Other than the materialistic effects discussed so far, mental
imbalance has spiritual effects as well. Agitation of the mind causes a surge
in ego and greed. Ego and greed lead to all sorts of spiritual frailties. Ego
intoxicates; a man with a bloated ego believes himself to be substantially
superior to others. he expects people to wait for him, listen to him, and
consider him important; when they don't, he gets bitter and offensive. When he
sees someone acquire more money, more fame, or more strength than him, jealousy
takes over. To satisfy his ego, he needs to be very accomplished.
Accomplishment and accolades often require strong character and persistent hard
work. Overcome by his ego, his mind is often driven to the alternative and
easier path of dishonesty and impropriety.
Mental imbalance can also have the converse effect, that of a
lapse in self esteem. A man with a low self esteem considers himself unworthy
and stays so. An inferiority complex overshadows all his intuition, robbing him
of all his strength and courage. He is unable to succeed and he is unable to
defend himself against any injustices of which he becomes an easy target. Just
like the ego ridden man, the one with a low self esteem also takes refuge in
dishonesty, albeit for different reasons. Cheating, tricking the system,
shortcutting, bribery are some of the ways their refuge manifests. He is ridden
with mental problems such as depression, guilt, frustration, fear and anxiety.
In summary, acquiring as well as safe guarding self esteem is
the natural and positive tendency of our soul. When we obstruct this process,
mental balance is destroyed and we tend toward dishonest and spiritually
inferior means..
A king had two gardeners in his
service. he gave each of them a garden and asked them to make it green and
beautiful.
One of the gardeners stopped taking interest
in his garden. Instead, he started worshipping the king by constructing his
idol, performing puja and doing parikarma. The other gardener did his work
diligently and toiled hard to irrigate the land, plant trees and nurture the
garden. Soon his garden became beautiful and lush green. On the other hand, in
the worshipping gardener's garden it was a different story; all the plants had
shriveled and died.
The king came back after one year
to inspect the gardens. He say two completely different pictures and discovered
the reason for such a stark contrast. The king removed the worshipper from his
job and showered praise on the hard working gardener.
This illustrates that though, worship is essential for
a person's upliftment, it is the hard work that should always be given
precedence, which will ultimately help a person achieve his goal.
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