Haven't been able to sort this through yet...

Aren't we all perpetual victims of our own nature? From genetics to God and everything in between, people find it easier to blame their actions or reactions on something other than their own nature.

For years we have tried to understand human nature and its various intricacies. We barely have some answers. Cures?......Perhaps! But the answers......No, I do not believe we have any.

Yoga, some say, helps change people. It does help control certain natural behaviour. By 'natural' I mean physiological, psychological, biological et all. We can control fear, anxiety, depression so on and so forth....but can we erase it? Really erase it?

Do old habits really 'DIE'?

I once read a story of a saint called 'Vishwamitra'. Of the four castes in the Hindu societal system, Vishwamitra was born into the second highest or the 'Kshatriya' caste. He determined to ascend to the highest caste of the 'Brahmins'. He performed penance in its most severe and austere form. The magnitude of his penance scared the Gods. They sent a celestial concubine 'Menaka' to test his determination. Menaka of course did not have to try very hard to charm 'Vishvamitra' over. But eventually, 'Vishvamitra', realised he had been tricked. He 'divorced' from 'Menaka' & then went on to surpass all of his previous efforts attaining 'brahman'. The Supreme Lord 'Vishnu', was impressed enough to grant him sainthood. However, 'Vishwamitra' never qualified to 'brahman'.

As a kid, I found the decision unfair and unjust. As human, I still do. I would hate to be cheated of my goal when I really work hard for it.

Recently, almost on a whim, I determined to read the Gita. I have explained earlier in some of my previous posts, my (strange to many) affiliation to Krishna. Gita is essentially a collection of his words. The actual meaning of the words were not explained by Krishna. He cited examples, yes. He left it for us to figure out the myriad meanings of his simple statements. One of the most famous and well known of these is - "Let your actions determine the result and not vice-versa."

All of a sudden, I understood why 'Vishwamitra' never qualified to be 'Brahman'. He wanted something and worked hard for it. 'Brahman' is that state of mind which is beyond the scope of materialistic attractions/weaknesses. It has to be in your nature. You do not have to work hard for it. This was the basic point that 'Vishwamitra' had perhaps missed.

Our nature is inherent. We are born with it. It is as tangible and unique at birth as it is, after we grow up. Our nature is as unique as we ourselves , hence, no two people in the world can have the exact same nature.

For example: It takes a lot to anger me and equally long to pacify. That's my nature. My sister heats up real fast (almost functioning on a push-button mechanism ;-)) and forgets all about it within minutes. She is never vindictive & I have to consciously curb my Scorpio nature. We have both had similar premises & faculties in life (minus the differences in age) yet we are dissimilar.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot exchange our natures or them leveled.

I am sure a lot has been missed in this analysis. I am definitely no expert and have no answers whatsoever, to my own questions. Yet, I dare to think.