In the course of 2 to 3 years of the UPSC journey, you will come across many ups and downs. Every day is filled with a spectrum of emotions. Our emotions determine the quality of efforts we put into this process. And, the CSE results is directly proportional to the day to day efforts.
The question is how to keep our emotions in a stable manner? How to stay resilient to the ups and downs of the external and internal world?
UPSC loves Buddhism more than any other religion for the reasons unknown. In every Prelims and Mains, you will see one or two Qns from this zone. Developing a genuine interest in the philosophical schools of thought will not only helps you to gain marks but also helps you to evolve out of this preparation phase. Every day, try to pause for a few mins and meditate on the noble thoughts.
”All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.’
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
–Ch. I. Twin Verses (Yamaka-vaggo), Dhammapada.
Buddhism believes that thoughts have the power to shape our emotions. They see our personality traits as the cumulative result of a persistent way of thinking. The person could be Gandhiji or Adolf Hitler, Gautama Buddha or Anguli Mala, Ashoka, the Tolerant or Aurangazeb, the intolerant. The intensity of personality is almost the same. But the degree of thought is diagonally opposite. At every step, at every moment of life, we will be having two choices: to forgive or to resent; to Love or to Hate; to cry or to laugh; to accept or to reject; to be grateful to the existence or to curse our fate; to live in the present moment or to hang on with the past.
So, to keep our inner-self serene, to make our family more joyful, to keep our friends comfortable, to bring positivity to our society, we should start by changing our every thought into positive. Gandhiji always used to say, “If I change my thoughts, I will change. If I change, the world will change”.
Being UPSC Aspirant and a future Civil Servant, you need to develop the value of Empathy, Forgiveness, Kindness, Gratefulness to the existence, Compassion, and to see positivity in every situation. Be vigilant on Self. Identify and remove negative thoughts.
Try to add an ounce of positivity to your personality every day.
Try to put one step closer to success in Life every day (not just in Exams).
