Body throughthefive sense organs - of sound (through ears),
touch(throughthe skin), sight (through the eyes), taste (through the tongue) and smell
(throughthe nose). For example, you are going by the road and you see avery shining red
car passingby. Now your imagination is dragged by that car. You start desiring for that car
now.becauseyou happened to like the colour, or you happened to like the shape, speed or
something else. So, this sensation has made an impact on you. So, now you have a desire
happen?
for the car. Does it
Sensation has an important role in our imagination. See, if that is how it has been
happening. Many ot our desires are governed by the sensationthat we get from the sense
organsand we may feel motivated to fulfil those desires without being able to relate them
becontinuity of happiness. You happen to eat some exotic food, and the taste motivates
youtovisit the restaurant again and again. You listen to some music and the tunes, the
singer'ssonorous voice engrosses your whole thought. You now feel like listening to the
music again and again. Your friend purchases avery soft woollen cloth, and the very touch
nakes you think how to get one for you too. Your neighbour uses some kind of perfume
hich you happen to like and you start locating that perfume in the mall. You like the way
Rmeone looks - now you want that person as your intimate friend. Now,you will see that
on havebeen accumulating desires just like that; without verification and without being
aware of how it came about.
These are the two major sources of motivation for our imagination. One is the
preconditioning and the other is sensation.
Natural Acceptance as the Most Authentic Source of Motivation for
Imagination
The thirdsource of motivation is our natural acceptance. Some people also refer to it as
the inner voice or conscience. Self-verification on the basis of our natural acceptance can
be the third possible source. It may or may not be the predominant source of mouvation
currently, but it can be the real source for deciding our desire, our imagination.
Try to find out what your natural acceptance is:
To respect or todisrespect others?
To protect your Body or to damage your Body?
To eat food that nurtures your Body or to eat food that harms your Body?
It 1S as simple as that. If we are aware of our natural acceptance, and we are aware of our
magination, we can make the choices that are in line with our natural acceptance. We will
look into this third possibility in more detail as we go further.
106 AFoundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics
So far, we have discussed three possible sources of motivation for our
the prevailing preconditioning,the second one is sensation and the third imagination..Oneis
possible s
the self-verification on the basis of our natural acceptance. Can you see this
for SOurce is
yourself?
Consequences of Imagination from the three Sources
Self-organisation or Enslavement?
Try to find out: of all the desires you have, what percentage of desires are
preconditioning and sensation; and what percentage is motivated by coming from
your
acceptance? natural
With this observation you can also see, as long as your desires are
preconditioning, you cannot be sure whether they are in harmony with coming from
your natwt
acceptance or not. Therefore, you are not sure whether, with these desires, you will be:
harmony or you will be in contradiction within. Therefore, you are not sure whether uo
will be ina state of happiness within or unhappiness within.
Similarly, when desires are based on sensation you are not very sure whether they are in line
with your natural acceptance or not. So there again, you are not very clear whether it will
lead tostate of harmony and happiness within or contradiction and unhappiness within
We can recall the discussion on the prevailing notions about happiness from chapter
4. Assuming that pleasing sensation is happiness is one notion. We get bored with any
indulgence after some time and want to shift to something else. We keep shifting TV
channels, shifting from sweets tó salty snacks, shifting from one kind of music to another
and so on. Now you can see that a particular sensation may match with our taste for a
while, but we don't want to continue with it since it does not necessarily ensure harmony
in the Self.

Similarly, the assumption that good feeling from the other will fetch us happiness can now
beevaluated. We like the taste of the feeling that we receive from the other. However, it
does not ensure harmony within us - it does not ensure right understanding and right
feeling. Therefore, the taste of the feeling is very short lived. Try to observe people who
have such an assumption. They keep expecting affirmation from the other. Ahusband
may keep expecting his wife to pay full attention to him and only to him all the time.
She may expect him to pick up her phone call every time on the first ring; to answer her
messages immediately; to inform her of whom he is meeting every time and so on. This
sort of expectation is an indication that we have an assumption that thefeeling from the
other is a source of my happiness.
Only when your desires are coming through your natural acceptance, you can be sure that
you are in harmony within because then your imagination is in line with your natural
acceptance. Only then you are sure to be in a state of harmony within andtherefore, in a
state of happiness. The only way to ensure harmony at the level of Self is toensure that
allour desire, thought and expectation, allour imaginations are in line with our natural
acceptance.

