By: BK Geeta
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2284/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: April 12th, 2025
Audiences love to watch good actors perform in plays and movies. The actors portray various characters so convincingly that the viewers forget for a time that it is just acting. If the character on screen is in danger, then the actor’s eyes, tense face, and body language transmit some of his ‘fear’ to those watching. The hearts of the viewers start racing and they move to the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting the next scene. The actor exudes emotions and personalities so well that the audience identifies him with his role. But the actors do not forget who they are. They know they have to virtually become a different person while shooting or performing on stage, but once that is over, they return to their own selves.
Top actors carefully research the subject they will portray. If it is a well-known personality, they adopt the lifestyle of that person, copy their mannerisms, mimic their way of speaking, and walk like them in order to ‘become’ like them as much as possible. Such dedication and diligence bring rewards in the form of public appreciation, critical acclaim, and a big pay cheque.
We must remember that the actor is paid for the quality of his acting, not for the role he plays. The actor is not paid more for portraying a king and less for the role of a beggar. A good actor knows this and gives his best to each role he plays.
But we forget the fact that all of us are actors on the stage of the world, performing our unique individual roles. The scriptures tell us that we are souls, not bodies. It is the soul that thinks, feels, speaks, and acts. The body is the physical medium through which the soul, an invisible, sentient point of energy, expresses itself and connects to the world around it. Consciousness resides in the soul, which has some innate qualities, such as peace, purity, love, truth, and bliss. When the soul functions on the basis of these qualities, it feels happy and at ease. But when it encounters anything that goes against these traits, it feels uncomfortable.
When we forget that we are souls, we begin to identify ourselves with our body. The body carries numerous labels which we have created. Each of these labels produces images in the mind with which we identify ourselves and others. The label could be of gender, race, nationality, religion, profession, or financial status. We see ourselves in terms of these labels, affix them on others, compare ourselves with them, and then decide how we should behave with them.
Ignorance of our real identity disconnects us from our innate virtues. We forget our true selves and start acting on the basis of the temporary roles that we are playing. This gives rise to vices, which define human behaviour today. Ego, anger, greed, lust, hatred, and jealousy, all spring from seeing the self and others as bodies. It is as if an actor portraying a king starts to believe that he really is a king, and treats others as his subjects. He will certainly invite ridicule. But in real life we forget that we are souls and instead see ourselves as a husband, wife, boss, subordinate, rich, poor, smart, not-so-smart, better than others, or worse off than others.
Our worth as a person is determined by our qualities, not our gender, race, social status, religious beliefs, profession, or nationality. A charitable soul is respected everywhere, regardless of the colour of his skin, the passport he holds, the language he speaks, or the amount of money he has in the bank. That is why Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela – three individuals from very different backgrounds – came to be respected the world over. They acted on the basis of truth, peace, compassion, and forgiveness, which enabled them to rise above parochial tendencies and work for the larger good. Their embrace of all humanity, without discrimination, earned them universal esteem. In other words, they showed us that when we are aware of our true identity and act on the basis of our intrinsic qualities, we can rise above the petty divisions created by body-consciousness, and become real heroes.
BK Geeta is a Rajyoga teacher
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Abu Road, Rajasthan.
