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)
It
is important to understand how meditation relates to our daily activities, for
most of us have only a short time to devote to meditation each day, but we
spend many hours in outward activities. We have many obligations and things to
take care of throughout the day. Work. Family. We are busy providing for
ourselves and there are the needs of others to be met. For meditation to be of
real value it should have some carry-over and it should provide purpose,
direction and a sense of peace and harmony throughout the day. This is accomplished through meditation in
action. Learning to apply the theory and techniques of meditation while we are
active allows us to turn our entire day into a meditational experience. Instead
of withdrawing from the world to meditate for only a half hour or so, our
entire sixteen or eighteen waking hours can be transformed into a meditative
practice.
You
may find that there are times during the day when you are alert and centred.
You feel a sense of peace and calm despite being active. Then there are other
times when you become restless, worried, distraught or emotional. You daydream,
or become distracted, thinking about what is going to happen in the future or
fretting about what has gone before. There is a sense of imbalance. As you
watch yourself through the day, you may notice these two states of mind. Some
of us fluctuate between the two throughout a single day; others may be in only
one state or the other. It is possible to cultivate that experience of calmness
and centredness if we patiently follow the techniques of the meditation in
action.
Some
of us would like to leave the restlessness and confusion of the world behind.
We would like to go on permanent holiday, run to the mountains or the country,
where we can enjoy peace and tranquillity. We think, "If only I were in a
more serene environment, then I could work on myself…" but we don't
realise that our most intimate environment is our own mind and that we take
this with us wherever we go. We have to learn to relate to this internal
environment and once this is achieved we can be comfortable in any
surroundings.
We
can tend toward extremes of outward activity. Some move about anxiously running
hither tither, with little ability to find a centre within ourselves. We are
like a cork bouncing on the restless sea, the world of instability. Some of us
withdraw to a quiet atmosphere, fearful of confronting the pushes and pulls of
the world. The practice of meditation in action is meant to lead us to an
integration of these two extremes. It allows us to develop internal stability
and to be able to operate in a turbulent world, where we can continue to
refine, test and improve ourselves and our practice.
When
we apply what we learn about controlling our mind in meditation to our life in
the world, we find our experiences becoming transformed. Every action will
become part of our meditational experience. There will be little difference
between sitting down in a closed room to meditate, and interacting with family,
friends, or whist working. We can learn how to be meditative whilst active.
You
might say these seem like two very different things. When you meditate you are
quiet, there is little coming through the senses to disturb you. When you are
active and the mind is not withdrawn, you have much stimulus. How is it
possible that the two can come together?
...tbc...