This is also the meaning of definite conduct. We are able to see our natural auceptance.
Our imagination is in harmony with our natural acceptance; therefore, we are in astate or
 Chapter 6 Harmony in the Self - Understanding Myself 107

(happiness) within. Our behaviour and work are nÞw in line with (in harmony
harmony naturalacceptance. This is what we referred to as definite human conduct.
l
with)our
Power Actlvity
1
3) Natural Acceptance
2. Self-organised
Preconditioning
Enslavement &
3. Desire Imaging
4. Thought Analysing-Comparing|
Self 5. Expectation\_Selecting-Tasting
Information 2) Sensation
Body Enslavement
Behaviour Work
Fig. 6-5. Consequences of the Three Sources of Imagination

Next, ask<yourself ifyour

desires, which.1 are motivated by some preconditioning, are really
e borrowed from outside. Who decided to wear the torn clothes (to show
yours orthey are
tune with the latest fashion)? Is that reallyyyou? Because if you had
othersthat you are in
clothes that
dorided (on the basis of your natural acceptance), would you not have selected
protectthe Body. and also that are
acceptable in the society? If we look intothis in depth,
itis the prevailing preconditioningthat is deciding, rather than your natural acceptance; it
ic the other deciding,rather than you! In that sense, the decision is dictated by the other.
indicates that we are dictated by our
Refer to fig. 6-5. It is a state of enslavement. That
ownprecornditioning!
by sensation, are really yours
Similarly,ask yourself if your desires which are motivated that
outside? Who decided to go for food for the sensation of
or they are borrowed from
for your Body? Is that really you? Because
taste alone,without checking if it isnurturing acceptance), would you not have selected
natural
if you had decided (on the basis of your which was also tasty? If you look carefully, it is
food that is nurturing for your Body, and natural acceptance. In that sense, the decision
your
the sensation of taste that is overriding state of enslavement. That indicates
we
the Body. It is a
is dictated by the sensations of
are enslaved by our own sensations!
your desires which are based on your natural acceptance, are
When you ask yourself if protect your
are borrowed from outside. If you decided on shoes to
Teally yours or they in line with your
and you selected shoes of the right size and shape of your feet, it is what people say
Teet selections,you are not influenced by
hatural acceptance. For such desires, shoe fashion for pointed shoes, high heeled shoes,
latest
or the conditions outside. The would not have any influence on your decision or your
exteriors, etc. acceptance are
ae sniniest shoe
- that desires based on your natural
selection. You get an affirmative yes with your basic aspiration for
such desires would be in line acceptable not only
uy your desires. Of course. at the base, sothey will be
mutuall happiness and mutual prosperity
108 AFoundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

to you, but tothe other as well. This is the state of being self-orgarnised, organized unde.
the guidance of one's natural acceptance.
Being self organisedis not the same as freedom. The general sense of freedom is one of
doing whatever one desires. Another.raspect of the general sense of íreedom is escape from
some sort of bondage. As we have seen, our desires are largely motivatedliby preconditioning
and sensation, so there could be adesire to dominate and force the whole class to take
day off. Would youconsider such an action to be a sign of freedom? Being self-organised
on the other hand, is used specifically for the responsibility one willingly takes in ensurine
harmony. Iam happy to take the responsibility to act in accordance with my natural
acceptance. It is in the interest of harmony within myself and harmony outside. If we make
effort for collaborating with our classmates tounderstand all that is being taught, it is in
the interest of harmony. One can make such choices when one is guided by their natural
acceptance (one is self-organised).
The exercise of finding out the accumulated desires coming from preconditioning, sensation
and natural acceptance will give us an idea of our state of being self-organised or being
enslaved. In other words, it will give an idea of how much we are in harmony within and
how much we are in disharmony within; how much we are in a state of happiness within
and how much we are in a state of unhappiness within. We will get a reasonable idea about
"what we are". It will also give a good idea about what we need to do to reach to the state
of being self-organised, the state of complete harmony and continuous happiness within.

The Way Ahead

- Ensuring Harmony in the Self by way of Self-exploration
The state of harmony within is 'harmony in the Self; and it is desirable. Once we are in
harmony within, we are self-organised, in a state of continuous happiness. To reach to
thisstate, we need to:
(a) Know our natural acceptance. We have mentioned before that our natural
acceptance is for relationship, not for opposition; for harmony, not for disharmony;
and for co-existence, not for conflict, struggle. In chapter 2, we had referred to
natural acceptance as "what I really want to be","what is naturally acceptable to
me".

