By Upendra Mishra
BOSTON—When Pandavas are banished to forests for 13 years in the grand Hindu epic Mahabharata, many rishis and sages come and pay visit to them. They console them, encourage them, tell all types of stories and narratives, hold discourses, and shower them with blessings during the initial months of their exile.
One day, a sage comes and is saddened to see the plight of Pandavas, who have lost their kingdom in a game of dice. The sage spends some time with the Pandavas. When he is ready to leave, he calls the eldest Pandava, Yudhishthir, and gives him a boon: “Yudhisthir, you will always see things as they are.”
Compared with other boons such as be victorious, get back your kingdom, and be successful etc by other sages, “you will always see things as they are” sounded very insignificant to me when I read it for the first time.
Years later and with years of experience and trials and errors of life, “you will always see things as they are” keeps ringing in my head and makes so much sense. Now, I think how formidable the power is to see things as they are. If we truly see things as they are within us and around us, we will make appropriate decisions. Let us start with ourselves.
Do we see ourselves as we’re? Do we really know ourselves? Why do we often project our inflated self-importance, or sometimes we find ourselves worthless? Once we know as we are, we can fix any issue that may be challenging us. At least, we will know the truth—even if it is our own truth. Many times, we’re utterly ignorant of our own state of mind and reality, and thus ignore our needs, our own source of joy and happiness.
Jordan Peterson, author of “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” challenges us to take care of ourselves first. “You are morally obliged to take care of yourself. You should take care of, help and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help and be good to someone you loved and valued,” he says.
Knowing ourselves as we’re helps us understand where the help is most needed and is the first step in self-care.
“If we wish to take care of ourselves properly, we would have to respect ourselves—but we don’t, because we are—not least in our own eyes—fallen creatures. If we lived in Truth; if we spoke the Truth—then we could walk with God once again, and respect ourselves, and others, and the world. Then we might treat ourselves like people we cared for,” Peterson says in the 12 Rules for Life.
Only by developing an ability to see things as they are do we develop courage to face and tell the truth. It becomes easier to face challenges and find solutions. Therefore, we build self-confidence, self-worth, self-discipline and start to take care of ourselves.
“You must discipline yourself carefully. You must keep the promises you make to yourself, and reward yourself, so that you can trust, and motivate yourself,” adds Peterson. “Strengthen the individual. Start with yourself. Take care with yourself. Define who you are.”
(Mr. Mishra is managing partner of the Waltham, MA-based integrated inbound marketing and PR firm The Mishra Group. He writes about his three passions: marketing, scriptures and gardening.)
