Going up the Responsibility Ladder
An article from the book ‘Are you a SuperLeader?’ by Manoj J Lekhi (Amrut Vivek).
True responsibility is when we learn to stop passing the buck, to stop complaining, to stop judging, to stop comparing, and to stop criticizing. As I learnt from my master, there are basically five kinds of people classified as per their attitude towards responsibility.
Five kinds of Responsibility
The first kind of people being the ones for whom the word does not exist at all. The concept of responsibility isn’t a part of his awareness at all. Usually dacoits, robbers and criminals exhibit this kind of behavior. Even many beggars belong to this category. Such people would simply steal from anyone around and lead a meaningless life. They may get whatever they want in their life through untruthful means but with certainty their death would be terrible.
The second kind of people are found to be in abundance in our society. These people point others as responsible for their lives. They seem to have mastered the art of complaining. Complaining about the society, health, relationships, family,
work and so on. These types of personalities faces problems in the small realities of everyday life with things like late trains and spilling coffees, spoiling their full day. So they basically exhibit the behavior of turning their own back towards responsibility. They resist taking responsibility but at the same time blame those who take up the same. Diseases like Diabetes, high B.P., Insomnia etc. are commonly suffered by these people.
The third kind of people are more elevated and are more aware than the other two. If they are unable to do a task, they will not pass the buck to somebody else, but will instead complete the task saying that it is nothing but their own responsibility to do so. ‘I am responsible for it. Now let me find out the cure for this’ is their mantra. If they are faced with some disadvantage, for example if they have money issues, then they will not borrow or steal but will take full responsibility for correcting the situation and making hard earned money. We can thus see that no effort is being wasted in complaining or running away from the issue. But all efforts are directed towards bringing about a change in the current situation. Such persons are known to live a reasonably stable life because they have the power to change situations in their own lives, also gaining control over their own lives. This shift of consciousness is brought about in people who undergo the SSY training. The shift from ‘I am not responsible’ to ‘I am the only one who is responsible for
this’ is when miracles start happening in our life.
The next level of personality – people who do not restrict their world to themselves, but extend it towards the society. Which bring us to the fourth kind who says that ‘I am responsible for the whole family, community, society’. He invariably is a part of a bigger family than the other three kinds. This happens because he has expanded his consciousness towards a bigger family and has become a richer person in the areas of health, wealth and happiness owing to the same. We can see this kind of personality exhibited by true leaders. One who lives for others and also who takes complete authority of situations in and around himself.
The highest variety is that of a person who sees himself in others and vice versa. He doesn’t limit himself to any society. But considers the whole world, universe as a part of him and himself as a part of the universe. He becomes one with the universe. This fifth kind of people have the benefit of experiencing pure bliss and ecstasy. People tend to surrender to them. This makes this personality the Guru and others as his disciples. When he disagrees to something in society, he will not wait for someone to join forces but will go ahead and make a difference himself. I call this person not a Leader but a Super Leader who has merged with his people. He does not differentiate between himself and others. So depending on the way your attitude is towards responsibility, is how you can fi t yourself into one of these five parameters.
Responsibility in Families
Love is the essence of longevity. In the context of marital relationships, it has been an observed trend in the U.S. about remarriages ending more in divorce than first marriages. And that the rate increases the more times you marry. Why is it so? This happens because there is a lack of responsibility. These couples are all the time finding faults in each other. They are not able to comprehend that only they have the responsibility to change the situation and to bring about a change within themselves which will then bring about a change in their relationship. What needs to be changed is that each one should understand the other, in a way that they break the barrier of being just husband-wife but become good friends and companions. This is possible when one practices meditation and probes deeper into understanding oneself. When you understand yourself only then you are able to comprehend the other person to the best of your abilities. This depth of understanding can be extended to your friends, colleagues and children too.
We find so many parents disturbed because their child is not co-operating with them. For this we ask the parents to first question themselves whether they co-operated with their parents or not? Most of them revert back saying no. A child is at such an age that he is trying to build his own character, individuality and own views about everything in life. And so it becomes a natural instinct to rebel against something that is not his idea. At this age it is best to just let them be. If required, we should take responsibility for what they are. This type of discord can be observed in any kind of relationship. Because what we fail to observe is, the more we try to push our idea, the more the other person will turn their back towards it. But, the more we agree to them and allow freedom to our children, spouse or colleagues the more attuned they will be towards our idea itself. Because we resist and say ‘No’ it creates a conflict and they end up doing things opposite to what we want.
So the best way is to understand yourself first. That itself is your primary responsibility. Learn to meditate, understand yourself and you will be able to understand others. Marriage can be the best experience of your life or it could be the worst. Same goes for relationship of parent-child, boss-employee and so on. The fundamental question is: What is our attitude to responsibility and in which of the five parameters are we functioning? So depending on the responsibility that we take, we will receive the outcome. What we sow, so shall we reap.
This is one of the greatest gifts that my master has given to the world. The possibility of analyzing ourselves of – ‘Where do we stand and where do we wish to go?’ based on our level of responsibility. We find maximum people to be in the second category. The fifth kind being people with high vibrations of energy who live as a Super Leader. This chart is enclosed as the last appendix to the book. The SSY program, develops the Super Leader in an individual and raises the consciousness of people from the first to the second kind to the third, fourth and ultimately to the fifth level.
A Super Leader thrives in the arena of responsibility and strives to reach the fifth level.
Leave A Comment