Do you wish to become a better person?  Yes, and so does everybody else on this planet Earth.  From where does this innate yearning to improve arise?  On the 13^th day of the Happiness Challenge, let us understand that if we strive to be the best person we can be, we will naturally find happiness.

On the 12^th day, we discussed that all of us souls are tiny parts of the Supreme Soul, which is God.  A name for God in the Vedic scriptures is Brahman meaning infinite.  Vrihatvat Brahman—God is infinite in extent.  So vast is this creation of His, and all of it—He is holding within Himself.  So, imagine the extent of God!  But this word Brahman has another meaning to it—Vringhanatvat Brahman—God is He who makes others infinite.  In other words, He is not miserly.  He wishes to bestow all His divine treasures upon His little children, and that is why, as tiny parts of the infinite Brahman, we naturally have the yearning to grow and become infinitely great as He is.  That is why we see this growth taking place in every aspect of human endeavor.   This desire to improve is innate to our personality.

The story of Edmund Hillary is very inspiring.  We all know that in 1953 he scaled Mount Everest—the first human being to do so along with Sherpa Tenzing.  However, most people do not know that he made an attempt in 1952 as well and failed.  When the British Mountaineering Association came to know of his attempt, they arranged a program in his honor.  He was invited to the stage to speak to them.  On the podium was a picture of Mount Everest.  Before going to the mike, Edmund Hillary went in front of Mount Everest’s picture and waved his fist at it.  He said, “Dear Everest, you defeated me last year.  But next time, I am going to defeat you, because you have stopped growing but I am constantly growing.”

Watch this interesting video by Swami Mukundananda –

So, this yearning to grow is innate to our soul personality and it will not be satiated until we become perfect, like God Himself.  That is why Swami Vivekananda said, “These Prophets were not unique; they were men as you and I.  They had attained super-consciousness and you and I can do the same.  The very fact that one person attained that state indicates that all people can do so.  And that ultimately is religion.”

Thus, the purpose of religion is to help us become perfect like God Himself.  Hence, the Bible says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And the Vedas have told us, Vringhanatvat Brahman—God Himself is perfect and He wishes that perfection for all His little parts.  So, the purpose of this human endeavor is to keep growing to the maximum of our potential.  When we apply ourselves to that task of trying to become better, we will automatically feel better.  Let us today, ignite within ourselves the aspiration to be the best that we can be.