The Response is Mine

Shishya (disciple):

Gurudev, my heart is heavy. Often, when the world troubles me, I find myself angry, restless, even bitter. And yet, later I realize — the fault was not in the world but in my response. Still, I cannot stop blaming others. How do I overcome this weakness?

Guru:

Child, you have already taken the first step — by admitting that it is your response, not the world, that needs mastery. Many waste lifetimes fighting shadows outside, never realizing the real battlefield is within.

Shishya:

But Master, the world is so harsh. People insult, situations disappoint, losses break me. How can I not be mad at the world?

Guru:

Listen carefully. The world is prakṛti — nature, ever changing, ever restless. It has no obligation to align with your desire. Fire will burn, whether you bless it or curse it. Water will flow, whether you smile or weep. The mistake is in expecting the world to behave as per your wish.

Shishya:

Then is the world blameless, and I am the only culprit?

Guru:

Neither the world is guilty nor are you doomed. The truth is subtler:

The world acts.

You interpret.

You respond.

Your suffering arises not from the world’s action but from the color of your interpretation. As the Gita says (2.14): “Matra-sparshas tu kaunteya shitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah… O son of Kunti, contact with matter gives cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go. Endure them with patience.”

Shishya:

But Master, when anger rises, it feels uncontrollable, like a fire in the chest. How do I master it in that very moment?

Guru:

When fire breaks out in a hut, do you pour ghee or water? If you pour ghee, the flame grows. If you pour water, it calms. Similarly, when anger rises, most pour ghee — words, reactions, ego. Instead, pour water — silence, pause, awareness.

Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras teach: “Yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ” — Yoga is mastery over the modifications of the mind. In that pause, you choose: Will I be slave to reaction or master of response?

Shishya:

But Guruji, sometimes silence feels like weakness. Shouldn’t I stand up against injustice?

Guru:

Child, silence does not mean weakness. It means clarity before action. Even Śrī Krishna did not ask Arjuna to abandon battle. He asked him to fight, but without anger, without hatred, with clarity of dharma. Reaction is blind; response is conscious.

Shishya:

So the world is my training ground?

Guru:

Exactly. Every insult trains your patience. Every loss trains your detachment. Every delay trains your perseverance. The world is not your enemy; it is your examiner. If you respond rightly, you grow. If you react blindly, you repeat the lesson.

Shishya:

But what if I fail again and again?

Guru:

Then you learn again and again. Do not curse failure; it is your teacher. A child falls many times before walking. Should the child get angry at the floor for being hard? No. He learns balance. Similarly, every fall teaches you inner balance.

Shishya:

Master, is there one key thought that can guide me in such moments?

Guru:

Yes. Remember this:

“The world is what it is. My suffering is not in what happens, but in how I meet it.”

Say to yourself: “I cannot be mad at the world for my inability to manage my response.”

Make it your mantra. Slowly, the fire within will bend to your will.

Shishya (bowing):

Gurudev, I see now. The world may not change, but I can. The training is mine, the response is mine, the freedom is mine.

Guru (smiling):

And when you master your response, my child, you will find that the world was never your enemy — it was always your mirror.

Moral:

The world outside cannot be controlled, but the world inside can. Reaction binds, response frees. The wise one does not fight the storm but learns to steer the boat.