A request and a disclaimer: Before you begin to read this blog, request you to first read the 3 parts of ‘Stroke in the canvas called ‘The Value of Values’. You may also choose to read the blogs on the values of amAnitvam, adambhitvam and ahimsA (the value of ahimsA is in three parts) kshAntiH, Arjavam and AchAryopAsanam though they are not a prerequisite to reading this value. The language and explanations used by pUjya swAmiji is so profound, that I wish I do justice by aligning my understanding to his explanation, as I parallelly try to relate it to day to day living.. Any error in the way I have blogged upon these values, is due to an error in my understanding alone.

The upanishads have always drawn me, from the perspective of unraveling knowledge thru the medium of a dialogue and also where answers are given to the questions asked. Both the questions and the answers are indeed thought provoking. This blog on the value of Saucam, much like the blog on the value of ahimsA, is thru’ a dialogue. How these two friends Advik and Vedika interpret the value of Saucam and what they learn from each others’ perspective, unfolds hereon..

Advik: Saucam, pronounced as ‘shoucham’  means cleanliness or purity, both internally and externally.  Seems simple enough Vedika, but what makes you feel that it is not as simple as it sounds and means?

Vedika: Advik, I understand the external cleanliness part of keeping one’s surroundings and things that one uses, clean; and this also includes keeping one’s own body clean or wearing clean clothes. But how does one maintain internal cleanliness? This is not like just wiping the dust or dirt off the body or off the things one uses. It also is not as though we can see the internal cleanliness, even assuming we try cleansing ourselves.

Advik: Explain and elaborate, Vedika.

Vedika: The dirt that is collected within us are the emotions of anger, jealousy, hatred, guilt amongst a few others. Each one of these emotions are impediments for us. They become the cogs in the wheel of our journey towards learning, progress and inner growth. I find that these emotions when they are triggered stay with us for years and years. They stay and that’s it. It does not help in the long run, Advik. They cannot be wiped away using a cloth and a liquid cleanser. pUjya Swamiji once said, “Welcome every emotion that you get. The more you resist the emotions, the more they will stay.”

Advik: And did you try to do what he said? Did it help?

Vedika: Don’t ask. I try and it works when I do; but I don’t try enough. When I get caught in the emotions of anger, jealousy, hatred and guilt I am not in a state to welcome anyone, let alone the emotion. You know what, I actually welcome these emotions so much so, that I keep constantly thinking about the incident and the person who was the protagonist in the incident. Gosh!! Sounds like a movie, doesn’t it – protagonist and all that?

Advik: Actually there is one method to handle the cleansing of these emotions. It is called pratipaks(h)abhAvanA. It means to take a view that is the opposite of what you feel (prati – opposite, paks(h)a – side, bhAvanA – thinking or a state of thought). For example, when someone is behaving in a way that has made you angry, first understand that it is the behaviour of the person that you don’t like and not the person themselves. Then you look at some characteristics about the person that is positive, this could physical or another behaviour also. Remember Vedika, no one can be a completely ‘bad’ person or rather a person with thoughts and actions that are only negative. Everyone has something that is appealing to a few others and we may not be privy to that.

Vedika: Interesting perspective, Advik. But then, while I may be able to do what you said in many situations, I am not sure if I can do this in situations where I am deeply affected. And this may well apply to others as well. When I hear of incidents where women are physically and sexually assaulted, I don’t feel like looking at the positive trait of the person who was the ‘assaulter’. Neither do I want to try. Needless to say, over a period of time the thought that the ‘assaulter’ will face their own penalty, occurs to me and the anger and hatred reduces but it does not go away.

Advik: I feel an anger and hatred too Vedika, at such people. Hatred though I feel is a strong word to use, a word that just about drains all the energy from me, even as I say it. Anger more so because, what the assaulter does causes harm to the women and also casts a black mark against all us men too, for no fault of ours. Many times though, we have the opportunities to look at the opposite view and help ourselves. While we may not be able to bring down the anger or hatred immediately, consistent practice of this will help in lessening the frequency, intensity and the recurrence of it.

Vedika: You make it sound as though it is like the incense stick whose embers have just died down, and the smoke and fragrance is also slowly fading away. That’s an object but how can I as a human being with all my emotions around me, do that?

Advik: Don’t we do that with our parents and grand parents, our siblings and with our close friends? When they say or do anything that has hurt us, we think about the things they have done that has benefited us and we just move on? We still find ways to compliment them for the way they look or something nice that they have done, don’t we? If we can do that with them, why cannot we extend this to others too? It will help us more than others, to move on in life. This way, we will have progressed in ways that will help us in our inner growth.

Vedika: Makes me think, what do we do when we get angry with ourselves or if we dislike ourselves for what we said or did? We beat ourselves down so much, we berate ourselves, we condemn ourselves and end up feeling so low of ourselves. We should be able to do the pratipaks(h)abhAvanA for ourselves too, isn’t it? Do we do it, Advik?

Advik: You are spot on. I think we find it tough to find something positive to say about ourselves, when we condemn ourselves, when we feel guilty or when we regret something. Condemning ourselves is as bad as condemning others. When there are a few aspects about us that others like, shouldn’t we also look at those aspects and feel good about ourselves? Appreciate ourselves whenever we condemn ourselves. Not easy again, Vedika but definitely possible. As I said earlier, it is a particular behaviour of yours that is not acceptable to you, not all aspects of yourself. So take an opposite view here too. Perhaps this could be your new year resolution? 🙂

Vedika: Advik, right statement but to the wrong person :-). I don’t believe in new year resolutions as that means waiting for that one day to put into practice what I may want to do at the beginning or the middle of the year. Everyday is a new day and a new beginning. Why!! Every moment is a new beginning isn’t it?

Advik: Vedika, more than any other feeling of negativity, I found that there is one feeling that is generally not admitted by many of us – a feeling of jealousy. This feeling emerges when we think that someone else has what we don’t have and we think that they are perhaps superior to us in some way. There again, we don’t feel jealous of all that they have.

Vedika: I agree there with what you say. The feeling of jealousy is not easy to accept but one that has the tendency to eat us up, preventing us from achieving what we want to. That’s where thinking that “I am happy to see that he / she is doing so well in their field. I am so proud of him / her and appreciate what they have been able to achieve.” comes into the picture. It is not easy to wish some one all success and also appreciate them, in that moment of jealousy; but to be able to put that aside and wish them well requires immense courage and maturity, Advik. Hats off to people who are able to do it. Ah, so much to be worked on isn’t it, in each one of us? So easy to say and so easy to think that it can be done but so challenging to practice it.

Advik: No pain, no gain, Vedika. If you want to see internal cleanliness within yourself, this cleansing needs to be done everyday. To start with, maybe a few minutes every day before going to bed in the night. to dwell upon the day’s happenings will help. More often than not, what happened during the day would have cooled down by the night, giving us the much needed time to do pratipaks(h)abhAvanA.

Vedika: That’s a valuable suggestion, Advik. Worth trying. I want to spend some time thinking about what we have been discussing and put the cleansing into action. Will help to build an alert mind that is ready to learn.

Advik: Same here, Vedika. It is not going to be easy to bring in internal cleanliness but if we take one step at a time, Saucam may well be a reality 🙂