Catch Yourself In The Act!

Paramahamsa Nithyananda

-Staff

By Staff

Friday, October 24, 2008, 10:48

Everyday early in the morning, a Zen Master would ask his disciples, 'How many of you have taken bath this morning?' Almost all the disciples would raise their hands dutifully. Next question would be, ' How many of you are aware that you took a bath when you took a bath?' Not a single hand would raise.

Bathing is an act. But bathing with complete awareness is totally different. Today, surely all of us must have taken a bath and all of us must have brushed our teeth. But how any of us were aware of what we were doing when we did that? When we brushed our teeth, how many of us were aware? When we took our bath how many of us were aware of the hot water falling on our body? Were we aware of our body after the bath? Did we feel rejuvenated after the bath? Did we feel relaxed after the bath? How many of us were aware of all these things when they happened?

A small story: A king went to a Master, and asked, 'Master, how can I become enlightened? Tell me about all the practices you do. What did you do to become enlightened? Please teach me the same techniques. I too want to become enlightened like you.' The Master said, 'Oh! I eat when I eat; I sleep when I sleep. That is all I do.' The king could not understand.

The Master explained, 'When I eat I only eat, I do not do anything else. Likewise when I sleep I only sleep, I do not do anything else.' But what do we do? Just recall how we eat. We will either be watching television or reading a magazine when we were eating. Or it could be that we were talking to some one or continuously thinking of something. If by chance, we were calm, quietly sitting and eating, our spouse would have been there to report some problems in the house!

So in one way or the other, when we eat, our mind does everything except focus on the food and eating. We do everything except eat. This is true even when we sleep! When we sleep, we do everything else except sleeping. Because, only when we sleep, we dream; nightmares and fear strokes happen. We have disturbed sleep. Whatever we do, we do everything else except that thing. Try to catch yourself in the act. Become aware. When you become aware of what you are doing, there will be tremendous energy flow and intelligence happening in your system. This will set in motion a wonderful inner transformation.

Listen to Paramahamsa Nithyananda Jain Sutras-Understand And Transcend