Burst Thirty Seven (For Youth):
Sweat it out
Living itself is an exercise of yoga. You need to conduct yourself with much care and understanding. Time and again you will meet with delicate situations, which test your equanimity and alertness. Can you walk on through the corridors of life without getting stuck at the walls? You are a yogi when you are neither caught in the tight embrace of things nor are constantly running away from matters. You neither depend on company nor avoid it. You are alone in a sense, being your own companion on the journey of life. All the same, you are not averse to or afraid of people.
Restraining the senses, training them to have a healthy relationship with objects of pleasure and keeping them fit is an integral part of mature living. So is the case with the mind. Do not look at all emotions as bad. Identify and nurture good emotions. Do not indulge in them excessively. When you fine-tune the senses and the mind, you become ready for perceiving the deeper, spiritual potential of everyday life. A natural equanimity becomes a part of your experience as events tend to toss you and old habits tend to drag you to despair.
Work hard. Sweat it out, not in a mechanical or dull way. Go about it with enough attention to details. Do a fine job of all your well-chosen duties. Work on money, men and matters. Work on yourself too. Work on physical issues, keeping in mind aesthetics, cultural sentiments and true fairness to everybody involved.
Not by erudition, but by freedom from ego is the bliss of wisdom gained. Work for it through an all-time wakefulness. Let it not be mere philosophical ideas or clever verbalization. Know it to be an every moment challenge. Gather information where required. Let go of concepts and judgments. Learn and grow. Unlearn and simplify.
Strive thus in the mill of life.
(Inspiration: Kagga 703 – 704)
Swami Chidananda
Monday, April 11, 2005