PRESTIGE AND HONOR, YOUR GOLDEN CAGE

Honor reduces the freedom. Your fame, honor and virtue can limit your freedom.
Nobody expects a good person to make a mistake. So the better person you are, the higher the expectations people have of you. It is then that you lose your freedom. Your virtues and good actions are like a golden cage. You are trapped by your own good actions, for everyone expects more from a good person. Nobody expects anything from a bad person.
Most of the people are stuck in this cage of prestige and honor. They can not smile. They are constantly worried about keeping up their prestige and their honor. It becomes more important than their own life. Just being good or doing good to keep the prestige and honor is worthless. Prestige and honor can bring more misery in life than poverty.
Many desire fame, but little do they know that they are looking for a cage.
It is an art to be dignified, and yet not be suffocated by it. Only the wise would know this. For the wise one it is natural to be in honor, and he has no concerns even if it falls apart. Despite having fame or prestige, he will live as though he has none.
A wise person can handle any fame without feeling suffocated, for he is crazy too!
By doing good in the society one gains prestige, then enjoying the prestige and honor, one loses their freedom.
Question: Then how do you keep your freedom?
Answer: By being like a child, considering the world as a burden a joke or a dream.

Faith Is Your Wealth

Faith is a wealth. If you think, by having faith in God you are doing a favour to God, you are mistaken. Faith gives you strength instantaneously. Faith brings you stability, centeredness, calmness and love. You having Faith In The Guru Or God, Does Not Do Anything To Guru Or God. Your Having Faith Gives You Immediate Strength. Faith is a great wealth; it is a blessing.

If you lack faith, you have to pray for faith. But to pray, you need faith. This is a paradox. (Laughter)

People have faith in the world - but the whole world is just a soap bubble. People have faith in themselves - but they don't know who they are. People think that they have faith in God - but they have no idea of God. If you want to doubt, you have to doubt everything

There are three types of faith : faith in yourself, faith in the world, and faith in God. You need to have faith in yourself -- without faith, you think, I can't do this. This is not for me. I will never be liberated in this life. You must have faith in the world. Without this, you cant move an inch in the world. Banks give you loans having faith that you will pay it back. You deposit money in the bank having faith that it will be returned. If you doubt everything in the world, nothing will happen. The same is the case with faith in the Divine - have faith in the Divine and you will evolve. All these faiths are connected. You must have all three for each to be strong.

Bill : Atheists have faith in themselves and faith in the world, but not in God.

Sri Sri : They don't have complete faith in themselves. Lack of faith in God, in the world or in the self brings fear. Faith in the world cannot be constant because there are always changes.

Faith makes you full - faithful. If you have faith, you are full.

Rajesh : What is the difference between faith and confidence ?

Sri Sri : Confidence is the result. Faith is the beginning.

Faith in yourself brings freedom.

Faith in the world brings you peace of mind.

Faith in God evokes love in you.

You can be at peace by having faith in the world and without faith in God, but it is not complete peace. If you have love, there is automatically peace and freedom. People who are extremely disturbed should only have faith in God.

Jai Gurudev :)