As You Think, So You Become

Hari OM

Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!

VEDANTA IN ACTION.

This is the title of a publication from CM which, whilst it of course has items by Gurudev, also includes selections of writing from other well-esteemed Gurus from the Vedantic tradition as well as leading businessmen. Its focus is the working life. We shall be exploring these essays for the next few weeks on Workings-day as, clearly, they pertain directly to the premise of this section of AVBlog! As ever, you  are encouraged to read back over previous posts, to ensure full benefit.

3: Actionless Action.

Meditation in Action (Swami Ajaya)

Letting Go

The whole process of meditation, whether it is working with thoughts inside or objects outside, is learning how not to get absorbed in them to the extent that we forget our essential nature.  The core of meditation involves letting go each time we find we have become dependent or addicted. The process of letting go has the quality of a flower that is opening and this creates a very beautiful feeling. It is a feeling of joy, purity and innocence. It contrasts markedly with the tense discomfort of clinging. This is what the experience of growth is all about. Growth is a joy, a blossoming, an opening, a letting go of whatever we have been grasping so that we can move out of the past and experience what is fresh and new in the present. When you sit down and meditate and find you are holding onto ideas of who you are, or fears or expectations, just say to yourself, 'let go!'  Do exactly the same with in the world. With things that you are holding onto and feel "I have it, it is part of me", let go of that clinging attitude. It is not necessary to give up the object outwardly. Letting go mentally of your dependency on the object is sufficient to create that feeling of completeness within yourself and within the moment. Simply have the attitude, "I don't have to have it in order to be whole. I can let go and still be full and complete."

Creating Our Environment.

Learning to see the value of any situation we are in is another aspect of meditation in action. Accepting responsibility for our circumstances and seeing the positive value in them as a learning experience can help to free us from involvement. Instead of losing our centre in complaint, annoyance and rejection, we can learn to stand above our situation. We can learn to relate to any circumstance without becoming imbalanced. It has been said that are 'sermons in stones and in running brooks'. When we understand that there are hidden teachings in all situations, we will begin to find happiness and joy in all sorts of activities that we thought were mundane or repulsive.

If we could fully understand and appreciate that we are  always creating our own reality, and if we could live with that idea, our entire way of experiencing our world would be changed. Instead of blaming others for our situation and pushing off responsibility, we would begin to see that when we assume responsibility we then transform our world both in terms of our internal state and the external environment. As longs as you make others responsible by saying, "they are doing to me; I have to do this; my parents want me to do this…" the thoughts which make up your internal environment are those of the helpless slave. If  you think in these terms you are creating a negative attitude for yourself and the world that you live in is unhappy, unpleasant and negative. When you realise that you yourself choose your circumstances, the world takes on a different hue.

...tbc...