शमथ। Samatha

Every day spend on this earth, as you grow older, you begin to get desensitized to the fact that you are here for a short while. You forget that this earth is only a part of a larger universe and you are a tiny drop in this ocean of existential experience. Instead, your family, your job, your friends, your name, etc becomes the world for you. You dedicate your whole effort to hold on to these. When higher principles are introduced, they are immediately converted to means which will help you hold on to your world.

A person eats primarily to provide vital nutrients to their body. Its byproduct is taste. A combination of both provides satisfaction to the one who is eating. Life is similar. Every action you perform on this earth is not for yourself, but for the upkeep of the larger universe. In other words, your actions are nutrients to the universe. The ideas of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ you experience through family, job, friends, name, etc are the byproducts of this. When your actions are nourishing, you enjoy the name and company. This gives you satisfaction.

Imagine the byproduct taking preference over the original intent. Taste takes prominence while vital nutrition to the body is not taken into account. The body gets afflicted by various diseases as a result of this. Instead of seeing the larger picture, you keep on justifying your ignorance and give more trouble to the body until it breaks down to a point even tastes cannot be felt. When you forget your duty to the larger universe and get fully engrossed in the world of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, you fall into a similar condition. The universe can no more nourish you because you have become a dead weight.

Examine your life and see for yourself where you stand. Some people hide behind lofty statements like “I am still learning”, “Life is the greatest teacher”, etc. Life is not a learning process. It is absorption. You get absorbed into what you are led by. If your absolute reliance is on the senses, they will absorb you into their world of sensations like taste. And you will go to any lengths to justify it saying, “Why to be born as a human being if I cannot enjoy what I want?” Do not forget that enjoyment is a byproduct which needs to be sustained by something larger. Together they will give you happiness and satisfaction.

Feel Blessed
Swastham Shantam Sampurnam