(b) Be aware of our imagination, i.e. our desire, thought and expectation or the
activities of imaging, analysing-comparing and selecting-tasting. In chapter 2, we
had referred to our imagination in terms of"what Iam".
(c) Findout how much of ouraccumulated imagination is motivated by preconditioning.
sensation and natural acceptance. This is essentially analysing "what Iam":
(d) Work out a way to sort out our imagination till it is fully in line with our natural
acceptance, i.e. our desires,thoughts and expectations are in line with relationship.
harmony and co-existence; and free of opposition,exploitation and conflict. This
is basically working out a way to line up "what I am" with my natural acceptance,
through the process of dialogue within, i.e. the process of self-exploration.
 Chapter 6 | Harmony in the Self-Understanding Myself 109
Power Activity
1.
NaturalAcceptance
2. INTENTION
What IReally Want to Be
3. Desire Harmony ’ Happiness
Imaging Contradiction ’ Unhappiness
4. Thought
Self
Analysing-Comparing Imagination
COMPETENCE
5. ExpectationSelecting-Tasting What IAm
Information
Body
Behaviour Work
Fig. 6-6. Happiness is to Be in Harmony
between What 1Am' and 'My Natural Acceptance'
Harmony in the Self is achieved by ensuring harmony between our imagination and our
natural acceptance, by ensuring that all imaginations are in line with our natural acceptance
(fig. 6-6).

Understanding Harmony in the Self(Detail)

The first-time reader may choose to skip this part and come back to it in the
reading. Here,we are introducing ten activities of the Self. For more details, pleasesecond
refer
toappendix A6-1]
If we look at the finer details, it would give an idea of the current state of development of
the Self as well as a glimpse of the complete state of development. As we go into further
chapters, these pointswill be further detailed and clarified.
Space
Dynamic State
Activity Activity
1. Authentication Realization B1 Co-existence

Self 2. Determination Understanding Harmony in Nature

3. Imaging Cohtemplation Participation in Larger Order,

Relationship
4. Analysing Comparing B2 Co-existence, Harmony,
Justice guided Sensation,
Health, Profit
5. Selecting Tasting Goal, Value
guided Sensation

