Pulled in Two Directions
Sunday, 07 November 2010 02:11 Last Updated on Friday, 24 February 2012 22:44
Q: I feel quite torn between fully living my life, including all of the ordinary human activities, and devoting myself completely to enlightenment and the deepest truth.
A: I would simply suggest that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Give 100% to life sometimes and give 100% to enlightenment sometimes. That will allow you to experience both of these aspects of life fully. Eventually, you will find they aren’t separate. But as long as you do experience these aspects of your life as separate, then just alternate between moments of giving yourself totally to the juicy, alive experience of being ordinary and human and moments of giving yourself totally to the experience of not knowing and possibly not even existing as a separate being. There is no contradiction, so you don’t need to stop yourself from doing one or the other.
When you feel torn between these two aspects of life, that is an opportunity to notice the confusion or the feeling of being pulled in two directions and to give yourself 100% to that. It is in giving 100% to our experience that we can see the whole truth of it. The antidote to any difficulty is to experience it fully. You don’t need to figure out ahead of time what the right thing to experience is.
It is in this willingness to experience the many dimensions of your experience and existence that you become able to distinguish and understand the entire range of your experiences. You don’t have to get rid of anything, but you can find out more about everything.
su makes this comment
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
surprises me every time, the angle you take.
effortless living
thank you beloved.
Vasudev Nair makes this comment
Thursday, 25 November 2010
When one is trying to get enlightened it seems that something is to be achieved other than normal life. If so, it is never possible to enlighten oneself. It is the UNDERSTANDING that there is no separation with normal life and an enlightened life.For understanding the non-duality of this normal life one has to take the initiative to inquire the nature of this life and undergo a set of discipline in the normal life so that the meaning of the inquiry is absorbed properly. The more you accept the fact that there is no separation all transactions in normal life will be a situation to be handled and one has a role to play in the life. Then the actor is affected by the role palying but he enjoys the play.
Thanks and regards
Vasudev Nair.
Vasudev Nair makes this comment
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Please read the last sentence as follows:
THEN THE ACTOR IS NOT AFFECTED BY THE ROLE PLAYING BUT HE ENJOYS THE PLAY.
Thanks and regards
Vasudev Nair
Nirmala makes this comment
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Warmly, Nirmala