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There's entertainment going on within you - life. It isn't about the alarm clock that gets you up and that you check before you go to sleep. That's not life. Life is about waking up and being thankful for the day, understanding that the day means something.
I've heard people described as having "such a gusto for life." What is meant by that? It isn't about jumping off mountains or diving in the deepest trenches. It isn't about flying as high as you can, or going as fast as you can. It isn't about the number of activities you do. It's about true enjoyment - enjoying this life. This day is a gift given to me, and I accept it as a gift.
Instead of passing time, enjoy your time. Instead of just being there, victimized by everything that happens, feel freedom in your life. Real freedom. Real joy.
You've seen photographers. When there's action happening, they've got to be right there. They're waiting and ready to take that picture. They know that the only way it can happen is if they are ready. Last-minute fumbling won't do it.
When breath comes into you, are you ready to take that snapshot? Are you ready to be fulfilled? That's the promise it brings. Because breath comes, you can be a friend or an enemy, a father or a mother - so many things. You can enjoy your hobbies, the things you do, your career. But breath makes possible one other thing as well. And that is fulfillment.
Do you want to be fulfilled? This is a choice you have to make. Either you are taking a snapshot of that breath, enjoying and appreciating it, or you are not. It's up to you.
Beauty is in you, in this human form with this human heart, in this very human condition, in this very human world. You. I'm not speaking about the alligator or the crocodile or the snake. They need their own person to tell them they're beautiful, because I'm not doing that. See what you've been given and what you are - not in terms of either divinity or frailty. See what you are with no judgment; see that reality just as it is.
Come with eyes that are hungry to see beauty. And see the beauty. Judgment exists for everything: "You are young; you are old. You are pretty; you are ugly. You are this; you are that." That's not what human beings are. That's ideas. That's judgment.
There's a beauty. There's a simplicity. There's us. We exist. Who are we? What are we? See that. Feel that. Why? Because none of the definitions do it justice.
Once I heard a photographer talking about taking pictures. He said, "Have your camera ready, but don't have any preconceived ideas. Look through it, see what you see. Then see if that does something for you." I thought, "That's the advice I give."
If you want to take a picture, don't come with preconceived ideas. Just look and see what you see. See if that does something for you. If it does, then let it click. The picture will be taken and will be there for the rest of your life. It will be beautiful. It will be a picture you have taken, not something that was created. It will be your picture.
This life is too precious to be living in a boxed world. There's freedom waiting to be discovered. Not randomness, but freedom, because the breath comes into you and you are alive. There is the possibility to be in peace. You should be in peace. Look at yourself - not with ideas, but from a very beautiful, simple reality.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life | Permalink
We live our lives and there are so many complexities. We have relationships, and we have many judgments. Sometimes it seems like we are going forward. Sometimes it seems like we are going backwards. Some days are easy, and some days are tough.
Looking through this complex window, it doesn't seem like anything can be simple. But step back and just look at this life. The breath comes. It makes no judgment. We don't have to do anything to get it. There are no forms to fill out, no queues to stand in, no waiting games. We don't need to log on to some dot-net or dot-com to breathe.
Life dances and plays out every day in the simplest, most serene way possible. You exist, not through the avenues of this world, but just as you are. Just you—this face, this smile, this body, this breath, this heart.
A lot of people focus on all the problems in the world and say we have to find solutions to all those problems. I say that we have a quest. It's not a quest that you or I started. It is a quest that was already started for us. It's a quest for peace, a quest for love, a quest for understanding, and a quest for joy.
This quest is not for the joy found on the outside. It is for the joy that is found on the inside. This quest is not for the peace on the outside, but for the peace that lies within.
The good news is that what you are looking for, you already have.
Who has introduced us to us? We're always being introduced to somebody else. No one asks, "By the way, have you met yourself?" Meeting yourself is the difference between being free and being stuck. If you don't want to meet yourself, you are stuck with yourself. The day you want to meet yourself, you become free.
I will tell you about the best book ever written. It's the book of thoughts that you write to yourself. It's clear. It does not need an introduction; it does not need a preface. It does not need footnotes. It is yours. It is the poem that sings out in your heart and awakens the joy. That is the greatest poem ever—joy. And it is your poem, an expression to yourself. That is the ultimate gift.
This world is filled with questions without answers. This heart is filled with answers without questions. We can accept those answers, not the answers the world is trying to give us.
The answers of the heart are very, very different, because the heart says, "Awaken and rejoice. Awaken and be alive. Awaken to the possibility of being fulfilled."
Maharaji
