Oleg Torsunov: “The first result of working on yourself is pride, which completely destroys a person’s life. He leaves no stone unturned.”
We continue to talk about the topic of pride. In previous article we analyzed this quality in fragments from the perspective of the ancient Vedic epic “Mahabharata”, which lists 54 signs of pride. Today we will talk about how pride manifests itself in spiritual life.
In fact, we are all very proud of ourselves, even if we don’t think so and have never considered ourselves proud. But if in your environment someone’s pride, arrogance or arrogance strikes you, then do not doubt: this quality is also in you. As the famous lecturer and student of Oleg Gennadyevich Vladimir Sleptsov says: “Planes always collide at the same altitude.” This means that if we did not have pride, then we would not be attracted by the words and actions of people in whom we see the manifestation of this quality.
How can I check whether I am a proud person or not? If someone looks at you with faith and listens to what you say, know that pride has already crept into your heart. One look at a person with faith is enough for him to begin to be proud of himself. This is why Oleg Gennadievich says that it is impossible for public people to get rid of pride. Too many enthusiastic words and adoration from the public! Therefore, pride is inherent in all famous people, and Oleg Gennadievich also admits that he is sometimes proud of himself. Because absolutely everyone has pride; to what extent and whether a person works on it is another matter.
The remarkable thing is that if you set yourself the goal of working through your pride and getting rid of it, then your life will become a real test. The Lord will put you in situations where your pride will have a hard time. Your false ego will flare up with renewed vigor each time, and the realization that this situation came to me because I asked for it myself comes, unfortunately, belatedly. Therefore, very often people who work on themselves are forced to constantly be in the school of life and endure the exams of fate, despite the fact that this can be very unpleasant and painful.
However, a person who works on himself will be able to withstand the onslaught of negative manifestations from the outside. In the Vedas, a holy person is compared to a serene surface of water, into which even if you throw a stone, not a single circle will be visible on it. But we are not holy people and cannot imitate this, so we suffer from our pride. But how can we understand that pride has crept into our consciousness?
Если вы по утрам молитесь духовному учителю или же святому человеку и не можете мысленно сделать поклон, это значит, что вы уже набрались гордости. Но если продолжать выполнять поклоны, то в определенный момент придет облегчение. Это значит, что сегодня вы сможете одержать победу над своей гордостью, если подвернется такой случай. А он всегда приходит как проверочная работа на усвоение пройденного материала.
Поэтому, чтобы наша гордость не раздувалась день ото дня, Олег Геннадьевич советует во время молитвы кланяться святому человеку и представлять себя песчинкой у его стоп, ведь наша душа именно таких размеров, и даже меньше. Но как обычно мы привыкли о себе думать? Как о ком-то значительном и заслуживающим уважения, не так ли? Да, все мы грешим тем, что хотим себе почестей и славы, вопрос только в том, что с нами будет, если мы это получим? Будем ли мы счастливы или же, наоборот, станем еще большими гордецами, чем сейчас? Ведь все наши страдания происходят от нашего уязвленного эго, то есть гордости.
It is noteworthy here to recall the parable of the Tower of Babel. Why did the grandest structure of ancient civilization collapse? Because people became proud of themselves, and God divided them according to their languages. They stopped understanding each other, and construction stopped. The scriptures have a good saying about this: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Therefore, if you are working on yourself, know that the first thing that will come into your life is pride. Pride from rising early, pride from spiritual knowledge, pride from a higher lifestyle. After all, when a person’s living standards change, and he objectively understands that such a life is really better than the one he lived before, his function automatically turns on: he begins to consider himself better than others.
Better than his friends because they drink and he doesn’t. Better than my parents, because they made mistakes while raising me, but I won’t, because I have the knowledge. Better than his colleagues, neighbors, relatives, etc. Over time, such a person may believe that around him there are only degenerates. It will be difficult for him to understand that he himself has degraded in the process of self-improvement. And even if he is among exalted people, tries to serve in the temple, but it is difficult for him to wash the floors there once again, this means that the shoots of pride are still growing in his soul. The very thought “Why should I wash the floors? I already did this yesterday” means that pride has not gone away. She simply adapted to a better life.
— The first result of working on yourself is pride, which completely destroys a person’s life. Leaves no stone unturned. Let’s say I pray in the morning, I’m almost a saint, but my husband remains the same as a bastard. But, my dears, working on yourself means a completely different thing. It means that you can invest more energy in your loved one. If you are engaged in self-improvement, but at the same time do not improve relationships in your family, it means that the energy of self-improvement goes into your pride, and not into your strength, because pride is always weakness, not strength, notes Oleg Gennadievich.
Thus, most listeners complain to Oleg Gennadievich that close people do not allow them to listen to his lectures. Why is this happening? Because mostly people listen to understand what their loved one is to blame for, and not what I myself am to blame for. And this destroys the family. Therefore, if you work on yourself, but criticize your loved ones for not being as exalted as you, then don’t expect anything good.
Whether it’s switching to vegetarianism, prayer, or the desire to serve in a temple, these things don’t work from a position of pride. Who is successful in self-development? The one who applies the acquired knowledge to himself and works on his character, tries to be modest and strives to calmly respond to the shortcomings of others. After all, it often happens that a person who is already in faith and considers himself quite exalted still behaves inappropriately. He is intolerant of other people's mistakes, looks down on everyone, makes harsh remarks to those who are just embarking on the path to God, and moreover, criticizes other faiths and extols his own.
There are more than enough such examples, and when people see such people in passion, they think: “Why believe in God? If his followers are such fools.” This is actually a very common belief. You just need to understand that, despite the fact that a person identifies himself with some kind of faith and puts on religious clothes, he still remains a person. With its own character and shortcomings. This does not mean that this faith is bad, it means that this person is simply proud of himself and does not see his mistakes in behavior. It’s just that his pride has taken on more subtle forms that he is unable to discern it.
Therefore, the Vedas claim that pride is man’s most terrible enemy. Because of pride, we cannot accept the fact of God's existence and admit to ourselves our mistakes. Because of pride, we cannot receive knowledge from our elders. Pride deprives us of many opportunities. Because of her, we are losing families, jobs, children. It is difficult for us to understand this, because the mind, saturated with pride, cannot adequately perceive the events taking place. But if we begin to work on ourselves, do not attach much importance to our successes, but slowly move forward, do not torture our loved ones so that they follow our path, forgive others for their mistakes and do not measure our piety with them, then gradually we will begin to notice how pride manifests itself in our destiny, and over time we will cease to be influenced by it.
