Burst Fifty-Five :
Take It Lightly
Nine out of ten things that cause stress in daily life are actually not a big deal. They are just situations and most of us make a problem out of them. A lot of old conditionings make our mind slip into the grooves of habitual patterns (of thinking and feeling). An alert and mature mind would take all these things in its stride without fuss. Habits die in the heat of alertness, in the light of (living in) the present.
We need to see the truth of the amazing power of attention, which can drive away all tension. It is all about seeing clearly how we are causing pain to ourselves by just our ways of thinking. If we may use an analogy, a man pricks himself with a pin and cries, “Ah, it is paining.” When he just sees that no other person than himself is the cause of that pain, that ‘seeing’ instantly becomes ‘right action’. He stops pricking himself.
Therefore it is important to be self-aware. We should not only be aware of our words and deeds, but also of the thoughts behind them. Some of us are in tension right in the morning, when we are in a hurry to get ready to go to work. A while ago, while on bed, we would say, “Ah there is enough time; let me sleep a little more”. Now, the same mind gets panicky and rushes with things. Like the pendulum of a clock that goes from one extreme to another and swings back, our mind moves from indifference (or negligence) to great concern and urgency. In the face of pleasures and comforts, we forget duty and later, as work stares us in the face, we ride the waves of many negative emotions such as guilt, shame or blaming somebody else. This whole thing becomes a repetitive game that the tricky mind keeps playing, day after day.
We need to break the patterns of thinking within us, and act responsibly. In this context, it is important to avoid all judgments in a situation for they carry negative energy. We need to directly perceive ‘what needs to be and can be done’ and just do it. When we judge ourselves as lazy, incompetent or any other thing, it will further limit our capacity to work. We need to discard such conclusions right away and, now, act rightly with heart and soul. Doing even small jobs, having seen their importance, gives to us satisfaction. Cheered up by that, we can go further and live our day in vibrant action, from moment to moment.
Judging others also can be a convenient escape from decisive, right action. If we blame it on Tom, Dick or Harry, and wait for one of them (or a fourth person) to come around, how would worthy tasks be done at all? However, if we see clearly that somebody needs to be told to do something, we must go about making him or her do it. For this, we need to employ the right means of communication or persuasion. Entertaining judgmental thoughts about people and going in circles over those opinions, their justifications and counter-arguments will only be drainage of energy.
Self-awareness, during times of (self-caused) tension and stress, clears the basic cobwebs of conditioned thinking and makes for light-hearted living. That is psychological simplicity.
Swami Chidananda
Monday, February 11, 2008