Interesting!

Interesting!

Do you ever stop to look at what holds your attention for most of the day?  Is it material objects, or human beings?  If we find the TV and internet, or cricket and football more interesting (or important) than human company, then we have lost our bearings as a human race.

Audio – Interesting (Interesting piece of music by Armik – Tango-Flamenco)

There is a saying in Raja Yoga, that where ever your mind (maan) goes, that is where your body (taan) and wealth (dhaan) will also go.  Whatever it is we find interesting, that is what we will be drawn to, and that is what we will invest most of our time, energy and thoughts to.  Well, that is only normal, you might say.  Yet as we put our mind (and body and wealth!) to such things, are we adding to our energy or depleting it?

In any case, how can we trust our ‘interesting’ instincts anymore?  Because it’s interesting to note that what we thought interested and enthused us last week, last month, or last year, now bores us within seconds.  We continue to indulge in and gravitate towards those things, yet we find that the fizz goes out of the ‘pop’ quite quickly!

Once we find something interesting out there, we get distracted by it, preoccupied with it and caught up in the experience of it. We get struck by it and stuck in it.  Then we cannot ‘be’ with ourselves.  Anything ‘interesting’ that pulls our intellect means that the mind is no longer free, it is trapped.  And we are pulled again and again to these experiences outside of ourselves.  That is why there is something to be said for doing mundane or mindless activities in ashrams.  It breaks the mind’s rhythmic patterns of always looking for entertainment from the outside.

Once we say that something interests us, it means we have already created a bias against that which doesn’t interest us.  Again that is common sense, you might say.  Yet if we continue to reject that side of life and stop exposing ourselves to the things that don’t interest us, we miss out on a great percentage of life.  In our daily lives we learn to appreciate both night and day. We could not appreciate one without the other.  So too, if we can find interest in that which is least interesting, then we no longer resist life.  Instead we swing and sway with its rhythm. Our life becomes even richer with more meaning.

In fact the truth of the matter is, everything should be interesting and nothing should be interesting at the same time.  I see beauty and newness in everything, yet I am not attached to it, in other words, it does not interest me enough to take me away from my real aim of inner peace and stillness.

We very often look for interest or newness outside of ourselves and so things never change – because we need to work on ourselves from the inside out.

The only thing that brings ever-lasting joy and fascination is interest in my own soul. In fact, the most profitable area of interest is interest in the self and my journey of self discovery. Where am I headed?  What am I doing to my own self?  How am I treating myself?  I don’t mean this at all in an egotistical way, but in a self-improvement way.  Once my attention goes off myself and onto another, then I start to compare, blame, dislike, or get totally absorbed in one thing or another, then I lose myself and I lose my joy, peace, happiness etc.  As I stay interested in my own journey and improve myself, then I become my own best friend. Then and only then, can I create good relationships with others.

Spiritual life is so much more interesting because first of all I am able to see beyond the ordinary into the unusual.  I am able to tap into other dimensions and see and feel the secrets as to why things are the way they are.  There is magic at every moment.  Never a dull moment!

From this new vantage point, I can enjoy every moment, every relationship and every new thing that comes to me. But I do not allow the distractions to carry me away and take my energy.

It’s Time… to pay attention to the self and to be interested in my own journey. Physical things will only consume my attention and energy, but doing the inner work will reap countless rewards. Now isn’t that more interesting?

Now take a few moments to reflect and meditate

Meditation Commentary – Interesting (Music by Armik – Tango Flamenco)

© ‘It’s Time…’ by Aruna Ladva, BK Publications London, UK