Discernment is acuteness of perception, judgment and understanding. I cultivate this virtue by drawing on all my mental and intuitive faculties when pondering a subject, and by meditating. Its opposite is ignorance.§
Comparing the actions of one who is discerning to one who is ignorant§ |
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|---|---|---|
Situation§ |
Discernment§ |
Ignorance§ |
In pondering your daily transportation needs, you…§ |
consider bikes versus cars and spend time inspecting the different brands, their costs and advantages.§ |
Seeing no need for research, impulsively buy the car you and your friend have been coveting for years.§ |
After switching to a vegetarian diet, you…§ |
are aware that your sense of wonder of your environment has increased.§ |
notice only that you feel hungry more often.§ |
A few hours after speaking harsh words to a friend, you…§ |
perceive tension in your solar plexus and apologize to the person.§ |
feel some regret, but assume the whole thing will just blow over.§ |
Gurudeva explained: “Lord Murugan was created by God Siva’s sakti and given a vel of spiritual discernment, a lance of divine intelligence. Pray to Lord Murugan to unravel the great mysteries of the universe. Pray to Lord Murugan to make you a spiritual person.”§
“To sustain saucha [purity], it is important to surround oneself with good, devonic company, to have the discrimination to know one type of person from another. Too many foolish, sensitive souls, thinking their spirituality could lift a soul from the world of darkness, have walked in where even the Mahadevas do not tread and the devas fear to tread, only to find themselves caught in that very world, through the deceit and conniving of the cleverly cunning. Lets not be foolish. Lets discriminate between higher consciousness and lower consciousness.”§
ASSIGNMENT: For the next two weeks, when making decisions, be sure to explore and understand the ramifications of your various options.§
Date you began this assignment ____________________§
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BENEFITS OF DISCERNMENT: 
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