Your Body Is The Peel,The Fruit Is Inside
You don't need confidence to do activity; you just need sense. Function according to your capabilities, neither confident nor diffident. Only an ego can feel diffident or confident. What is it you call as 'ego'? Is there a distinction between what you call as 'myself' and what you call as 'my ego'? They are mixed up somewhere; either you have become your ego, or your ego has become you, whichever way. What you are referring to as ego is not something you got because you did something well, not because you became rich, beautiful, or developed muscles. When you started kicking in your mother's womb, the ego was born. The very first time you got identified with your physical body, the ego was born.The ego is a defence mechanism. You got identified with this little body You have to survive in vast existence of which you have no perception to even know here it begins and where it ends. Just to survive, you have to project yourself as 'big', so the ego is born. It is false reality What you are referring to as confidence is false identity you created for the sake of survival.
The ego is like your shadow.The moment you have a physical body, you have a shadow. The shadow itself is neither good nor bad. If the sun is up there, you have a little shadow; if the sun is down there, you have a mile-long shadow. So your shadow depends on the situation
outside. So, too, your ego.You need different kinds of identities to deal with different situations। If you are fluid about it, if you can change from one to another gracefully, then you can play your role to the hilt and still have no problem with it। The problem is you get so identified with it, you start believing you are that. Once you believe 'I am the shadow', what would you do? You would naturally crawl upon the earth. Then, how will life be? If the floor is carpeted, you will crawl in comfort, not in joy 'Suppose there are stones, rocks and thorns? Then you will cry That is how your life is going on right now.
Why i am saying you are crawling upon the earth is because right now your whole experience of life is limited to the physical. Everything that you know through your five sense perceptions is physical, and the physical has no purpose of its own, it is there only as a peel to the fruit. Only as a protective layer to the fruit the peel means something. The body is important because there is something else inside that you have never experienced. If that something else goes away tomorrow morning, nobody wants to touch this body So today when it is there, we have to take care of it, it is everything.
If we do not transcend the limitations of the physical, life will be a struggle, swinging between confidence and diffidence. If situations go well, you are confident, if not, you are diffident. And you know, any moment, life can just change course.
If everything in the world is going terribly wrong for you, and you can still go through this life untouched, peacefully, joyfully within yourself, then you know life the way it is. Otherwise you are just a slave of the physical.
Discourse: Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Inner Engineering programme,Koramangala, Sep26-0ct2.
It is important to connect to realise that it is the inner real fruit that is beneficial.
ReplyDeleteAre we connected to the supreme power? Are we actually aware of this force? Everyone has there own notion of spirituality or religion or connecting to this energy. It is the positive energy that flows with it that makes it so special in our life. Just sit back and think about what is life all about. Is it just the running around doing our daily chores, slogging for getting that extra bit in the pay packet, mugging up the entire syllabus to clear that one door to success, be it the IIT, the Civil Services or the GRE.
Does the slogging race stop at that or does it begin from there? The end that we see is usually the beginning. Here lies the meaning of life. Not in the beginning or end of the race but the fact that it will go on and on and on.
It is up to us to realize where to stop and take a break. This break is required for connecting to the supreme. It is of course an ongoing process. We all are conscious and we relate at some point to our inner self that further connects us to this energy. What is required is a conscious effort to practice this as often as possible. It not only helps us to relax but to realize that there is life beyond this regular so called the real “here and now”. It is true that no body knows what the future is, so live in the present. But this present also holds another level of ourselves which we need to dwell into. Once done and made a “regular” practice, the going gets easier. We call this our own plane, space or time exclusively for the “self”.
One of the ways of entering into this plane is through “dhyaan”, meditation. It is not just closing our eyes but also the mind. Here lies the key to this overwhelming experience. There will be many thoughts coming and going in front of the eyes when they are shut. It is natural. Let them come and go, do not be tensed. Just relax and try to think of any sign or symbol that gives peace to you, let the different colours wave through while you concentrate on the peaceful icon. Slowly and steadily you gather immense peace and relaxation from this stage. You finally connect.
It is this connection that shall bring about no major changes in your life but focus, tranquility and the will to handle situations with a serene mind. We no longer keep running for the final goal. Each stage of life is a final goal and its only after its completion that we move forward. We move at our own pace as we have the intellect to decide our speed. We do not get carried away by what others feel or think. Its my own life, space and goals. Peace and happiness is what is crucial for me at the end of the day. So here I am already connected!!