Set Your Sights

Hari Om

'Freedays' are the 'gather our thoughts' days; Q&As; a general review of the week so far…

Remember, every single living being is casting around for one thing in life. 'Happiness'. What that thing is to each individual is varied according to where they stand in relation to 'life'. For a blade of grass, not to be trampled, to have plenty of nourishment from the earth beneath and warmth from the sun above might be considered optimum. To higher animals, abundant food and successful procreation could be their demand. All the way up the scale of evolution, in the struggle for survival, the optimum is always that which provides the most with minimum stress.

In the human animal, this is taken to extremes as it bangs around life seeking that elusive 'happiness'. Oftentimes, when asked, the response will be in relation to something material, or in relation to people or place. Then again, even if there comes the understanding that happiness is something one can only provide for oneself, the techniques and attempts to chase it down can result in havoc. There is constant disappointment until each can finally stop and recognise that 'happiness' is being in charge of oneself, being in control of oneself… in Being with One Self.

A surprising number of folk are scared by this, however. It can seem that it means severing ties and bonds built up as protection, and that grab for 'happiness'. The texts under study constantly remind the seeker of 'happiness' that the way is long, it requires practice, the main part of the practice is to detach from the world and attach to spirit. There is a tendency to drop into defensiveness or angst about 'letting go'. There is a misconceived notion that this means becoming hard and cold to the world and one's near and dearest. Quite often, the mind is so busy trying to find justifications for why this is not appropriate, it misses hearing the key point - that this philosophy encourages the detachment only within the individual so that they are not damaged or at least minimally stressed by the world, whilst still engaging with it.

The Sanskrit texts are structured in such a way that the truly attentive will discover this and will be able to adopt the saadhana, making the efforts to adopt this fresh attitude of being in the world but not of it.

Never fret, if it seems that the same thing is covered over and over again. If correct shravanam (active listening) is applied, if correct mananam (rumination, pondering and assessment) is applied, then it ought to be found that with each successive telling of a piece of information, just that little bit more light appears through the cracks of the intellect.

Keep on keeping on. 'Tis the only way towards a destination!

On an administrative note; apologies for heiroglyphs appearing recently on those text posts involving shlokas and sutras - all had seemed well with the new Sanskrit writer until things went live - so for those attempting to read Devanagri where none has recently appeared, attempts will be made to correct. It is a trier of patience!