On Awareness-Proactivity and Unconsciousness-Ego-Reactivity

[Ajay0]

Teachings of the Masters on Awareness-Proactivty and Unconsciousness-Ego-Reactivity....



Act. Do not react.

--Sri Ravi Shankar



Sin is never in action. It is always in reaction.

-- Swami Chinmayananda



Virtuous ( proactive) action increases intelligence, while sinful ( reactive ) acts decreases intelligence.

--Vidura Neeti ( Mahabharatha )



If you want to progress in your life and grow, act not to react.

--Harbhajan Yogi Bhajan




Just stay focused. Don't react. Just be a witness and you will see the magic of it.

--Swami Chidanand Saraswati



Be proactive. Do not be reactive.

--Stephen Covey ( Author of 7 habits of highly effective people )




Habitually we react to external stimuli, that is we are generally overwhelmed by retaliatory emotional forces within us demanding appropriate action. But surely this cannot be called 'action' , it is in fact ' re-action' . Discipline of the reasoning mind controls the reactive forces and results in appropriate 'action' rather than 're-action', one should endeavour to establish control and avoid retaliatory behaviour. ~ Acharya Mahaprajna



Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response.

-- Stephen Covey



Because of the space between stimulus and response, people have the power of choice; therefore,leaders are neither born nor made meaning environmentally trained and nurtured. They are self-made through chosen responses, and if they choose based on principles and develop increasingly greater discipline, their freedom to choose increases.

-- Stephen Covey


"Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom. You don't have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity." ~ Bhante Henepola Gunaratana


If you are in a state of reaction, anyone or anything can take charge of your life. Conscious response is the way forward. ~ Sadhguru


One who is obsessed with worldly pursuits, one who is body-oriented, cannot really go into this. We need to develop a distance from our mind and not give in to impulsiveness. Those who react are the ones who are living mindlessly. So in a way, we can say that living mindfully is being in meditation. ~ Anandmurti Gurumaa




So action which is born of reaction breeds sorrow. Most of our thoughts are the result of the past, of time. A mind that is not built on the past, that has totally understood this whole process of reaction, can act every minute totally, completely, wholly.

J. Krishnamurti



Action which is born of reaction breeds sorrow.

J. Krishnamurti

 

[Ajay0]

Hi all,

Quoted above are a list of teachings of various masters which I compiled myself for a better understanding and contemplation of the message of proactivity and reactivity.

Through study and analysis of the master's teachings, I had come to the understanding that it is proactive action which is what is known as virtue or good karma while reactive action is what is known as sin or bad karma.

While proactivity is what stems from a state of awareness or mindfulness , reactivity on the other hand stems from the ego .

Living in the present moment generates awareness, while living in the past or future through memory or imagination due to desires, craving or compulsive thinking and emoting is what generates the ego.

The state of awareness generates happiness , while the ego generates pain and sorrow.


This is why the Buddha had said thus ," Mindfulness ( constant awareness ) is the true virtue."

And why Eckhart Tolle had stated thus. " Evil is an extreme manifestation of human unconsciousness."



Writing this in my notebook and constant study and contemplation of these teachings from time to time helped me to become a more self-aware, proactive and less reactive person. This understanding brought a deep sense of calmness, peace, contentment and well-being in my life.

Hope the reading of the above mentioned teachings will do the same for you or help in bringing perspective on the nature of the mind.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

@Ajay0

Wow. A lot of good advice in your post.

These 2 are simple yet very insightful.

Act. Do not react.

--Sri Ravi Shankar

Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response.

-- Stephen Covey

These insights help shed light on free-will and evil. I like to think of free-will as being active as opposed to passive. When you are active, you act more purposeful - you're taking some control over your environment as opposed to letting it control you and following it blindly.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Here's a example of how your point here helps...
I find it good to not react right away, like in heavy traffic, because a lot of times people's immediate reaction will be negative. Someone flips you a bird or cuts you off, you reaction is probably do return the favor. But then you can pause, which gives you time to choose your actions, and in a lot of cases, that reaction has died down giving you room to think better.

 

[Ajay0]

Guruji, please comment on this: Act, don’t react.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is very simple. When you react, what happens? You regret afterwards. Reaction happens through an emotional upsurge. When someone says something you don’t like, your emotions swell up. Anything you do in an emotionally disturbed state, you repent afterward. When emotions are on peak, the intellect goes in background. Your actions are from the intellect and your reactions are from emotions.

Emotions when properly employed can bring happiness and creativity in life, while improperly employed through lack of discrimination or discretion can result in reactions leading to regressive conflict and strife .

Through Awareness, one goes beyond the realm of conditioned likes and dislikes, attain better self-mastery, and cultivate a progressive positive attitude in all situations and circumstances in life.