Body
Behaviour Work Participation
Other Human Rest of Nature in larger Order
Fig. 6-7. Self in Human Consciousness
110 | A FoundationCourse in HumanValues and Professional Ethics
R1
If youlook at the Self (refer to fig. 6-7), the activities have been marked in two blocks
block B2, "what I a
and B2. So far,we have been tallking about the activities related to
of being, whas
my imagination. Desire is the activity of imaging - about myself, my-state
about how to ful6l
I want to be as a human being. Thought is the activity of analysing do in the outsid
to
mydesire to be. Expectation is the activityof selecting - the thingsbecause these are tha
world to fulfil my desire. We have been discussing these activities
difficulty in being ahle
activities that we are awakened to,by and large. If you are having
find out if it is because you are
to see your desires, thoughtsand expectations distinctly, activities.
these
activities and the content of
not fully aware of yourself,of your
our harmony or disharmony
These activities, together called imagination,are governing participation in the larger order
within andoutside (in terms of our behaviour, work and
i.e. in the family, soiety, nature/existence).
related to my natural acceptance
The activities related toblock B1, "what I really want to be",
understanding and right feeling. These
are what we have previously referred to as right and realisation. Contemplation is the
are the activities of contemplation, understanding
activity of seeing my participation in the larger order, seeing my relationship with other
Understanding is the activity
human beings and my relationship with the rest of nature.
of seeing the harmony in nature,seeing the
inherent harmony in every unit in nature.
existence.
Realisation is the activity of seeing the co-existence in
understanding and right feeling.
IfI am awakened to these activities, i.e. if I have the right input that I get from outside.
every
it is my internal guide for all my imagination. I can filter
relationship and ensure relationship:
Iaccept only those inputs which are in ine with harmony and inputs which are in line
inputs which are in line with harmony and ensure
guide is shown by the arrow from
with co-existence and ensure co-existence. This internal
is what we have to awaken to.
B1 to B2.This isa very important arrow. This
partly in harmony but largely
If you observe the Self which is awakened only to B2, it is
naturally acceptable, so it
in disharmony and unhappiness. This unhappiness is not unhappiness as we discussed in
tries variousmeans to achieve happiness or escape from
awaken to higher activities
chapter 4. The solution is to realise our innate potential to
a Self that is awakened to Bl and
of contemplation, understanding and realisation, to
human consciousness. This is the selt
B2. This is what we are referring to as a Self with is
This self-evolution
evolution in human being, i.e. the Self awakening to all its activities. initiate. The evolved
facilitated by self-exploration which is what we have been trying to
Self is shown in fig, 6-7.
point our state of being can be
In this context, it is pertinent to mention that at any
articulated as the accumulation of our desire, thought, expectation and the 'acceptances
sanskar. So,
derived out of it. These 'acceptances' put together is what we are calling as
our imaginations (trom au
sanskar isthe 'acceptances' derived from the summation of all
time). In other words:
Sanskar ='Acceptances derived out of E(Desire (from all time) +Thought
(f:om alltime) +Expectation (from all time)]'
 Understanding Myself 111
Chapter 6 Harmony in the Self -
sanskar at one moment t. At the next moment
Itis being updatedover time. We have some
(t+1),our sanskar can be articulated as:
Sanskar (t+1) =Sanskar (t) +Environment (t) +Self-exploration (t)
That is, our sanskar at the next moment (t+1) is a result of our sanskar at the present
moment (t), the environment we are in at the present moment as well as the selt
exploration, self-verification we do at the present moment.
These acceptances (sanskar) may or may not be in line with our natural acceptance. lfwe
are doing the self-exploration based on our natural acceptance, sanskar generated out
of this will be harmonious and therefore, our sanskar at the next moment will be more
harmonious than our sanskar now.
On the other hand, ifwe are just assuming things without self-verification, even then we
willhave an updated sanskar in the next moment, but that sanskar may or may not be
better than our current sanskar. It can be worse if we are assuming thíngs based on wrong
preconditioning or sensation.
For example, we keep getting inputs from thesocial environment like 'donot trust
anyone!These inputs arecomingfrom parents, other family members, friends, social
media, etc. The fear is that if you trust someone blindly, they may take advantage of
youor even harm you. Incidents of suchevents are reported frequently in the media.
By getting this input again and again, it becomes part ofour imagination. As a result,
at one point of time, we may develop the acceptance for it. Now do not trust anyone'
becomes a part of our sanskar and it continues with us. It now mistrust becomes the
basis for many of our imaginations and many of our decisions are based on this sanskar.
If we ask ourself, is the feeling of trust naturally acceptable me or the feeling of mistrust
is naturaly acceptable to me'? When we do the self-exploration on this question and in
our self-verification, we find that it is the feeling of trust that is naturally acceptable, we
develop the acceptance for the feeling of trust. Hence, our previous sanskar, 'do not trust
anyone', gets updated tothe feeling of trust (rather than mistrust). In this way, our sanskar
is modified. You can refer to chapter 8 for some more details about the feeling of trust for
your own self-verification.

The key input for self-exploration has to come either from within the Self, specifically from
B1 or as proposals which are based on what someone else has seen at the level of their B1
i.e. at the level of activities of contemplation, understanding and realisation. Then only
willit lead to lasting improvement in our sanskar.
We tend to stay in our comfort zone; to accept proposals that match our existing beliefs
(unverified assumptions) and to discard proposals that don't seem to match, thereby
deepening the existing preconditioning,existing beliefs, existing sanskar. If we take the
inputs from the other as proposals for self-exploration, we slowly understand and our
sanskar also gets improved, i.e. having lesser unverified assumptions and the Self is more
in harmony within.
 I2 AWomdAtion Comse in Hunan Values and Professiona' Bthics

