Go with the Flow

Go with the flow


I attended a talk given by Mr Werner Erhard, founder of Landmark Education, who said, “Masters of life (all those he had met) dont think about life – they are in a dance with life!” This was news to me that you can acquire mastery by dancing with life moment to moment. They don’t think about life.

I have never stopped thinking and the concept of not thinking scares me. Thoughts! They are my identity, they are my validation, they are my sustenance, they keep me occupied and are my single biggest companion. I don’t know a life without thoughts. A life of nothingness! How is it possible to live such a life? This is the secret that was revealed by the wise spiritual gurus.

Human beings are all gifted with four major parts – body, mind, intellect and divine spirit/energy. The body is our vehicle of sensory pleasures such as taste, smell, hearing, speech and seeing. We experience the world and its objects through our senses and collate our information through them. Our mind is the centre of perception and how we react to the information we acquire is determined by the mind. The mind expresses emotions such as fear, greed, anger, joy, sorrow etc as soon as it perceives the information that has been received by the bodily senses. The intellect discriminates or defines these perceptions as good or bad, right or wrong, yes or no and propels the body into action.

The more importance we give to the body, mind and intellect, the less space we allow for the divine spirit to flow in us. If we compare ourselves to a car, our body is like the exterior of the car, the mind is like engine and the intellect is like the brake and accelerator. The fuel is the essential component without which none of the above can move ahead. A car is refueled and serviced regularly to ensure it functions efficiently. How often do we service our engine or refuel ourselves? The fact is that we have got the fuel and engine (ability to think and decide and divine energy) for free upon birth and that’s why we don’t value it as much till we are ready to lose it upon death. It is often on the death bed or in near death experiences that we start looking at what can I do differently to live a better life or how can I live a life of fewer regrets. Until then, we keep hurtling along pressing the break and accelerator as and when we feel like and we agonize each time there is an accident.

Then how can we reduce or avoid these accidents. We live our life based on how it occurs to us or how we perceive it. If I see my life as tough, it will constantly be tough because every situation will be a challenge and every moment will be a struggle and every event will be a test to prove myself better. If I see life as easy, I may not make an effort to learn and work hard because I may become indifferent. However, if I see life as a divine gift, I will make optimum use of the gifts of mind, body, intellect and have gratitude and appreciation for the same.

Every aspect of a human being needs care and looking after just like a car needs regular maintenance. The body needs to be kept hygienically clean and healthy and for that one needs to eat the correct kind of food. For instance, in a petrol car you will fill petrol and in a diesel car you will fill diesel, not vice versa. Sadly, in present times, the emphasis given to the body is so high or rather media uses it very effectively to exploit this human weakness and people succumb to the same associating with the body as a way to gain importance, success, competitions to the point of suffering.

The way every car looks different, with different shape, colour and engine horse power yet runs on the same fuel, every human being looks different but is made up of the same divine energy. Like cars, we serve in different aspects of life – a SUV carries more people than a Nano, a Ferrari runs faster than an ambassador. The only way both the car and human beings can fulfill their purpose is when they are in action.

The mind helps to collect information and synthesize the same for taking the action. And the intellect helps to discriminate what to do or not to do. The mind needs to stay alert and up to date on information since the world changes rapidly and the intellect needs to stay sharp to adapt to current circumstances.

Now, there is something beyond the body, mind and intellect that tells us what is right for us. That guide or little voice is the divine energy or divine spirit. This may be better understood with an example – my nose smells food. My mind recognizes the smell as the familiar likeable taste and urges me forward. My intellect tells me that it is not good for me because it is high in fat and unhealthy. However, lack of self control or rather my inability to listen to that voice because of an over-powering emotional need to taste the food; I end up eating the food. The more I listen to that little voice, guide and true friend, the better is the quality of my life.

How do I listen to this voice? First and foremost, you need to have faith in its existence and accept it as your best friend. Then an effort is required to quite the noisy thoughts caused by the waves of emotions and the judgments and perceptions. We are so attuned to listening to our emotional thoughts and judgments that we rarely allow ourselves to listen beyond. The sound of the inner voice is so subtle, that it can be heard only when there is complete silence inside. In that moment of silence, what you hear is your true guide. Our egoistic mind and intellect often defy the message because human beings are not used to listening to the messenger.

Therefore, if we allow ourselves to listen to the inner voice and we allow time to play its role in our life, and treat life as a dance, wherein we need to simply go with the tune, our pain is minimized and life becomes an enjoyable journey.

Franklin D Roosevelt aptly said, “We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence and the courage which flow from conviction.”