23. Keep it out!
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Enlightened Masters advise, 'Live in the world, but don't let the world live in you.'
What does this mean? At first it looks like an impossible thing to do. We reason that we live in the world. We have to deal with the world around us on a daily basis, for every interaction. We are affected by what people say and do. We have to let the world live in us too, for, we live in the world.
Master is giving us a technique to live with. He is guiding us through a tricky situation with this technique. The Master is asking us to move one step ahead from this reasoning. Master asks us, 'Tell me, how do you sit down on the chair?' We reply, 'We simply sit. Automatically.'
Understand! Our problem lies here. We are doing things unconsciously. We are not aware of what we are doing and how we are doing it.
Even when we make ordinary decisions like sitting in a chair, we can sit consciously. We can feel the comfort of the chair consciously. Not only should we sit consciously, we should also listen to things happening around us. We should see things happening around us, consciously.
What does this consciousness mean? It means being aware. Becoming aware of the hardness or the softness of the chair. It is to experience the act of sitting with our mind and senses. We need to be completely, totally, aware of how our muscles flex, our spine curves and the comfort or discomfort the chair gives us. Being conscious also means that we engage our senses totally in the task we are doing and disconnect from it as soon as the task is done.
When we are aware and conscious, we will see that the outer thing or matter will not be enforced in us. The outer events will not create an echo or generate a pattern of recognition within us. The outer thing will not engulf us with its own waves. It touches us and leaves. Like the waves in a beach that wash our feet the events in the world all go back to their origin. If we can be aware that it is a wave we can turn our attention and energy to other important tasks in life.
By this simple change, we will conserve tremendous amount of energy. This energy can be redirected to other productive things in life.
