Why Should We Be Good, When Being Selfish Is More Rewarding?-2

Why Should We Be Good, When Being Selfish Is More Rewarding?-2

Consciously or unconsciously, whether we wish it or not, all of the struggles of life are taking us down this path of God-realization, towards revealing more and more of the divinity that lies within each of us.

This is a slow process, which takes many life-times to unfold. There are ways however, of speeding it up, and one of these is by being good, as Swami Vivekananda explains below.

It is through repeated acts of kindness, goodness and selflessness that we can chip away at the shell of impurities that confines our soul, and let our consciousness evolve from a lower state, where we are aware of only our own selves and our needs; to a higher state of Universal Consciousness (called God), where we see the whole world as One – as an unbroken extension of our own individual self.

The following conversation with Swami Vivekananda, was recorded by his disciple, Sharat Chandra Chakravarty. It took place at the Belur Math, in Calcutta, in 1898. (Source: Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 7)

Why Should We Be Good?

“All that is good is a reflection of the Soul.

When that reflection is less manifested it is called darkness or evil, and when it is more manifested it is called light or goodness.
That is all.
Good and evil are only a question of the degree by which the Soul is more manifested or less.”
- Swami Vivekananda

Disciple: Sir, what is the necessity at all for doing good to others?

Swami Vivekananda: Well, it is necessary for one’s own good. We become forgetful of the ego when we think of the body as dedicated to the service of others — the body with which, most complacently, we identify the ego. And in the long run comes the consciousness of disembodiness (freedom from being aware only of our own selves and our needs).

The more intently you think of the well-being of others, the more oblivious of (your own) self you become. In this way, as your heart gradually gets purified by work, you will come to feel the truth that your own Self (Soul) is pervading all beings and all things.

Thus it is, that doing good to others, constitutes a way, a means of revealing one’s own Self or Atman (Soul), which is the highest aim of all disciplines and all spiritual paths.

Being good is a spiritual practice, a discipline for God-realisation through self-realization. Exactly the same goal can also be attained by following other paths of knowledge (Jnâna), devotion (Bhakti), work for the sake of others (Karma) and so on.

Thus it is, that the rewards of goodness accrue on the spiritual plane. Being good, may not necessarily result in material gains, but it does lead to permanent spiritual gains. Selfishness on the other hand, may accrue immediate benefits on the temporary material plane, but on the everlasting spiritual plane, it causes us to move away from the light and towards darkness.

Om Namah Shivay