There is neither Good nor Bad

There is only Love

                We have to observe obviously, not only lives but also what is going around us - the misery, the conflict, the violence, the extraordinary sense of despair, the sorrow, the meaningless existence that one leads. And to escape from that we resort to all kinds of fanciful, sectarian beliefs.

                Gurus are multiplying like mushrooms all over the world. They are bringing their own particular fancy, their traditions and imposing it on others; that is religion. That is sheer nonsense, traditional acceptance of what has been, what is dead and put into different words and different circumstances.

                So it becomes very important, it seems to me, not only that we must bring about a change in the world outside is, nut also a total revolution psychologically inward. That seems to me the most urgent and necessary thing. That change will bring about naturally and inevitably, a change in the social structure, in our relationship in our whole activity of life.

                To understand conflict, we must understand relationship, and the understanding of relationship does not depend on memory, on habit, on what has been or what should be. It depends on choice-less awareness from moment and if we go into it deeply, we shall see that in that awareness there is no accumulative process at all.

                The moment there is accumulation, there is a point from which to examine, and that point is conditioned; and hence, when we regard relationship from a fixed point, there must be pain, there must be conflict.

                We say that there is good and evil. There is envy and love, and we say that envy is evil and love is good. Why do we divide life, calling this is good and that bad? Not that there is no envy, hate, brutality in human mind and heart, an absence of compassion, love, but why do we divide life into the things called good and the thing called evil? Surely when there is complete attention, that is, when the mind is totally aware, alert, watchful, there is no such thing as evil or good; there is only an awakened state.

                Goodness then is not a quantity, not a virtue, it is a state of love. When there is love, there is neither good nor bad, there is only love. When you really love someone, you are not thinking of good or bad, your whole being is filled with that love. It is only when there is cessation of complete attention, of love, that there comes the conflict between what I am and what I should be. Then that which I am is evil, and that which I should be the so-called good.

                You watch your own mind and you will see that the moment the mind ceases to think in terms of becoming something, there is a cessation of action which is not stagnation; it is a state of total attention, which is goodness.

Playing versus Winning

Playing Versus Winning

                Playing is a one kind of joy, winning is another kind. The problem is we identify joy exclusively with winning. I cannot escape the feeling that equating joy with winning reduces the scope of joy altogether. Playing becomes a chore, a job, not an expression of one’s talents, not a celebration of one’s athleticism. I do not want detract the joy and sense of fulfillment one gets from winning, but an exclusive concern with winning sucks the life out of games and sports.

                You may have a desire. Put it in your best effort to fulfill it. But make sure that you enjoy the effort rather than its fruits. There are those who make the effort grumbling and are happy only when desire is achieved. Others exhaust themselves making the effort so that they have no strength or enthusiasm left to enjoy the fruits of their labour. A third method seems superior. Enjoy the efforts no matter what the effect.

                I see nothing wrong with having a desire, even gods have desires, but if you are using fulfillment of desire as a condition for contentment, you may be reducing your chances of happiness altogether. For example, you decide that you will be happy only when you clear IAS exam you are preparing for. Now you are postponing the moment of your happiness to a point in the future. You will be happy only when you clear that exam.

                The third way celebrates the march towards the destination. If the destination reached, we will be happy. Even if it is not reached, nobody can take away the sense of thrill at having run the race, the delicious fatigue felt in the process. My happiness is derived not from reaching a goal, but from the struggle I wage as part of my attempt at reaching it.

                But don’t just listen to me and work yourself to death saying that is what I meant. Ensure that you will be working smart, not just hard. Set and evaluate your goals, estimate the quantum and quality of effort to be invested in attaining the goals. That is smart work, intelligent effort.

                Failure is the fact of life. In all competition contexts, as in sports, one side has to lose. I insist on the need to enjoy the effort rather than the joy of success because I do not want the losers to feel that they have nothing to feel happy about.