Manners are of the surface. It means nothing to us, except a pleasant exterior for the social occasion. Behaviour is to believe in the valid truth of manners. A man of really false consciousness inside always speaks the truth on social occasions, because he believes truth must be spoken to others. In our society, such a person is a rare specimen. It will raise him sky high. But, in all serious affairs of life, life will reward him for what he is inside - falsehood, and not for his external truthfulness. This phenomenon baffles people who ignore what he is inside in his true character. Such a one may rise to be the head of his nation, but even his exalted position cannot get his son a Vice-Chancellor's post. He has to retire as a professor. Behaviour is to believe in the truth of external behaviour. Still, behaviour is on the surface of one's being.
Character is in the depths, swabhava. Whatever you are in your character, life rewards accordingly. My theme here is the effectivity of accomplishment. What a man of good manners accomplishes in a lifetime, a man of character accomplishes in the beginning of his career. One who wants to receive the rewards of life at the end of his career, can shift his work from good manners to good character. A young boy with an MA was enamoured of a clerk's post in a bank. His three attempts in three banks did not get him a pass in the entrance exam. He met a graduate who was the son of a domestic maid preparing for IAS. "I am an MA, I am unable to get a clerk's job. He is a BA. He is aiming at IAS. Is there a secret of life here that I have missed?" he thought. He too started preparing for IAS. In an implicit subtle manner, the boy had a glimpse of the above truth. He passed the exam, but was not selected. Soon he was selected as a Manager of State Bank. In our human life, shifting our work from manners to character will bring the results that would come at retirement.
Beyond this lies a spiritual reward for seekers of the Spirit. Spiritual realisation available at the end of ten or twenty births is available NOW if one shifts his work from character to its origin consciousness. Character, however noble it is, is still human character. Consciousness is always divine consciousness. Instead of seeking good character, one should seek consciousness that is above character, neither good character nor bad character. Character is a structure. Consciousness has no structure. It is. It has no past, no future. It is in the Ever-Present.