(Note: This message was published in a February issue of the Vani.)

Harih Om!

Hi All,

It is a pleasant surprise for me being with you all this time.  It is for the simple reason that I should have been in India now.  I was wondering how I should be in touch with you all, but Lord seems to be kind to us.  He has provided one more opportunity for being together.  I am sure you have been enjoying what little you all got of the winter, though it might not have been the best. The New Year I am sure will bring new dynamism and fresh lease of life to you all.  Okay, let us jump into business right away.

We saw in the last issue, act we must, but let it not be the impulsive or mechanical action, which is seen in the world today.  Let there be responsible action.  I think we had seen in an earlier letter how majority of our lives are being wasted by either guilt or regret.  This is because we jumped into action and then started thinking about it.  Well, we should not misunderstand the adage “think twice before you act”—to mean lack of confidence or whatever.  That is why I put it in simple terms, act, but let the act be born of clarity in understanding.

This clarity in understanding is not going to dawn on us one fine day when we become old or when we do something.  It is the result of intensive living-living governed by serious, studious experimentation.  By this I do not mean put your hand into every blessed thing trying to figure out things for yourself.  This logic of experiencing everything to find the truth has landed many people in all sorts of problems. It is not that we have to experience everything in the world through the senses and physical body to appreciate the truth.  Supposing one wants to know the way potassium cyanide actually works, does it mean we should take potassium cyanide?  We will not be there to even write some notes from out of which the others can learn something.  That would not be a wise act.

When we speak of experimentation or learning we mean it is not just believing, but seeing, actualizing, learning.  Prior knowledge is necessary before one commits oneself to a course of action.  I find this idea of talking something and getting away with it, a very common feature even in this part of the world.  Well, it does not benefit either the community, oneself or the nation.  If we create disharmony around, are we not in a disharmonious set-up.  Being in such a set-up how can there be any harmony around?  So, we should understand that our actions and interactions are the cause for the disharmony and we are totally responsible for that.  We make the world and we in fact, are the world.  All our likes and dislikes and the whole lot of disappointments and frustrations are the world, is it not?  The older generation feels that things become spoiled once the younger generation takes over the charge.  The kids do not seem to bother, but then they will have to face the effects when they come by.  Now is the time to come to grips with the situation and the young people are the ones to do it.  In a few years down the road these young people will be leaders, leading the way and they will be at the helm of affairs for some time to come.  They will have to change the state of affairs, for which they have to change to become stronger and vibrant.

Well, have you all appreciated a tree or plant in the spring season?  It is dynamic with its leaves, branches and the whole tree full of life.  If there are flowers, you can see the petals stiff with stalks and sepals firm. Have you noticed that anytime?  So too, your inner personality should be vibrant and dynamic, full of life.  Awakened to this inner dynamism, we become younger and our interaction patterns operate from totally different wave-length.  Today we seem to operate from a dimension where we become easily, effortlessly frustrated and dejected.  Every small thing in life seems to upset us.  We are as it were, puppets in the hands of time and place.  Every small issue and person seems to dictate terms to us, which we cannot stand.  We start revolting and reacting, thus fixing limits to our personality.

So, now the question is how can we become vibrant?  Well, we will have to understand this fact before we continue.  Vibrancy is the nature of life that we seem to stifle or prevent it from manifesting, by doing something either consciously or unconsciously.  What is it that we are doing because of which this vibrancy is not manifest?  First, we seem to lack the inner leisure, because of that mind gets crowded.  There could be a number of secondary reasons too, that we shall try looking into later.  Without this inner leisure, we cannot see things, events or people.  We thereby miss appreciating them as they actually are, and seeing them as we think them to be.  Our thinking is in accordance with our whims and fancies.  Because of this, reaction patterns immediately spring from within.  There may be other factors contributing to these reaction patterns, like our life-style, habits, immaturity, philosophy, etc.  Please think about these, may be not just once or twice, but until dawn of clarity.

With love,

Swamiji