be true to yourself

Verse 3.6: One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.

Today's Gita message is simple: be honest with where you are at, whether it be in your practice of yoga, life or anything else! For example, we may not be at the level where we are unattached to the results of our work or we may still be hanging on to a few bad habits that are impeding our advancement. That's ok, as long as we acknowledge it and continue to work on ourselves.

It's a constant struggle to genuinely be honest with oneself. Feeling overwhelmed with expectations we may perceive others have of us, we may be tempted "cheat" and over-embellish a skill on our resume or tell a little white lie to be held in higher esteem. It's unfortunate, but when asked why, often times the answer is a resounding "Everybody does it! I'm just trying to even the field."

Key to being honest with oneself is to refrain from passing judgement. There's nothing wrong with facing challenges when we are new to the practice of bhakti yoga. It's also common to go through times of struggle when one is a super advanced practitioner! And it's definitely no surprise that even when we practice offering the fruits of our work in a spirit of gratitude, at times a little voice may pipe up and say "It belongs to me. I should get the credit." After all, we've been trying to play controller for lifetimes and relating to everything on the level of the body and the senses.

When we attempt to genuinely live as spiritual beings having a material experience, there will be challenges. But instead of sweeping them under the rug and presenting the illusion that we are advanced, if we, in a spirit of humility and honesty, seek to go deeper, we naturally start to experience ourselves as eternal, spiritual souls.

So try it out in your own life. There's no need to pretend. Yes, we can always improve but being honest and genuine is so attractive. So go on and be true to where you're really at!