Mindfulness is the Key

Many of us struggle with the lack of energy in the office or at home. We also see many students struggling with a similar lack of energy. They study half-heartedly and then obviously struggle in the examination. Similarly, we work half-heartedly in the offices and then struggle when it comes to performance.

On the other hand, we see Hanumana, who is always full of infinite energy. He is never tired. He can jump into the ocean to find the whereabouts of Sita, face an entire army of Ravana to single-handedly burn Lanka, and bring the entire Dronagiri mountain to Lanka. I often get surprised by the never-ending energy of Hanuman. Why is Hanumana always full of so much energy while we are running short of energy. 

I feel that there is one thing that is quite unique to Hanumana. He never worked for himself. He did everything for Rama. Most of our initiatives are driven by individual desires. It appears to me that individual desires are like petrol or diesel. You fill the tank of the car and start driving. Soon the fuel gets exhausted and the fuel tank again needs to be filled. On the other hand, when we live our life with the realization of our true nature, our life is driven by never-ending powerful solar energy that has no limit.

The other, equally significant, implication of actions driven by desires is that we are always prone to conflicts. Desires operate in the domain of division. As soon as we desire something, we divide the entire universe between good and bad, like and dislike, and pleasant and unpleasant. Such divisions are the root cause of conflicts. For example, a kid may have a desire to get a good position in the class, but there may be another desire to have fun with friends. Since both desires are conflicting, the mind will be confused. While studying, the mind will wander to have fun with the friends and while having fun with the friends, the mind will think about the studies. That's what almost all of us face in our student life.

It does not stop with the student life. The same confusion continues in family life. We have conflicting desires to spend time with family and friends, promotions in careers, have fun, make pleasure trips, and so on. These conflicting desires make us feel a lack of energy in any of these pursuits. An instant solution seems to be concentrating on one of these desires and leaving the rest. Just like what a crane does. When he stands in a river to catch the fish, he just concentrates on the fist and stands there with full concentration on the fish. But is that really a solution? How do we prioritize these desires? Do we have really such a strong will to stick to the priorities? What is the guarantee when a particular desire is fulfilled, we will feel satisfied? Isn't having multiple eggs in the basket always better than having only one egg?

Our minds are always full of all these conflicts. We need to examine the fundamental reason for these desires. There is a discontentment within. We all are seeking to be complete and get an impression from society that fulfillment of certain desires will make us contended. Since we are in a hurry, without much examination, we form different desires since childhood and start running to fulfill them. In the process, we keep realizing that by the time we fulfill a particular desire, we have formed another equally strong or even stronger desire and have entered into another cycle. Cycle after cycle and that is how our entire life is passed and we die.

Then, what is the alternative? The alternative way of life was demonstrated by Hanumana. Hanumana examined the cause of his discontentment to find that he wanted to meet Rama. Once he met Rama, he was always full of energy and powers that he always used to carry out the tasks assigned by Rama. Because once he met Rama, there was no discontentment left. That is the beauty of meeting Rama. That is the beauty of meeting our true selves. Once we get internally connected, there is no desire. We no longer need refueling of the oil tank every few kilometers. We are then connected to the unlimited infinite energy of the divine that is never exhausted. 

These are two movements in opposite directions. So long as a person keeps running after the desires, he will not get connected to the true self. If a person is connected to the true self, he will have no interest left in desires. What comes first is like a chicken and egg problem. However, I believe that rather than wasting time to solve this puzzle, we can just start observing ourselves. The more we observe, the more we realize the futility of running after the desires and the more we get connected to the divine. That is why mindfulness is the key.