Attention to actions

Duties performed without complaint or compromise are considered sattvika actions. For example, duties toward oneself, such as maintaining hygiene, eating at the right time, looking after and providing for one’s family, are all sattvika. If you are a professional, doing your best in your profession is also your duty. A doctor has a duty to do the utmost for his or her patients and remove disease; a businessman’s duty is to generate finance for the community and remove poverty – not just earn money. Actions done selflessly are sattvika, whereas those which are desire prompted or performed purely for personal gain are rajasika, and those of a criminal nature are tamasika.Of course, one does not become sattvika overnight; there is a long list of conditions required for the evolution of an impure mind. Moreover, a pure mind can be tamed, but an impure mind will always remain wild. So where does one start? One very simple method is to clean or tidy up the environment around you. Have you seen how poised some people always are? The decor that surrounds them is usually very balanced and understatedly elegant. This is more often than not the result of training the mind. Organising things around you, aspiring to beauty and balance, learning to appreciate things in the abstract… there is a step-by-step development of the mind that can be set in motion by something so incredibly simple as keeping one’s surroundings spic and span! The point is, do your best. Whatever you need to do, do it well, but as much as possible, try to go one step further. Pay attention to your actions. Let your head and heart be where your hands are. Focus. Think. Think about what you are doing, and why. And be careful not to cut your finger while doing this.

Attention to actions

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