Accomplishment: 5 Ways to Attain True Wisdom

Accomplishment and Ways to Attain True Wisdom

• Redefining accomplishment beyond external success
• How wisdom transforms the pursuit of achievements
• The role of humility in gaining wisdom
• The balance between material and spiritual goals
• How inner fulfillment leads to lasting joy

Redefining Accomplishment: Beyond Achievement and Success

Becoming accomplished is the goal of most humans. However it all depends on how we define accomplishment. Goals, objectives, aims, ambitions and fulfillment of wants are the most likely one’s to get tagged under the umbrella of accomplishments. 

Accomplishment, is a fancy word that pushes one to raise the bar of “perceived existence”  and attain something, perhaps towards some sort of inner fulfillment. What else could be other reasons? 

When we get on with the task of setting goals and start equipping ourselves with tools and techniques to attain short term and long term goals, a distinction attained during the course of our attainments could be possible accomplishments. But accomplishments usually cannot be defined, it is a deal that accompanies achievement, tasks that have been achieved with a certain distinction.

The Illusion of Accomplishment: External Validation vs. Inner Fulfillment

For example winning a 100 meters sprint race could be an achievement; however in the process of winning the title, to set a new world record is an accomplishment. There are many who find accomplishment, on being nominated for the businessman of the year awards, by certain prestigious national and international fora. 

It is we who decide what is an accomplishment. Certain people , in order to prove  to the world, may also project trivial run-of-the-mill attainments as accomplishments. Hence, the primary trigger to bucket something as an accomplishment, is one’s avarice to establish oneself as something or somebody in the eyes of others. 

It is important to understand that accomplishments do not and cannot dictate the quality of life. Accomplishment is solely external, a worldly parameter, that has little to do with fulfillment and joy. On the other hand, the greater the accomplishments, the greater the impingement of the external world on our consciousness. Worldly accomplishments tend to propel individuals towards outward seeking and ego-massaging. 

When accomplishments rise, one’s focus shifts from the heart to the head. There is a great deal of strategy and planning towards accumulating worldly fluff, so as to maintain the fat of one’s ego. On a personal scale, I would rather focus on “inner-accomplishments”. I would rather find mechanisms that shall rid me of my worries. It would be fruitful for me to seek inner fulfillment instead.

True Accomplishment: Finding Peace Through Inner Wisdom

If a day is spent in peace, where joy is felt within the heart, that would be an accomplishment for me, accomplishment without any pressure of attainments. The more one disassociates from the mad rush of the world of accomplishments, greater shall be the joy in the heart. A man free of accomplishments is free of stress. There are no goals to achieve and no deadlines to be met. The moment man seeks the light within, he discovers mechanisms that will curb and allay the diversions of the senses. 

Accomplishment is a means to engage the senses in the outward phenomenon, to agitate them, to sacrifice inner peace on the unholy altar of avarice. It is important that the context of the word accomplishment is turned around 180 degrees and directed towards satisfaction and contentment. A heart that drops worldly accomplishment, is a heart that is truly accomplished. True Accomplishment is the attainment of Wisdom.

The Nature of Wisdom: Seeing Beyond the Illusion 

Wisdom is deep and awakened only when one realizes completely that all that we see, feel and experience is not real, it only “appears to be”. This appearance of the world cannot be assumed purely through the words of the scriptures or simple or careless acceptance. Only when the realization is deep, can it be “SEEN”. Faith is an important aspect of wisdom, though faith and wisdom may seem to be unconnected. Nevertheless, this is true.

When one is on the platform that the “world is not real”, one automatically qualifies to be called “wise”. But who can call somebody wise?

Only a man of wisdom can recognize the other wise man. It’s not possible to measure the actions of a wise man. A wise man is usually a man of few words. Absorption is an attribute of wisdom. When the mind is free of any opinions, biases or distortions, all actions and even thoughts emerge from the core of the being.

None of the thoughts are then opinions or hunches. It emanates from Truth.

7/8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma

The scores generated in this Quiz may or may not be absolute. There may be right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.

The Path to Wisdom: Humility, Seeking, and Inner Purification

Only when truth stands by, can wisdom dawn. It happens only when there is genuine seeking. Wisdom is not an ideology that is dependent on time, place, and circumstance. It is universal in nature. To hone wisdom, one needs to take a humble position. This is vital. Instincts are inferior by nature and most often, people operate through instinct, by gut, in some cases.

