A desperate father went to a monk for advice on dealing with his son’s peculiar behaviour. The boy took his neighbour’s bicycle and refused to return even though he had three cycles of his own. The monk whispered something to the boy and immediately the boy dismounted from the cycle. The parent, now relieved, asked the monk what he had told the boy.
The monk replied that all he said was, “If you don’t get down from the cycle, I will give you such a thrashing, you will not be able to ride any cycle for one month”. The parent realised that they had been stuck so inescapably to their ideal of “advising” their son that they could not think of an alternative strategy.
When one learns non-identification, life becomes a teacher. In both pleasant and unpleasant situations of life, can one remain without attachment. It is not just life that is a teacher, but life without attachment is a real teacher. Non-identification leads to detachment, which transforms our unexciting life into an exciting learning experience. Can this be an exercise in enhancing the quality of living? Anyone who acts from this space will find himself or herself filled with inner freedom. This freedom nourishes us with wisdom. It is next to impossible to understand life by itself. It appears like a big mess. But in a space of non-identification, life starts acquiring glorious meaning.
The great masters teach us that the purpose of life is to fulfil our tasks. We are born on this planet with this inner mission. The circumstances are best suited to fulfil our tasks. But we complain that the they are not right as we are identified with our imaginary self. We are prisoners of our illusions. We always feel that with a different set of circumstances, our life would be better.
This is our delusion. From any given circumstance, evolution is possible. To be born in a poor family has its own difficulties and a rich family has its own perils. As life goes on, it always appears different from what we expect. It is the expectation that destroys it. The root problem is that we don’t have expectations, but they have us. We don’t have a problem, but problems have us. If we look at a problem without an expectation, inner intelligence will guide us to solve it. Not our solution, but the real solution. The problem, however, is that we are identified with our solutions. Allow the real one to emerge. Many times, we don’t allow it, as the real does not fit into our concept; we feel our solution is more important. The chief factor to guide our lives should be to discover tasks of our inner living.
Don’t view troubles negatively. Look upon them as training grounds in vital skills, and enjoy even as you learn from them. When you face a difficulty, focus on what can be the solution rather than complaining. Be a part of the solution, not a victim of the problems.
Tips for Living Wisely:
* Understand that truth wins, not lies
* Hurt or upset justified or unjustified is self-damaging
* See opportunity in difficulty and not difficulty in opportunity
* Receive every experience and situation as a message from the divine
* Learn to operate from infinite possibilities
* Learn to be prosperity-conscious but not poverty-consciousness.
NON-IDENTIFICATION LEADS TO DETACHMENT, WHICH TRANSFORMS OUR UNEXCITING LIFE INTO AN EXCITING LEARNING EXPERIENCE. ANYONE WHO ACTS FROM THIS SPACE WILL FIND HIMSELF OR HERSELF FILLED WITH INNER FREEDOM.
Swami Sukhabodhananda is an international management spiritual & corporate guru
Join him for a nine-day online Navaratri Utsav from October 15. For details, email: support@prasannatrust.com