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SERVING SOCIETY BY STRENGTHENING THE INDIVIDUAL

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                       What is Life?

                              Certain questions indicate the maturity of our mind. Do you know what
                              those questions are? They are: What is life? What is the purpose of
                              my life? Why am I here? What do I want?

                              If these questions arise in your mind, it is a sign of the mind or intellect
                              getting matured. Otherwise the mind is just in routine doing the same
thing again and again, not even introspecting looking into the source of life.

These questions are vital. Where am I? Are you aware you are on this planet Earth? Have
you ever thought “I am on planet Earth and this planet is in the solar system”? So, I am in the
solar system. The solar system is just a dot in the Milky Way. So, I am in the Milky Way. This
expansion of awareness to the macrocosm and being aware of where you are in this body is
important. Just sit with your eyes closed and ask yourself “where am I in this body”? Am I in
the head, in the nose, in the heart? Where am I in the body? Then the sharpness of the mind
happens, awareness happens. You are able to perceive that you are nowhere and you are
everywhere in the body. A shift in the quality of awareness happens instantaneously. And it is
this awareness that can eliminate stresses and sorrows from life. This awareness is called
wisdom.

Every living being wants happiness, everyone wants to be in love. Everyone wants to be
loved and everyone wants to give love. Right? There is not a single creature on this planet
that doesn’t like love. And do you know that love is the cause of all misery also? Love is the
cause of jealousy, anger, hatred, fear, everything. The basis of all problems in the world is
again love! You have two choices. You can be indifferent or be in love and go through the
suffering. Is there any other third hope for being in love and not facing all the miseries? Yes.
It is through awareness.

When we raise our consciousness, we become more aware of the sensation that is
happening in the body and we see that the sensations change. An intense sensation that is
pain and an intense sensation that is pleasure, both become pleasurable. Love and pain,
they are very closely related. The symbol of Jesus on the cross means that the cross is pain
and Jesus is love. One is with the other. The transformation of this pain into bliss, the love
into bliss is what happens with awareness.

The same happens with doubts. Have you noticed doubts are always about something
positive? We never doubt anything negative in life. You never doubt someone else’s anger or
your anger. You never doubt your depression. Nobody ever doubts his/her depression. But
when one is happy, one doubts, am I really happy? If someone tells you they hate you, you
don’t doubt it but if someone tells you they love you, you say: “Really? Are you sure?”

If we can doubt in the negativity of people, we become close to the reality. Do you see what I
am saying? We take it for granted that everybody is a hoax or a fraud and then we try to find
somebody we can trust. It becomes so difficult in the world. Sometimes you have a lot of
doubts in your mind. But when you increase the energy level in your body, you will see that
the doubts disappear. There is more clarity in the mind. Confusion goes away from the mind.

Without this awareness the mind shrinks. When the mind shrinks, the joy diminishes.
Whenever we are happy, we feel that something in us is expanding and the expression of
sadness is the contraction of mind. Meditation is a technique where the mind expands and
relaxes. And whenever we are relaxed, we are expanding automatically. It is worth knowing
this expansion because then nothing can disturb us or take our smile away. Otherwise, some
small things can throw us off the balance. It is not worth letting your mind or your life undergo
such suffering, such misery. Do you see that?

Talks by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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