5. Intensity is independent of the nature of the work🔗

Intensity does not depend on the nature of the work or action. It can be as complex as running a billion dollar company or as simple as cleaning the floor. It is not the ‘what’ that is important, but the ‘how’ that is important.

If you can do what you are doing with a totality and intensity that you are completely lost in the action, you have caught the thread of intensity. The moment you are lost in the action, you become like a flute on the lips of Existence itself. The air that goes into the flute comes out as music because you become a channel for the energy of Existence to flow through you. Be total and intense. That is all that is needed for the arrow to hit the target, whatever it may be.

What qualifies to be called as intensity? What is the difference between intensity and interest? An interest can be lost, but never the intensity. Interest comes from the mind. Intensity comes from the being. After a while, maybe short or long, you get fed up with your own interest. With intensity, it is a thirst of your being. It transcends the rationale of your logic.

Intensity is a call from deep within. The more you have to wait for it, the more the thirst grows, the more the fire flares up. See the difference between light and laser. Both are made up of the same light rays but the single-pointed intense focus of the laser comes from the coherence and the common frequency of the light rays.

The power of this intensity is what gives the laser the tremendous power to even burn a hole through metal. At the same time it is a controlled focus. This is what gives it the power to do even a delicate task like removing a cataract in the eye.

A beautiful story from the life of the enlightened master Bayazid²: Bayazid had been with his master for twelve years but the master had not spoken a single word to him. One day after twelve long years, the master spoke to Bayazid, 'Go to the hall. There is a book there. Bring me the book.' Bayazid had been passing through that hall for twelve years every single day while coming to see the master. He replied, 'I have never seen the book. In fact, I have never looked in the hall. I was interested only in you, not in anything else. But, if you say I will go.' The master replied, 'No. Stay.' Bayazid's whole interest had turned into focused intensity. His whole interest was just the master. The master said, 'There is no need for the book. I was just trying to find out how completely focused you are.' That night, the master told Bayazid, 'Tonight sleep here.' Bayazid lay down by the side of the master but he could not sleep. He was filled with so much intensity, his mind completely stopped in that intensity. Next morning Bayazid was dead. A new man had emerged. No instruction was ever given. He just had to wait for twelve years. That was the method for him.

If it was just an interest, there was no way Bayazid could have stayed on for twelve years without even a word from the master. Very naturally, his mind would have strongly protested saying, 'What are you doing here? You are just wasting time. Nothing has happened till now. He is not even interested in you. How long are you going to waste time like this?' It is the intensity that holds you on because deep down you understand, not twelve years but even twelve million lives are worth waiting for the Ultimate that the master leads you into. Even that would actually be cheap.

If in a desert your thirst for water becomes really intense, you are ready to pay with your life for a glass of water. When your thirst for realization becomes that intense, you are ready to pay with your life for the Truth.

A beautiful Zen story: A student approached a Zen teacher to learn Zen. The teacher told him, 'Hear the sound of one hand clapping.' The student tried for three years and did not succeed. He was depressed that he could not do what his teacher had told him. He came in tears to the teacher saying he had to leave because he could not do what he had been told. The teacher said, 'Wait for one more week. Meditate constantly.' The student stayed for one more week and meditated. Nothing happened. The teacher said, 'Try for five more days.' The student stayed further, yet nothing happened. The student came in despair begging to be released. Then the teacher said, 'Meditate for three more days. If you don't get enlightened, you had better kill yourself.' The second day, the student was enlightened.

When your whole being is burning with the single intense desire to realize the Ultimate, you will simply absorb the master's instructions. The magic of transformation is bound to happen. Only then will you be open to receive him. Till then it is just an interest.

Tantra³, the mystical science of meditation techniques, says that to know the truth one needs only one condition, intensity. Be total in what you are, what you do. Live intensely in the moment and taste the real life. Otherwise, you are not living. You are just waiting for death.

When you eat, intensely eat. Let your whole attention and energy be on the food. Do not divert your attention and thoughts to what you need to get done at work tomorrow or where you want to go for your next vacation.

Enjoy the food with all your senses. Taste the food in your mouth, enjoy the feast in front of your eyes, touch the food with love, and smell the aroma of the food. When you eat this way totally, you will enjoy every morsel and you will actually feed into your system the living energy the food is meant to give.

If you are drinking water, drink it intensely. Become the thirst. Feel the coolness of the water going into your mouth, throat and down your food pipe. Let each drop of water that goes into your mouth give you the feeling of fulfillment.

The Tamil classic, Periya Puranam⁴, describes the stories of the Nayanmars⁵, the ardent devotees of lord Shiva. There are so many instances of the devotees realizing the Ultimate by simple activities like making garlands for the Lord. An example is Gananaatha Nayanaar, a devotee of Shiva, engaged in simple

services like plucking flowers for worship, making garlands for the Lord, sweeping and washing the floor of the temple and keeping the lamps in the temple burning. Just this simple life led him to reaching the Ultimate and brought him his name ‘Gananaatha’ meaning the chief of the ganas (attendants) of lord Shiva.

When you pray, be real and spontaneous. Whatever you feel, feel totally and offer it to the Divine. Don’t cheat yourself and be hypocritical by not admitting what you feel. You cannot hide anything from the Divine. He knows you better than you know yourself.

Your intensity is the only thing that decides when your object of seeking will happen. If the intensity is total, it will happen that moment. If the intensity is not integrated and total, it will take more time because the intensity has to gain strength in that time.

A beautiful story:

The Sufi mystic Junaid⁶, was taking a walk one morning when a man came up to him asking, ‘I need to reach the capital of this kingdom. How long will it take?’

Junaid just looked at the man and continued walking. The man was going in the same direction. He followed Junaid thinking maybe he did not hear him properly. So, he asked Junaid again, ‘Can you please tell me how much time it will take me to reach the capital of the kingdom?’ Junaid continued walking. The man gave up trying to ask further. After some distance, Junaid said, ‘You will have to walk at least ten hours.’ The man was surprised and exclaimed, ‘You could have said that before!’ Junaid replied, ‘How can I say before? I needed to watch your speed first. Then only I could tell you how long it will take to reach the capital.’

In the same way, the time it takes to realize also depends on your intensity. If you are intense enough, it does not need time to reach the Ultimate. Where you are, who are you is irrelevant. You can reach here and now.

A beautiful story: There was a dreaded bandit who was a terror in the kingdom. After looting a large number of people, he started feeling restless and uncomfortable with his actions. He approached a master and asked him, ‘Master, I am a sinner. Is there any way out for me? Can I be liberated?’ The master looked at the bandit and asked him what he was good at. The bandit replied, ‘Nothing.’ The master asked, ‘Nothing? You must be good at something!’ The bandit thought for a long time and then said, ‘Master, I only know stealing, that is what I have done all my life.’ The master smiled and said, ‘Good! Then you will use exactly that now. Go to a quiet place and rob all your perceptions and ideas and opinions. Steal all the trees and rocks and rivers on planet earth. Steal all the planets and stars in the sky. And dissolve them in the vast emptiness inside you.’ The bandit sincerely followed exactly the instructions of the master. Within 21 days, the bandit realized his true nature, he became enlightened.