We are the only living beings bestowed with knowledge, this intellect will help us make the right choices using logical reasoning. With great deal of information available at our fingertips, we know countless things that can help elevate the quality of our lives; however we often procrastinate beneficial things due to the human tendency of holding on to pleasures (Sukha). Indulgence in luxuries and pleasures will keep us away from being disciplined, Ayurveda categorizes this as Pradnyaaparadha and sure enough this is one of the reasons we fall prey to the diseases. Knowledge is classified into 3 categories
- Dhee–Understanding the concept
- Dhruti–Holding on to the concept
- Smruti–Recollecting the concept when needed
With evolution I think understanding the concept is easy for us now, it is the dhruti and smruti we struggle with the most.
Types of Pradnyaaparadha
- Multi Tasking: We are so much used to overloading ourselves with multiple things. This keeps us away from subtle pleasures in life like enjoying the smell of roses, savoring the taste of food, appreciating the sun rise, paying attention to what our kids share. We are used to moving on from 1 task to another without giving a gap to enjoy any accomplishments.
- Indulgence: How many of us are guilty of stuffing ourselves with tasty food even though there is no hunger, stay up late watching netflix videos, listen to music all day long? talking on the phone while driving, Our mind tricks us in many ways and keeps us away from real juice of life. How to get over this
- To be in the groove: We don’t want to be the left out ones when a conversation is happening at work about the current affairs or TV shows, so we find a reason to catch up on all the shows
- Follow Others: Media shows false images of our friends having too much fun and we want to do the same thing
Reasons
- Excess Doshas: These are the fundamental principles in the body and when they are chaotic and not coherent, it would be difficult for our mind to be strong and adhere to the discipline
- Less control of senses: This could be due to excess
How to overcome?
- Make small goals and treat yourself to a pleasurable thing once achieved—ex: I will eat my favourite ice cream only if I exercise every day this week without fail
- Tell all your friends about your goal–the only reason I was told we invite many people for wedding is because there will be that many people to vouch for incase of filing a divorce 🙂 incase you want to break your goal you would feel guilty about it
- Make a group if possible for your goal