Are you comfortable with Yourself?

A Leaf, once disconnected from the source, starts to dry and decay rapidly. Stay connected for infinite joy and bliss.

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LIVING IN THIS WORLD, most things are like clockwork. People are born, they grow up, get an education, get a job, get married, have kids, look after them and themselves, get old and pass away.

Have you ever wondered why most of us enjoy going out, watching movies, listening to music and socializing? Why do many enjoy a part of big gatherings, crowds and go to concerts, etcetera? Society and evolution has condition most to seek their joy outside. Such external pursuit of happiness increases the distance, widens the gap, between who you really are and what you are projecting to be.

So, should not one pursue opportunities in the material world, or should one simply ignore their responsibilities? Not at all. On the contrary, I suggest there is nothing wrong in living the life of your dreams, especially if it involves helping others, but, my focus today is to help you gain a new perspective on many acts we consider natural and necessary.

If you spend time analyzing, you will find that all external acts make you forget about yourself. You not longer have to deal with yourself, the need to work on yourself disappears. While at the cinema, when watching TV, at a party, at a social event, amidst a gathering, you are connecting with an external source; you move away from who you are, the environment around you molds your mental state, it gains control of you, it disconnects you from the source.

The other day, outside my hut, a green tree was swaying wild in the gusty winds, its leaves fluttering rapidly, as if playing. The sky was cloudy, the river was choppy, mountains were lush green and at a distance I could see cattle grazing. A great deal of activity was going on in the nature but it was still utterly peaceful and serene. I turned my attention back on the leaves. They were dancing; they were swinging in frenzy, as if trying to detach themselves from the tree, seeking greater freedom outside, as if they knew that once detached they would fly far and high in the mighty wind.

Just then a leaf managed to shake loose; it was not with the tree anymore; it flew tens of feet high in the air before crash landing in the puddle. The leaf that was green earlier would start to rot soon, I thought. Even though it gained freedom, because it got disconnected from its source, it lost its ability to derive nourishment and strength. It lay there lifeless. When the leaf was united with the tree, it was able to get nutrition from water and earth. Now, even though both the elements were still there in the puddle, they will no longer nurture the leaf, only decay it.

No matter what you do in the world, feel free to enjoy, be yourself, but do not uncouple yourself from the source, the Divine, the primordial energy, the quintessential seed you have sprouted from. Any freedom you gain by disengaging from the source is short-lived and temporary.

How to find out if you are still connected with the root? Going to the shrines or chanting the holy names are no indicators. They are mere activities, external activities in fact. The greatest sign that you are one with the source is when you are comfortable in your own company, at peace within; it means you have mostly turned inwards; you have understood the absorbed the essence of spirituality.

Once upon a time, a king, accompanied by his retinue, approached a sage in his cave in the deep Himalayan woods. It had a small entrance.

The king bent down and entered the cave. There was a pin drop silence inside.

“Oh, you must feel very lonely here, Master?” the king said. “ Now that you are here, I am lonely indeed,” the sage said, “ earlier I was enjoying my company. You are in touch with others, you are connected to them, so you feel lonely when they are not around, whereas I am in touch with myself and I feel lonely when I am not around.”

If you wish to find out how comfortable you are with yourself, in your own company, practice solitude for a few days and analyze yourself. You will begin to understand what I mean. Once again, I am not suggesting that you stop enjoying in the material world. In fact, when you are connected to the source, when you are comfortable with yourself, any joy you get from any activity grows multifold, it gets magnified, you experience happiness and bliss like never before.

When you enjoy being with yourself, the whole world will find peace and joy in your company. The more are ease you are with yourself, the greater your inner peace remains unaffected by what goes on around you. Like a leaf on a tree, when you remain connected to the source, you dance when its windy, you gain nutrition from mud and water. Once uncoupled though, the same wind will toss you around, earth will decompose you, the same water that irrigated the tree once will disintegrate the leaf.

What you have inside is infinitely more important that what you don’t have outside, what you have within gives you perspective to see all that is without.

Peace.

Excerpt taken from a wonderful book which I am reading currently.