Do you feel stuck in life?
“What is commitment? A commitment is felt only when it oversteps convenience, since what is merely convenient is not commitment at all” – Gurudev
You are stuck for a while, and then you come out of it anyway. If you were never stuck, you would never know what freedom is. You realize, “Oh, I was stuck. It was like a nightmare
Watch your thoughts at the level of the mind when you are stuck. The same thought comes to your mind again and again. You wake up in the morning, and the same thought hits you; you drink your tea, and the same thought hits you; you sit at the dining table, and the same thought keeps bothering you. It is like a gramophone needle caught in a groove, repeating the same line instead of moving forward. You have to lift that needle and place it on the next groove.
You are so lucky to realize that you are stuck in life, doing the same things repeatedly-waking up, having breakfast, going out, shopping. Recognizing this monotony is itself a significant step. Being stuck indicates that you have already woken up from the slumber.
The mind tends to get stuck on one event, and then, after some time, it gets released. It is elastic, like rubber. It goes back and forth, trying and struggling to get rid of a particular thought. When the mind gets stuck in one place, that becomes the cause of worry.
You are stuck for a while, and then you come out of it anyway. If you were never stuck, you would never know what freedom is. You realize, “Oh, I was stuck. It was like a nightmare.”
You know a nightmare is a nightmare only when you wake up. Even then, its impact lingers. Your heart is still pounding, and you are still perspiring. Instead of fighting with yourself, simply wake up and say, “I was stuck. It is okay to be stuck.” The moment you look at it this way, that very moment becomes transformative.
A closed mind says, “This is how it is. I know it. That is it.” An open mind says, “Maybe. Perhaps. I do not know.”
The moment you look at a situation and label it, saying, “I know this is how it is,” that is the beginning of your problem. That’s when you get stuck. Suffering is a product of limited knowledge. Staying open to “maybe” and “perhaps” is what allows that hold to loosen, makes you flexible.
When a cloth is pure white, even a speck of dust on it appears very big. In the same way, the more subtle and peaceful you become, the more small disturbances will stand out in contrast.
If you are stuck with a problem, know that you already have the capacity to face it. You already have answers, so the question appears in front of you. The first step is to stop eternalising the problem, so you stop attracting it further into your life.
Never tell yourself that you are always the one with problems, that you are always stuck, that you are simply unlucky, or that you always fall sick. Such statements become a seed, a sankalpa, planted deep in the mind. When you say, “I will never succeed,” or “I cannot do this,” you are planting that very seed within yourself.
These are the weeds we need to remove from the mind and replace with trust in ourselves. The moment you drop the judgments you carry about yourself, trust begins to grow on its own, and self-doubt gradually disappears.
Our mind has two choices. One, it can become like a photograph, retaining all the impressions and emotions. You click a photograph and the image stays on the film. Another is you become like a mirror. In a mirror, you also see the picture. But the moment you move, the picture disappears. The picture doesn’t stick to the mirror. So the whole journey is from being a photograph to becoming a mirror, you don’t let events and their memories stick in your mind.
A river needs two banks to flow. The difference between flood and a flowing river is that in a river, water flows in between the banks. During floods, the water is muddled and has no direction. Similarly, the energy in our life needs some direction to flow. If you don’t give direction, it leads to confusion. Today most people are confused because there is no direction in life. When you are happy, there is so much life energy in you; but when this life energy doesn’t know where to go, how to go, it gets stuck. When it stagnates, it rots! Just like the water has to keep flowing, in the same way, life has to keep moving. For life energy to move in a direction, commitment is essential.
What is commitment? A commitment is felt only when it oversteps convenience, since what is merely convenient is not commitment at all. At the same time, if you are too rigidly stuck in commitment, and it becomes inconvenient, you will feel frustrated and unable to fulfil it in the long run. Wisdom lies in striking a balance between convenience and commitment.
If you are stuck in a kind of spider’s web created by your own decisions, know that there is another dimension to life. Make a firm resolve: Come what may, I am going to do it, I am going to come out of the illusions created by my own mind. No cobweb can destroy you. After all, a cobweb is just a cobweb; it cannot destroy anybody.
When the mind is caught in a whirlpool, three things will carry you through: an unshakable faith that someone out there cares deeply for you, loves you, and will never let you down; your daily practice; and the spiritual knowledge you have already gained. These three-practices, knowledge, and faith-will help you through such moments.
This spiritual journey begins in recognizing the monotony of all the routine activities we do. Once you see it clearly, that very seeing becomes the doorway to being more creative, light-hearted and happier.
If you are stuck in a kind of spider’s web created by your own decisions, know that there is another dimension to life. Make a firm resolve: Come what may, I am going to do it, I am going to come out of the illusions created by my own mind