We fail to realize that the gut is below the heart, in the lower regions, instinctive to be precise. This deteriorates the quality of life, because instincts may turn out to be correct in many cases, but tend to let you down, when you start depending on them too much.

This is one of the major impediments to the cultivation of wisdom. To refine our thoughts we must become an observer and practice contemplation. Inner purification is an important aspect of the development of Wisdom. The tendency to Lord over other people or trounce the other person’s position is an act of instinctual savagery.

This tendency proliferates only in a person who is unwise in most ways. The best way to develop wisdom is by giving respect to others and considering oneself as a servitor at heart, although one need not be expressive about it because then there are people who shall try to exploit our humble nature. This can be the very first step.

Only Humility can destroy Pride, making you wiser. When a person even takes this position mentally, the practice has the capacity to break one’s gross, false conceptions about the world and about oneself.

Humility and Wisdom: The Foundation of Enlightenment

In the Indian Vaishnava traditions, it is a common practice to consider “oneself humbler than a blade of grass”. Such an approach is an elixir in the development of wisdom. Again, there seems to be no connection between wisdom and humility. Nevertheless, this is cent percent true.

No human being can stay without doing anything. For example while being alive or being infused with the capacity to live, a human being cannot be stone like. There shall be indications of life when a person is “alive”. His heart shall beat and his eyes shall blink. There will be thousands of processes that shall abound as the being continues to live. The animating aspect of the human being is the first level of power that alludes to the life force that powers the being.

The Hierarchy of Human Needs: From Survival to Ambition

At the secondary level, there shall be the need to eat, sleep, mate and defend. This will be the survival instincts of the individual. This aspect within the being will motivate him, to earn his living, rear a family, educate himself and so on. 

Here the being is equipped with an inner power of sanction, abiding which the being fights for his survival. The power of sanction is the unwritten law of one’s decency and also an attribution to the laws of the state that prohibits one to steal, to engage in activities that are nefarious or considered toxic. These are fundamental rules that restrict one to cross the boundaries of morality while one is executing one’s right to survive.

At the third level, once the survival needs are met, the human being decides to go a little higher and tries to satisfy his mental and emotional needs. He tries to satisfy his desires of owning a good house, arranging higher amenities for his relaxation and enjoyment. 

He tries to raise the bar of his ambitions and engages in activities that are a shade beyond mere survival. A person looks for a better job or engages in business. He tries to acquire more property and tries to own more assets to further the materialistic quality of his life.

The Dual Path: Power vs. Spiritual Evolution

At the fourth level, the being tries to gain control over other lives, he wields immense power and authority, depending on what he wills to influence. This is the status of a being who wants to influence the materialistic, gross plane of existence, where position and possession are used as subjective control attributes. This stage perhaps heralds the being’s return to the animal kingdom through his deliberations, a return to the jungle rule.

As a variation of the fourth level of existence, there are certain beings who take to the spiritual path; their approach is antipodal to those who try to wield power and control. Here, the being relinquishes all need for power and gravitates to the spiritual realm. 

Principles of Truth, Surrender and Devotional Service towards a Higher System takes precedence. This is perhaps the supreme form of human expression, a journey towards the Divine.

Karma and Power: The Corrosion of Materialism vs. Spiritual Growth

In the sections defined above, levels 3 and 4, corresponding to the materialistic way of life, there is a definite corrosion, when principles of Truth are transgressed. When lust, avarice, selfishness, condescension, illusion or attachment and envy take precedence, the higher energy that enables power, is arrested. 

Karma plays a great part in enhancing the living entity’s greed for enjoying power. If a living entity has some good Karma from the past, or has performed pious activities in this incarnation or in prior lifetimes, it is possible that he may be able to wield power for a certain period whereby Karma allows him to do so. 

Otherwise, his evil tendencies eat into the repository of energy that transfers power. Too much indulgence in lower animistic tendencies corrodes personal power dramatically.

On the other hand, under all circumstances, if the living entity enters into the fourth level of spiritualistic living, some higher form of personal power is conserved and it continues to grow dramatically with passage of time, opening up for him the passage that leads him to the domain of the infinite.

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