Focus on Life™

I found this article from my archives and it’s related to my book, Fragments of Reality, or actually why I wrote it.

Everyday Life

Most of us are living in a middle of constant rush and hurry. Either we create it ourselves or it is imposed and assumed by the external world we are exposed to. It is amazing how much noise is around us. It starts from the early morning when you’re barely awake and continues till the final moments before going to bed. We are never really here in the moment, ever. Either we are accompanied by a radio and mp3-player or then we are among other people who keep us busy. That’s life–everyday life.

Still everything happens here and right now. We walk, talk, meet people, travel, work, eat, and so on. All these comprise of our life. But all this is just the external frame or the stage of the plays. It’s the outcome or the façade. What we are really experiencing and going through cannot be interpreted from the outset. A top athlete may look busy while he/she is running but how do we know? Within the situation might be entirely different. Actually when one seems to be occupied by the outset the reality within is often exactly the opposite. You cannot afford to think while being in the moment. Every golfer knows this: think about the swing and you have lost it before the club touches the ball.

When is the right time to be? Never is the usual answer—I don’t have the time. But this is part of the illusion like anything else. We are all the time and it is not possible to be but now. What we mean by not being here is to say that we scatter our perception of the world either to the future or to the past—in our mind. This creates the illusion of not being here while you still are physically here. This paradox was something I started to write about. When one begins to observe the world around us it is easy to realise that most of the time we are not living, at all. In another words we are not present.

This non-presence is easy to prove to yourself. Every time you don’t remember a particular circumstance or occurrence you were not there—you were wondering in your mind. Isn’t this a bit intriguing, we live but actually we do not? We look but we do not see. We are receptive to sounds but we do not hear. We sit in a meeting but we are not there— atfer we might not even remember being there at all!

No wonder people may start to feel frustrated or disappointed. It appears that they are not living at all. But if you begin to realise this you still don’t have the time to do something about it. We are busy, with our everyday life. It’s the work, the family, the hobbies and so on. A nice catch-22: constantly occupied to be without ever being. Where to start and how? Is it even possible without going to some isolated place and leave everything behind? Go somewhere in order to find time to simply be. Do you see it! I repeat: go somewhere in order to find the time to simply be. But we already are, when we only realise it.

This is the reason I wrote the book while living my everyday life. Being present is not about places it’s about a state of mind. Therefore any situation or place will do. Actually the busier and more active your life the better your chances to explore and realise the beingness in your very everyday living. Inner peace and harmony are not related to the external circumstances but internal tranquility and presence. Who needs to be calm and quiet in the woods?

Our inner life is sacred and personal to each of us. Our exter-
nal life we share with the world. It is not obvious that they
can be in harmony and still enable the sought-for inner real-
ization. But it is possible.

History has given us examples of sacred people who lived
in isolated places and practiced their spiritual life. Often, we
have this image of true practitioners, and nothing else is “seri-
ous” or real enough. Inner peace and mindlessness do not
require any particular place or arrangement. We can practice
it no matter where we are. It also stays with us when we have
reached the right level. Actually, our environment and cir-
cumstances are no obstacles to our inner development.

We have to live in the world and take care of our duties
and responsibilities. Actually, what provides a better opportu-
nity to practice detachment and tranquility than the chal-
lenges of our everyday life? Our situations provide us with the
training arena where we should be able to stay in a totally har-
monious inner state—no matter what we are experiencing.

Living under time and space where causality is imposed
does not mean that we cannot have a rich inner life as well.
We can experience both worlds continuously. A place or situ-
ation will have no significance for us because our life is our
state of mind. We create the meaning for the circumstances—
not the other way around.

True teachings are nonverbal. They are not given by any
symbols (i.e., writings, talk)—we have to experience them
directly. Therefore, our life defines our existence, and by our
behavior and actions we state who we are. What would be a bet-
ter way to share the wisdom we have gained than to live among
people and be a practical example? No words are necessary.

We often get carried away or overwhelmed by our emotions.
We call this a state of being emotional or sometimes even
irrational. In practice, we mean that we were in a condition
where we were vulnerable to act in a way in which we might
not normally act (i.e., we regret our behavior later on). In
other words, we are stating that we lost control of ourselves;
we were not “we” in the ordinary sense.

Detachment is a state of being where one observes every-
thing from a distance. This means that one is not getting car-
ried away or being emotionally more or less out of control
(i.e., getting angry and so on). Detachment does not mean
that we are passive or not involved in the moment—totally
the opposite. It means that we are capable of being observant
and active in every moment and, therefore, a more precise
perception and behavior in life is possible.

Detachment is not dependent on the situation. It does not
matter whether we are experiencing joyful and happy
moments or sad and unpleasant surprises. Keeping a small
distance from all matters enables us to have broader under-
standing of the issues and circumstances. Our personal ego
and interests cannot block our way. Actually one learns to
identify those, and in time gets rid of any personal selfish
motives. No more big mood swings to the negative or posi-
tive—we can purely experience life as it comes without our
expectations getting in our way. A fresh way of living.