A Meaning of Life

       A young boy left home in search of the Truth.  He met many people and became richer in the awareness of his ignorance.  Since people went to the forests to meditate, he too went to a thick forest.  He did not know how to mediate.  For years, his only mantra was screaming at the forest to give him knowledge.  He believed that if you are committed, existence will help you.

       One day, a monk came to him.  He asked, 'What do you want, my son?'

       I want to know what the meaning of life is,' he replied.

       'Go to the town.  The first three persons that you meet will show you the meaning of life,' the monk replied.

       The boy went to the town.  The first man he met was engaged in carpentry.  The next man he met was engaged in sheet metal work.  The third man he met was making strings.  Disappointed, he sat on the bank of the river.  Suddenly, he heard the sweet strains of violin music.  Something mysterious touched him.  He had suddenly found the answer he was looking for and he started dancing.

       The carpenter was preparing the wood for the violin.  The sheet metal worker was preparing metal for the strings and the strings were meant for the violin.  Life has everything all you need is to be able to connect the dots.  You need to work out new combinations.  And for that you need creative perception.

       You have to change the notion that difficulty is pain ...  In sports, there is difficulty but there is also joy.  In your relationships, when there is difficulty, treat it as joy.  Just re-programme your mind.

       In prayer, you don't have to do anything; just be available to receive God's grace.  Prayer is deep readiness to receive God's flow.  It is passive alertness.  Go deep and you discover your original mind... it is deep passiveness.  A greed mind is richer than a Buddha, but rich with desires and greed; so a Buddha is 'poorer' than you are. 

          And as the Bible says 'Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God.'

When someone asked the Buddha what he attained through his enlightenment, he said, 'I did not gain but I lost.  I lost my ignorance, my dogmas, my likes and dislikes, my ambitions.'

       You can live in two ways - mechanical or meditative.  The meditative way involves your being more aware; that awareness is passive alertness.  When you are passively alert, you will realise that you are born free ... you have choices and that is your freedom.  When there is no freedom, there are no choices.  Be more meditative and you will make the right choices that will help you grow rather than feel trapped.

       If you choose wisely, you are in paradise.  When you eat, eat meditatively.  Totally be in your eating.  When you have a bath, be total in having your bath and a different paradise opens up.  Next, bring in love energy into whatever you do ... feel your inner being.

       With the energy of silence, be 'total' ... and you will be moving heaven.

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Source: Excerpts from the book on "Chicken Soup for the Indian Spiritual Soul" an article written by Swamy Sukhbodhananda.

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