The quality of your actions and the results are relative to the level of awareness that we possess. A strong character is the foundation and roots that hold up the massive structure of a complete human being.
“Character is Destiny”
Heraclitus, Pre-Socratic philosopher
These character traits are the foundation of a successful business, personal and spiritual life. This is far from a complete list, however it is plenty to work with and will lead you to discover what else you must do.
Responsibility. Whatever you are involved in, touch or do, if you have caused anything to happen, you are responsible to be sure no negative arises and if any does, you must correct it at no charge. Objectively examine your words and actions like an impartial judge to see where you are responsible at all times.
Respect. Treat all things with the thought of the time and effort and energy that went in to bring it to the moment you encountered it. See its history since its creation and realise the vast energy that went in to bring it here. Looking at the line of creation, respect and admiration come naturally. Any tree, child, art, shoelace, they all have a long history of someone’s effort and time, thinking, designing, building. Respecting a thing equates to respecting its owner.
Truth. In all actions and words, seek the closest possible objective truth, not subjective. This means that you may not like the answer, but you have to find and deal with it anyway.
Reliability & Dependability. Keep your word. If you say you will be somewhere at a particular time, then be early. If you promise to do something, then it must be done, no excuses, no allowance for error. Do your utmost to let go of your desires if something came up that interests you more or you just changed your mind once you have made a commitment. When you say something, then that becomes the absolute law that must be fulfilled. Live with this law and you will find that you will start to think much more carefully about what you promise or say. This in itself is a wonderful practice to cultivate constant consciousness and awareness.
Discipline. You must have a practice of something to do daily. Meditate for 30 minutes, do a particular exercise, yoga, running. Any forced effort at the same time every day. Without discipline, you will not have the mental strength to make you better each day.
Attention to Details. This trait sets one apart from others. This is being aware. To see each little thing, to notice the bug on the ground before stepping on it by accident, to know that the glass is too close to the edge of the table before you knock it over. Keep your eyes open and your mind present. This is done by simply paying attention and putting in the effort to be aware at each moment. Continuous practice of this difficult trait to acquire is invaluable. This is power.
Pay Your Debts. Debt is not only financial, it can be for time and effort or some sort of service. We are indebted to our benefactors, those who provided our education, support and provisions. We are indebted to society for the world in which we live, even to the garbage man who picks up the trash we create all week. When someone does something, they are giving up their time to do that instead of doing something else. They may do the job for money or they may do it out of kindness. Either way, you owe a debt for whatever you receive. Bearing this in mind, when you are called upon or even if it is left up to you to decide, paying your debts as appropriate makes you a truly respectable person who people will gain pleasure out of serving. This will build your self-respect because you will now become worthy of your existence.
Consider the possible outcome before taking action. If you think of all the possible results before you take action or speak, you will prevent yourself from committing many errors. For example, if you are about to say something to someone, you may know that the outcome will be upsetting them and gain no benefit other than your pleasure in causing them pain. Is that really the right thing to do for a person who aspires to better themselves?
Never intentionally, knowingly or unavoidably hurt someone This is self-evident.
Too often people follow a so called spiritual path that leads them in a direction of self indulgence or meditation yet fails to acknowledge and develop the characteristics that are vital to developing a balanced person who can walk equally in the spiritual and material worlds.
The basis of my philosophy is the cultivation of character on the human level that is the shell and package of the spiritual essence of our being. There is no point in cleaning the inside but leaving it in a dirty package, it will never become clean.
The essence of a human being is already clean and perfect, that is its nature. It is the shell, the formed personality, that is causing the distortions in its perception and view of the world.
Meditation and other spiritual practices are very essential to ones progress, this is certain. But what happens at times is that without the proper grounding in the cultivation of a good human character and values, the lesser ego may be effected and grow to think itself quiet wonderful for all its good work. Then it will ignore the simple attention to details and karma and become very arrogant.
Karma is simply the fruit of the action. Not an atom can move without it displacing another atom, there is no empty space in our universe. Fall in the water and you will come out wet.
All this happens without the knowledge or awareness of the average person since while on the path of seeking self growth, we are still in a deep sleep and easily fooled by the lesser ego that wants to maintain control.
As a matter of fact, when you start to follow a path of self growth, that is when the ego really gets up and tries to trick you because before that it was not threatened.
Meditation is vital for the cultivation of a strong mind that can focus and stick on one point while simultaneously being fully aware of everything 360 degrees around, above and below. A strong mind is vital for achieving spiritual awareness of your true nature. Meditation is simply an exercise of strengthening the mind so it can stay focused and aware no matter what the distractions are.
Experiencing your true nature through having a strong mind is the goal of human life. Once that is achieved, then you will know directly and with true wisdom what to do and say at each moment.
Before achieving true wisdom and the clarity of your true nature through direct experience, all we do in life is still up to chance to be effective. The quality of our actions and results is relative to the level of awareness that we possess.
A clean strong character is the foundation and roots that hold up the massive structure of a pure soul and complete human being.
The level of truth we can achieve is also tied to our own level of awareness. And so for those who seek to know the reason for their existence or what they should do in life, the path is not to seek that, but rather to discover your true nature first which can be done by the means I have just describe. Getting the book is useless if you do not know how to read.
The heart is the veil to the soul, clean the heart, the ego, and your true light will shine through naturally. So the moral of the story is for us to all become good humble cleaners.
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