Bven with only B2 ative, with effort we can look into our natural
the answets when we iy, when we explore within. Clearly, we seethat we accepthaveance.a We get
Aeptane for natural
1. Relationship
2 Hamony and
Co existence
Wehave anatural acceptance for mutualfulfilment in relationship and not for oppositia.
In hapter 8 on harnnony in family, we will explore into relationship in detail. We wil
see that we have a natural acceptance for mutual fulfilment in relationship with burs
being ln chapter 9, we will see that we have anatural acceptance for mutual fulfilmens
with the rest of nature as well. The darity about relationship is awakening to the activit
of contemplatton.
We have a natural aCceptance for harmony and not for disharmony, not for exploitation
In chapter 10,we will explore into the harmony in naure in detail. The clarity of harmony
(reflected s mutual enrichment) at the level of nature is awakening to the activity of
understanding.
We have a naturalacceptance for co-existence and not for conflict, not for struggle. In
chapter 11, we will explore into the harmony in existence. The clarity of co-existence in
existence is awakening to the activity of realisation. With all the activities of Blawakened
B1 becomes the guide for our imagination (B2).
One more work that needs to be done, along with awakening to B1, is to sort out the sanskar.
the prioraccumulated acceptances. If we observe carefully, we can realize that we have
accumulated alot of these acceptances which are resulting in numerous desires, thoughts,
andexpectations. What has happened is that very unconsciously, without awareness, we
have accumulated a lot of these acceptances. Many of these acceptances are contrary to
each other and also not in line with our natural acceptance. And, we are not even aware of
them. We have accumulated so many acceptances and all of them put together are what
we are calling sanskar.
Each one of us has a lot of accumulated acceptances, accumulated sanskar. Our pre
conditioning, our perspective, our tendencies are all a part of expressions of our sanskar.
One person may have the tendency to share - it is what her sanskar is. Another person
mayhave the tendency to hoard-that is in his sanskar. The Selfis working with all the
accumulations, the sanskar. So many of our imaginations are springing out because of
our accumulated sanskar is being triggered either by myself or some situations outside.
If we are unaware of our sanskar or the inputs we are taking from outside; then we may
not beable to see where our imagination came from! To work toward harmony in the Seli,
it is essential tobe aware of our imagination and our sanskar and sort it out, layer after
layer. That meanswe have to sort out or imaginations, our sanskar and make sure that
we keep only what is in line with our natural acceptance and the rest is evaluated out.
 Chapter 6 | Harmonyin the Self - Understanding Myself 113
The seed or root ot the imaginhation is the
in thought and urther expands in desire. As we have seen, a small desire expands
imagination,thelbest place to expectation. Now, if we find contradictions in the
check is the desire. This
desire needs to connect to our natural
or existential purpose - that is what we
acceptance. Also, desire have been hinting at when weintroduced natural
more detail connects
in chapter 8. To to our feeling in relationship which we will explore in
check whether some selections or some thoughts will lead to
harmony or not, it is best to
expectations): check the desire (which has given rise to these
thoughts and
" Is it bom out of a
Is it for a human
naturally acceptable feeling or not?
purpose or not?
For example, if you are
behind it is adesire forthinking
living
of how to express respect to
with your mother, the desire
feeling, this desire will lead to respect. Since respect is a naturally
lead to harmony and harmony, and thoughts to fulflthis desireacceptable
will also
happiness. On the other hand, ifyou are
disrespect to your mother, the desire behind this thinking of expressing
this desire is conflicting with the thought is living with disrespect. Since
todisharmony; the thought of innate desire for feelingof respect,this desire willlead
Of course, if we are not aware disrespect will lead to disharmony and
or if we are not referring unhappiness.
if we are not having that to our natural
internal dialogue, we may find out the result right acceptance,
after some time, even many days and now, or
many
unaware of our imagination at that momentyears. or we
It just means that we are
are
either
line with our natural acceptance or not not checking whether is in
it
i.e. whether it will lead to
harmony or not.
One of the simple ways to do this check is to
find out the source of motivation for the
desire - is it preconditioning or sensation or
acceptance. Because without this awareness,self-verification on the basis of our natural
motivated from all these three sources. In the without this dialogue; desires are being
we have accumulated a lot of desires some aremeanwhile, without much of awareness,
in line with our purpose and
acceptable feelings in relationship, while others are not. With awareness naturally
and with the
internal dialogue, every moment, the sanskar çan be cleaned out.
When both the folowing parts are complete, we are in harmony within, in a
state of
continuous happiness, in human consciousness. These two parts are:
1. The activities in block B1 have been awakened. We have the right
understanding - of
relationship,harmony and co-existence (mutual fulfilment). With that, this right
understanding has become the guide for B2 (imagination), so now we have the
right feeling and right thought.
2. We have sorted out our sanskar, i.e. all our sanskars are now in line with our
existential purpose and naturally acceptable feelings. Our sanskats only in line
with relationship, harmony and co-existence (mutual fulfilment).
114 AFoundation Coursein Human Valzesand
Professional Ethics
Space
Dynamlc State
Actlvity Actlvity
1. Authentication
Reallzation (B1) Co-exlstence

