What Does ‘Just Being’ Mean?

I received dozens of responses to my last blog.

Here are some:

I do believe that our primary purpose in this life is to know - and experience - who we really are, i.e., become aware that we are pure awareness, pure consciousness and are part of the whole universal consciousness. However, I also believe that we came into this life with a secondary, more personal purpose - the one that most people are trying to find and that most people believe erroneously is their main purpose. Fulfilling this secondary purpose is not essential as we can have many more goes at it in successive lives - and it may indeed change with each life.

However, I don't believe that we came here to 'do' nothing and just 'be'. I believe we are meant to participate in life, otherwise we could just 'be' in energy form, we don't need to incarnate into a physical form. All the great spiritual masters 'taught' others, sometimes just by their example and improved the lives of those around them and others who read their 'teachings'. Maybe they didn't strive to do this, although I'm sure some of them did.

So, in essence, I believe there is a path to follow in this life, if we choose to. But there is no obligation to do so.

Thank you for your blog posts. They are some of my favourite emails. :-)

Very interesting article indeed. This is the constant contradiction in my life recently.

Should I try harder, constantly prove myself and try to get promoted to the next level? Or should I just let it be and accept things as they are and see what happens!

But letting things happen also contradicts with “Make things happen, don’t let things happen to you” slogan that my yoga guru reminds us of. Where do you draw the balance?

I do believe things happen through you but at the same time doing nothing and waiting for things to just happen is also scary.

Would love to hear more from you on this.

What if "growth" is the ever-evolving journey of knowing and accepting the true YOU. Peeling off the layers of the onion one by one.

At least that's how I see growth. According to you, is that a twisted thing to call this "growth"?

Also, if one identifies that there is a behaviour that one showcases that creates pain and struggle. Isn't "growth" to want to overcome this behaviour and create a behaviour that brings about more peace & happiness ?

Thank you for being you.

And many, many more!

Confusion arises because of language. The same words evoke entirely different concepts and images and we believe that what we perceive is what everyone else also sees.

When I say, ‘Just BE’, I do not mean that you loll around in your pajamas on the sofa waiting for stuff to happen or not happen.

I mean that you let life unfold instead of trying to make it unfold in a particular manner that you desire. Stuff happens. You watch it happen and enjoy the drama. You are completely devoid of the notion that you are the ‘doer’.

There are many things you do each day without feeling that you are the ‘doer’. It just happens. You brush your teeth. You go to the toilet. You take a shower.

And then you go to work and become a ‘doer’. You decide which marketing strategy to deploy, whom to hire, whether to agree to a joint venture proposal and so on.

In your mind these are important cognitive activities and cannot be done in the same manner as brushing your teeth.

This is simply a story you tell yourself. ALL of your life can unfold effortlessly with no stress.

Annamalai Swami explains this in his inimitable style:

“When you have become one with the Self, a great power takes you over and runs your life for you. It looks after your body; It puts you in the right place at the right time; it makes you say the right things to the people you meet. This power takes you over so completely that you no longer have the ability to decide or discriminate. The ego that thinks, “I must do this,” or, “I should not do that,” is no longer there. The Self simply animates you and makes you do all the things that need to be done.”

We are not one with the Self, but we recognize that we are on the journey to reach that union.

So, what do we do?

We take a cue from Lincoln in his second inaugural address. “With malice toward none, with charity for all” we firmly do the right as God gives us to see the right. What God gives us to see the right tomorrow may be different from what he gives us to see the right today. That is fine. At any given point our intention is set by those soaring words.

Think deeply about this.

Peace!