To live is to be related to life. The more we deepen our awareness, the greater our relationship with life. The more one relates to life intelligently, the life becomes more beautiful, juicy and vibrant. To be related to life, there are three important dimensions which one has to learn.
First, one should know how to relate to the world of objects. Regarding this, one has to be objective. The world of objects has utility and you should exercise your wisdom to make use of it. You have to relate to this world in a detached way. Then you start using the world rather than being used by it. Otherwise, the world starts controlling you instead of you controlling it.
Second, one must know how to relate to the world of people. Concerning this world, you should be musical. The best music is love; you should relate to the world of people with love. Understand the difference between the two: use the objects and love the people. Do not use people and love objects. Krishna says the two important aspects to relate to people are maitra (friendliness) and karuna (compassion). If one does not cultivate love within, one will start controlling people, dominating them and playing power games.
Third, in relating to the world of one’s self, one should learn the art of meditation. The more meditative you are, the more you will start experiencing the deeper layer of your own self. You will find there are different layers of your own self. There is a gross body, a subtle body and a causal body and underneath all this the witnessing consciousness.
The gross body is the physical body. There is a mind and intellect that form our subtle body. Then there is the sheath of ignorance, which we call a causal body. If you go still deeper, there is a self beyond the body, the mind, the intellect and sheath of ignorance: the pure awareness. Meditatively relating to the body involves good exercise, the right food and adequate sleep. And see the mind always as a part of the solution and not a victim of the problem.
A lot of us, when we look into ourselves, tend to feel lonely. It is because we have not seen the deeper layers of ourselves. We look at ourselves only in the realm of the mind or at the level of the body. If you don’t look at the deeper layers, you find yourself empty and shallow, and experience a sense of loneliness, and you find that your life is one of boredom. With meditation, you can understand that body, mind and intellect are all peripheries and at the centre exists witnessing pure consciousness.
The more you are meditative, the more you can experience a sense of liberating feelings. It is a great responsibility for us, irrespective of the fact whether we are in a family or in sannyasa to learn to be more meditative.
Let us create a tool for life: three Ms—mathematically relate to the world of objects based on utility, musically (with love) relate to the world of people, meditatively relate to the self. The harmony of all three brings about wholesomeness and there is fullness. This is the best way of being related to life.
Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru