Establishing good character
The very idea of Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta is to Work incessantly and not getting attached to it. Using the smile of the lake for the mind when it subsides does not die out entirely, but leaves a mark and future possibility of the wave coming back. Every work or every thought we think will leave a mark on the mind. Such an impression will not be present on the surface but start working in the unconscious mind beneath the surface. What we are at this point in time is sum total of impressions on the mind. This sum total makes your character. If good impressions prevail character becomes good and vice versa.
The sum total of these impressions in him will create the strong motive power for doing bad actions. He will be like a machine in the hands of his impressions, and they will force him to do evil. Similarly, if a man thinks good thoughts and does good works, the sum total of these impressions will be good; and they, in a similar manner, will force him to do good even in spite of himself. When a man has done so much good work and thought so many good thoughts that there is an irresistible tendency in him to do good in spite of himself and even if he wishes to do evil, his mind, as the sum total of his tendencies, will not allow him to do so; the tendencies will turn him back; he is completely under the influence of the good tendencies. When such is the case, a man’s good character is said to be established.
As the tortoise tucks its feet and head inside the shell, and you may kill it and break it in pieces, and yet it will not come out, even so, the character of that man who has control over his motives and organs is unchangeably established. He controls his own inner forces, and nothing can draw them out against his will. By this continuous reflex of good thoughts, good impressions moving over the surface of the mind, the tendency for doing good becomes strong, and as the result, we feel able to control. the sense organs, the nerve-centres. Thus alone will the character be established, then alone a man gets to the truth. Such a man is safe forever; he cannot do any evil.
Keeping good characters is hard, it cannot be compared to one-time activity. It can be better compared with cleaning toilets. With new ideas coming to your mind, it can have both bad and good impact. But good waves have to clean up all the bad on a regular basis.
Students in japan maintain their classrooms and clean their toilets. One goal of this exercise is to become fully productive self-sufficient in Japanese society. Encouraging a child to take care of his/her surroundings from a young age automatically ‘programs’ the child to respect their surroundings and environment, and always try to keep it clean. These exercises also teach humility, respecting everyone in society and make them prepared to be self-sufficient. When you start cleaning your toilets and rooms your mind will be trained to do the same for other activities as well.
In character building, small atomic habits help a lot. People usually ignore the smaller things thinking those to be mundane, but taking care of smaller details help in defining your being. Whenever you are procrastinating, just create a very small aim of organizing your room or cleaning your toilet at any given time. As soon as you create a task/ create an aim, the mind will start configuring creating a pathway for aim. Everything will pop out what you can improve. You fix 100 things like that life will be different. At the highest level of psychological integration, there is no difference between you and what you experience. Once you are done with 100 things, you can start with extending yourself.
