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Summary of Question:Ambition Vs Contentment
Category:General Sikhism
Date Posted:Monday, 9/28/2009 8:06 AM MDT

Hello,


My question is regarding the Ambition versus Contentment argument. Though I am not sure, I am guessing that this depends largely on what we are ambitious for? Also, at what point does ambition become greed?

I have generally lived by the maxim that we should go for all the material things we would like in life (after all, we should have a strong work ethic).... as long as we know we will be okay without them.

Lately, however, I am struggling to balance this with living a life ideally in complete submission...

Many thanks in advance for your advice

A.K

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REPLY
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Sat Nam,

Agreeably, complete submission in life is quite necessary at times but it does not mean sitting at home and doing nothing is the best plan either. If you feel you are blocked from things and can not accomplish everything you want then look around and figure out why it is happening. Most likely you will realize that there is a lesson you are learning. Of course greed is not such a great thing in life and we can certainly live without it but to understand it you have to look deeper to the source of greed in your own situation.

Sometimes we develop greed because we feel things are not flowing freely we and to skip the lesson and jump to the good part right away without having to adjust our ways of being. Then we get frustrated and go the other way trying to strike a bargain with God by giving everything up. What we are doing is saying: "God, I will be a good man or a woman by not asking you anything anymore, but between you and I ... I know and you know what I need so if I just keep my mouth shut for a while and don't ask you anymore then you should deliver it". And God goes: "My son or daughter, you can have everything you want already but you have blocked yourself from the flow of my gifts and until you consciously change yourself and adjust the flow in your own life nothing will reach you whether you feel greedy and ambitious or try your best to surrender. If you don't make an effort to change there is nothing I can do, even though I keep giving you everything. You just don't know how to receive it."

The surrender is good if you want to surrender to the free flow in your life, to the God's will. Don't try to control things, they are out of your control. Just roll with the punches good or bad, deal with it as it comes. You can't block the road to the bad things in life and say you don't deserve them and try to avoid them... because it is the same road that will deliver all the good things too. If the road is blocked nothing will reach you. Accept the good and the bad. Who cares how bad it can get at the moment if in a while this is just as good it is going to get too.

Close your eyes right now, go inside yourself and really ask yourself what is it that you are blocking. Then just let if flow through you and just let it happen. Even if you need to cry for minute... then just do it, let the flow happen.

Have a wonderful day,
DKK



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