Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Text 08
In material consciousness, whenever we achieve any success, we tend to parade and brag about it. We often carry this tendency with us into our devotional life. This becomes evident when we achieve something worthwhile in devotional service — be it external in terms of completing a demanding service assignment or internal in terms of implementing a challenging resolution for self-mastery. At such times, we tend to exhibit our laurels and rest on them– and thereby expose ourselves to two unnecessary dangers.
Resting: The first danger in resting on laurels is that the rest offers our inner adversaries — our mind and senses –time to recover, regroup and retaliate. When we achieve anything, we usually do so by disciplining and dovetailing our mind and senses. This inner success offers us a precious opportunity to press home our hard-earnedadvantage and push forward towards greater self-mastery. However, when we complacently rest on our laurels, we not only lose our upper hand, but we also give our inner adversaries a free hand for reprisals.