Self 2. Detemination
REALISATION
WITHIN
Understanding Harmony in Nature

3. Imaging Contemplatlon Participation in Larger Order,

Relatlonship
4. Analysing Comparing B2)Co-existence, Harmony,
Justlce gulded Sensatlon,
Health, Proflt
5. Selecting Tasting Goal, Value
gulded Sensatlon
Body
Behaviour Work Participation
Other Human Rest of Nature In larger Order
Human
Tradition
Mutual Mutual Flfilment of
Happiness Prosperity Human Goal

Undlvlded EXPRESSION Unlversal

Human Soclety OUTSIDE Human Order

Fig. 6-8. Definite Human Conduct

Then we are able to participate for mutual fulfilment with the
fig. 6-8). It means that our behaviour with human being world outside (refer to
will lead to mutual happiness,
work with rest of nature will lead to mutual prosperity and our participation in larger
order willlead to the fulfilment of human goal which ultimately willlead to undivided
society and universal human order. An undivided society and
beensured on the basis of understandingof the universal human order can
in nature as harmony and in our relationship withharmony:
in existence as co-existence,
nature as mutual fulfilment.
other human being and with rest of
We will explore these in detail as we go on. We have just
that ultimately this is how our imagination will look like;mentioned
this is
this to give you a fel
will look like; this is how our conduct will look like and that how the state of the Self
it. Oneend of it is the realisation of co-existence in would be the final result of
in nature and contemplation of relationship in the existence, understanding of harmony
Self; and other end is the undivided
human society and universal human order.
One of the ways you can find out your state of being is to do the practice
on finding out how much of the desires, thoughts and session
PAVS
expectations are
motivated by preconditioning,sensation and natural acceptance (it is included
in the practice sessions for this chapter).
 Chapter f | Harmony in the Self - Understanding Myself 115
Salient Points
The Selfis central to human existence. Every decision is made by the
it is expressed outside using the Body as an instrument.
Selfand if required,
The Self is continuously active in imaging,
analysing-comparing and selecting-tasting.
The Self has the continuous power to desire, so the activity of
nlace. It has the continuous power of thought, so the activityimaging
of
is always taking
comparing is always taking place. It has the continuous power of analysing based on
expectation, so the
activity of selecting based on tasting is always taking place.
Together all these activities are called imagination. Imagination is
place in the Self. continuously taking
AI the desires, all the decisions,all the selections are made in the
he expressed outside in the form of behaviour with human being imagination. They may
or work with rest of
nature, as and when reçuired, using the Body as an instrument. Imagination connects to
the behaviour and work. In that sense, the imagination (the accumulated
and sanskar) is central to the Self.
imaginations
Sanskar is the 'acceptances' derived from the summation of all our imaginations from
all time.
Sanskar =Acceptances derived out of [ Desire (from all time)
+Thought (from all time) +Expectation (from all time) ]
It is being updated over time. We have some sanskar at one moment t. At the next
moment (t+1), our sanskar can be articulated as:
Sanskar (t+1) =Sanskar (t) +Environment (t) +Self-exploration (t)
These acceptances (sanskar) may or may not be in line with our natural acceptance. If
we are doing the self-exploration based on our natural acceptance, sanskar generated
out of this will be harmonious.
The happiness or unhappiness depends on the content of imagination (and sanskar). If
of
it is in line with the natural acceptance, there is harmony in the Self- it isin a state
in the
happiness. If it is not in line with the natural acceptance, there is contradiction
Self- it is in a state of unhappiness.
imagination - preconditioning,
There are three possible sources of motivation for
the beliefs, notions, norms,
sensation and natural acceptance. Preconditioning means in the society
ideas, views, assumptions, dictums, goals, etc. prevailing in the family,
influence the imagination. Sensation is the information the Self reads from
which may sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. Self
- of
the Body through the five sense organs leading to right understanding is the
verification on the basis of natural acceptance
third source of imagination.
is motivated by preconditioningor sensation, it is enslaved by
When the imagination enslavement. When the imagination is guided by
natural
Some external source. This isself-organization.
acceptance, it is the state of
116 | AFoundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

When imagination is in line with natural acceptance, only then it is definite to

harmony, leading to a state ofhappiness within. When it is motivated by preconditioninebe in
or sensation, it is not definite whether it will be in harmony or in disharmony.
Since the natural acceptance is for relationship, harnony and co-existence, when
imagination (i.e. desire, thought, expectation) is guided by these three - relationshi.
harmony and co-existence, there is harmony in the Self. The Selfis in a state of happines.
If we can ensure that allour imaginationsare guided by relationship,
harmony and co
existence, there is harmony in the Selfin continuity and the Selfis in a state of haypiness
continuously.