Mindful Living

An age old saying is meditate every day for 20 minutes.  If you are too busy for that, meditate for an hour.  Reading this statement, I realised that it is our non-stop mind which keeps us constantly busy.  Sitting silently we become aware of who we truly are.   

In the busy schedules we have, it is important to integrate meditation into our daily activities.  It surely leads to a joyous living.  Uni-tasking is a great way to start with.  Unlike the popular belief that multitasking is good, meditators know that uni-tasking is way more tough and rewarding.  Walking just walk, eating just eat and listening just listen.  Basically, it demands totality in each and every action.  If we actively & consciously make efforts to focus on one thing at a time, we are relaxed. Being total at what we do fills us with an unknown joy. 

In the beginning it surely helps to have a routine of meditation.  Start with an active meditation like Osho Dynamic, Kundalini, Nadbrahma or Nataraj.  And within a few days, you will feel unburdened of unwanted thoughts and emotions. Gradually you could move to more passive meditations like Vipassana or Zazen.   

Another good practice could be to not live too much in the head.  When possible listen to the birds, the wind, the traffic, the dog, the child or just any sound around. Being present to anything that is real helps immensely to live Here & Now.  It also helps us to be open and loving.  Practicing an open heart however needs courage.  It opens us up both for the good and the bad.  Courage is needed to be open & trusting despite the hurt.   

One thing that most of us are delusional about is ambition.  While social media teaches us to ambitious but in reality being ambitious means discontentment with what is.  If we are dissatisfied today then it becomes a habit for tomorrow too.  No amount of achievement can satisfy an ambitious mind.  It doesn’t mean we don’t do well.  Success certainly comes when we are fully immersed in a job or task.  But this hard work starts from a space of contentment with what is. 

Lastly we humans are often hurt by words or actions of other people.  We often blame others for our emotional pain.  What we need to see is the belief we have that others should not hurt us or others should do what we want them to do.  It is that belief which keeps us away from reality.  The reality is that the world doesn’t change because we want it to. We can be happy if we have no expectation of being understood.  It is our job to keep ourselves happy and loved.  Everything else that comes from others is bonus.   

Last but not the least, listening to someone who has awakened helps us to gradually move to higher consciousness.  Choose a mystic and dedicate some time everyday to listen and while listening just listen. 

Osho says, “When people come to me and they ask, 'How to meditate?' I tell them, 'There is no need to ask how to meditate, just ask how to remain unoccupied. Meditation happens spontaneously. Just ask how to remain unoccupied, that's all. That's the whole trick of meditation – how to remain unoccupied. Then you cannot do anything. The meditation will flower.' 

"When you are not doing anything the energy moves towards the center, it settles down towards the center. When you are doing something the energy moves out. Doing is a way of moving out. Non-doing is a way of moving in. Occupation is an escape. You can read the Bible, you can make it an occupation. There is no difference between religious occupation and secular occupation: all occupations are occupations, and they help you to cling outside your being. They are excuses to remain outside. 

"Man is ignorant and blind, and he wants to remain ignorant and blind, because to come inwards looks like entering a chaos. And it is so; inside you have created a chaos. You have to encounter it and go through it. Courage is needed – courage to be oneself, and courage to move inwards. I have not come across a greater courage than that – the courage to be meditative.