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Our great defect in life is that we are so much drawn to the
ideal, the goal is so much more enchanting, so much more alluring, and so
much bigger in our mental horizon, that we lose sight of the details altogether.
But whenever failure comes, if we analyse it critically, in ninety-nine per
cent of cases we shall find that it was because we did not pay attention to
the means. Proper attention to the finishing, strengthening, of the means
is what we need. With the means all right, the end must come. We forget
that it is the cause that produces the effect; the effect cannot come by
itself; and unless the causes are exact, proper, and powerful, the effect
will not be produced. Once the ideal is chosen and the means determined, we
may almost let go off the ideal because we are sure it will be there, when
the means are perfected. When the cause is there, there is no more
difficulty about the effect, the effect is bound to come. If we take care
of the cause, the effect will take care of itself. The realisation of the
ideal is the effect. The means are the cause: attention to the means,
therefore, is the great secret of life. We also read this in the Gita and
learn that we have to work, constantly work with all our power; to put our
whole mind in the work, whatever it be, that we are doing. At the same
time, we must not be attached. That is to say, we must not be drawn away
from the work by anything else; still, we must be able to quit the work
whenever we like.
If we examine our own lives, we find that the greatest cause of sorrow is
this: we take up something, and put our whole energy on it — perhaps it is
a failure and yet we cannot give it up. We know that it is hurting us, that
any further clinging on to it is simply bringing misery on us; still, we
cannot tear ourselves away from it. The bee came to sip the honey, but its
feet stuck to the honey-pot and it could not get away. Again and again, we
are finding ourselves in that state. That is the whole secret of existence.
Why are we here? We came here to sip the honey, and we find our hands and
feet sticking to it. We are caught, though we came to catch. We came to
enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are being ruled. We came
to work; we are being worked. All the time, we find that. And this comes
into every detail of our life. We are being worked upon by other minds, and
we are always struggling to work on other minds. We want to enjoy the
pleasures of life; and they eat into our vitals. We want to get everything
from nature, but we find in the long run that nature takes everything from
us — depletes us, and casts us aside.
Had it not been for this, life would have been all sunshine. Never mind!
With all its failures and successes, with all its joys and sorrows, it can
be one succession of sunshine, if only we are not caught.
—Swami Vivekananda
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