When we make decisions, we usually think that we are choosing freely. However, we decide not just by our conscious intentions but also by our script – our subconscious conceptions that shape how we think, feel and act. Though we think we are acting freely, we are often acting out our script’s promptings.
Our scripts originate from our past influences. During our childhood, we may have been introverts who were compared unfavorably with an extrovert sibling: “Why can’t you be outgoing like him?” Such comparisons make us driven by an external reference point – we slave to become something we are not endowed or inclined to be, and when we fail, we beat ourselves up. Overall, because of unhealthy scripts, we dissipate our mental energy and even our life in endeavors that are disharmonious with who are.
To stop such self-damage, we need to replace our present script with a less socially-determined self-understanding. Such a self-understanding is provided by the Bhagavad-gita, whose worldview integrates our whole being – spiritual and material. It outlines a holistic program of bhakti-yoga that cultivates our spiritual essence with its potential for enduring happiness and channels our body-mind machine with its particular inclinations. When we make scripture the basis of our decision-making, as the Gita recommends (16.24), we slowly reshape our script.
Ultimately, scripture is the guidance provided by Krishna who is our greatest well-wisher (05.29). Rather than let our script be shaped by people who don’t know our best or maybe don’t even want our best, we can choose to let it be shaped by the one who knows and wants our best.
When we study scripture regularly and apply it diligently, making Krishna the center and purpose of our life, then we become guided by a sublime script that prompts us to fulfill our potentials, material and spiritual.
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Thank you prabhuji. Your articles are very helpful.