Book Title: World of Philosophy
Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan
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Philosophy of Personality Development : Indian Perspective
- Dr. B. P. Siddhashrama 1. What is Personality Development ?
Personality Development means a gradual and upward progress of a human person from animalhood to manhood and from manhood to divinity. Development obviously involves struggle with one's own impulsive mind characterized by wrong tendencies, sensuous desires and bad habits. It is an inner journey starting from childish desires and step by step uplifting ourself, rectifying our-self, through the self assessment, self criticism by strengthening our inner voice and following the suggestions of the conscience which is the guide within us. This conscience will work vividly if and only if we develop the discriminative power, the discrimination between the lower and the higher, the real and the unreal, the pleasant and the blissful. The lesser we identify with the lower mind and the more we identify with the higher mind by self-examination through the discriminative power the more developed will our personality be. For this one has to sacrifice the animal nature and raise to the level of rational being and gradually reach the abode of divinity. This automatically takes place if one develops the discriminative power(viveka). This Viveka will help us to win our lower mind which clings up to the lower desires i.e.Arishadvargas. Thus, Viveka leads to Jinatva which paves way for the Personality Development. The aim of yoga, education, training or any methods of Personality Development is to tap this viveka to strengthen the inner melody of conscience which works as an agent of the unseen, unheard divine which is the Aadhaara (support) and Adhishtana(ground) of all our experiences. In fact, it is the witness of all our movements / activities and if it becomes vigilant the sleeping soul will be aroused and miracle of Personality Development evolves. Personality Development is from danavattva(animalhood) to Jinatva and from Jinatva to Jivanmuktatva.
Personality Development also involves deleting process and the process of transcendence. By deleting lower mind or passions one can strengthen and develop the higher mind and by transcending animal-hood one can reach man-hood and by transcending this stage too, one can submerge in the divinity. This divinity itself is Jivanmuktitva.
Viewing from other point of view Personality Development means the expansion of human consciousness from finitude to infinitude or Brahmanization of human consciousness. It is here the individual consciousness will submerge in the universal consciousness. Confucius aptly puts it "to find the central clue of our moral being which unites us to the universal order that indeed is the attainment". Hence it is the journey of the soul from
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