Скачать или смотреть Being Gentle with Oneself: A Hindu Perspective on Failure / Anantanand Rambachan

What should we do when we fail to live as we ought? Anantanand Rambachan reflects on failure, drawing on Hindu scripture and storytelling. Sharing the parable of an ant with a broken leg on pilgrimage, he explains that meaning lies in the journey itself, not just in outcomes. Citing the Bhagavad Gita, he emphasizes choosing right actions even when results are uncertain. For deeper failures of will, Rambachan calls for compassion: being gentle with oneself. Only by embracing our own frailty with honesty and love, he argues, can we embrace others with the same grace.

About Anantanand Rambachan

Anantanand Rambachan is a Hindu scholar specializing in Advaita Vedānta and interfaith dialogue. Raised in Trinidad and Tobago, he studied in India and the United Kingdom before serving as Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies at Saint Olaf College. His writings explore Hindu theology, ethics, and spirituality, offering insights for contemporary life.

Highlights

1. “It doesn’t matter. I am on the way. And that’s what is important. I am on the journey.”
2. “We don’t have control over the outcomes of our actions, but we have control on the choice of the action.”
3. “We should not measure success in any action only by its outcome.”
4. “Being gentle with oneself. Being gentle with oneself.”
5. “We often forget that, that compassion and, and love also to be extended to our own selves, as we extend to others.”

Notes

Failure as Part of the Journey

Story of the ant with a broken leg on pilgrimage
Meaning lies in being on the way, not in arriving
“It doesn’t matter. I am on the way. And that’s what is important.”

Outcomes Versus Actions

Bhagavad Gita teaching: we control actions, not outcomes
“We don’t have control over the outcomes of our actions, but we have control on the choice of the action.”
Success measured by faithfulness in action, not external results

Hope in Choosing the Good

Even when outcomes fail, meaning remains in right choices
“We should not measure success in any action only by its outcome.”
True value lies in sincerity of engagement

Failures of Will

Acknowledging wrong choices through reflection and honesty
Learning from moments when will strays from what is right

Compassion Toward Self

“Being gentle with oneself. Being gentle with oneself.”
Extending love and compassion to oneself enables embracing others
Integrity and honesty with one’s weaknesses rooted in divine love