Make Your Life Spectacular

Wherever I go for our events and programs, it is such a joy for me to see people crossing their limitations to make things happen. Human beings who do not break their self-created boundaries will remain trapped in them. Breaking your limitations is an essential part of your spiritual growth. This spiritual process is not based on a scripture, philosophy, or dead tradition – it is a living thing. You have to live it every day. I do not want you to miss this possibility because you are getting caught up in day-to-day situations or issues with other people. If you want to move forward in life, it is important to constantly keep account of your growth – ideally every day, but at least weekly once or monthly once. Ask yourself, “Am I getting better? Am I a little more joyful? Have I grown a little more compared to the way I was yesterday?”

People keep close account of their money. It is only a transactional tool – you cannot take it with you when you die. The most precious thing you have is that you are alive right now. If that is the case, is it not worthwhile to keep account of where you are going in life, if you are improving yourself or you are regressing? You do not regress because of what someone else does to you. No one can do anything to you within you. Your boss or your family can make your life a little difficult on the outside. That means they give you more exercise – that’s all. This should only make you stronger. You should at least be as smart as this smart ass – let me tell you the story.

One day, an ass or a donkey past his prime slipped and fell into a well. The well had gone dry and was not too deep, but the donkey could not get out. It started braying from down there piteously. A few villagers and the owner came and saw what happened. The donkey kept screaming, wanting to get out, fearing for its life. People said, “This stupid donkey will go on screaming. It is already old and of no use – we can neither put it to work nor sell it. Anyway we wanted to close the well. Let’s do it now.” So they decided to close the well and bury the donkey alive. They started throwing earth into the well. Every time a basketful of earth fell on its back, the donkey shook it off and stepped on top of the pile. As the earth gathered, it kept coming higher up. The moment they filled up one side of the well, it walked out. The villagers thought, “Wow, this is a real smart ass.” In appreciation, the owner went and tried to hug the donkey. It kicked him straight in the face and ran away to freedom.

No matter what someone throws at you, you must make the best out of it – this is spiritual process. A mango tree, which does not even have a brain like you, can make mud into mangoes and sweetness. Plants can make filth into flowers and fragrance. You should be able to make something beautiful out of whatever comes your way. If you are able to do that, that shows who you are. The biggest problem on the planet has been that if small things go wrong, people blame it on “the small guy” (someone else). If big things go wrong in their lives, they blame it on “the big guy” (God). They themselves do not seem to be responsible for anything. It is time to stop blaming or trying to fix others. Instead, you should grow to your full potential.

Seeking something that can only happen within you outside in the world is the most foolish thing to do. To find peace and joy, people are looking up. To find wellbeing, they are looking all over the world. Only when you turn inward, will it happen. Your sadhana is a scientific approach to both your immediate inner wellbeing and your ultimate wellbeing. If you want your sadhana to be successful, you need to free your mind from unnecessary junk. With the initiation into Shambhavi, you got the right seed. It is up to you to cultivate the soil. Even the most fantastic seed will not sprout if you put it on a rock. If you keep collecting other people’s garbage, it will not allow anything to sprout. Modern times are such that most people have too much trash in their heads to realize the immense possibility of what is being offered to them. I do not want you to waste your life, not realizing this possibility.

One way to reduce mental distractions is to drop the gossip. In Kannada, there is a saying that if someone creates some nasty karma, people who keep talking about it will get it. The person who did it may have forgotten about it. But people who keep talking about it will get it because it occupies their minds. These are simple things to remember when living and working with other people. You may have heard this story about Socrates, who was considered to be phenomenally wise, even in his lifetime. One day, someone came up to him and said, “I want to tell you something about Diogenes.” Socrates said, “I have a simple principle. Whatever you want to say, you must put it through the triple filter.” The man asked, “What is this triple filter?” Socrates said, “First thing – whatever you’re going to tell me now, have you ascertained the truth?” The man said, “No. Someone just told me this.” Socrates said, “So it doesn’t pass the first filter. The second filter is, is it something nice?” “No, quite the contrary – that’s why I want to tell you this.” Socrates said, “Then it doesn’t pass the second filter either. Is it something useful?” The man said, “No, I don’t think it’s useful. I just want to tell you this.” Socrates said, “That means it doesn’t pass any of the filters.”

Put these three filters on your mind: If someone wants to tell you something, have they made sure that it is the absolute truth? Is it something good about someone? Is it useful? If, from whatever others want to tell you or what you want to tell someone else, you filter out everything that does not meet these three criteria, you will have a lot of space in your mind to do useful, wonderful, and spiritual things. If you fill yourself with unfiltered information, you will always be busy with junk, whether it is someone else’s or your own. You should never take pleasure in someone else’s problems by gossiping about them. You could make it a rule for yourself to not speak about anyone when that person is not face-to-face with you.

Do not waste your energy mulling over things that someone said or did. Most of you are not in a state of mind where, if you close your eyes, the world is gone in your experience. If that is the situation, the best thing is to expend yourself in such a way that there is simply no energy left for anything that is not necessary for your wellbeing. It is better to die of exhaustion than of boredom, laziness, resentment, or misery. The fact that you are aging does not mean you have to reduce your activity. If you keep doing something with tremendous intensity and involvement, your capacity will only increase.

One day, a young cowherd went into the forest to graze his cows. While there, a cow delivered a calf. For the first time, he witnessed a birth. Suddenly, there was this little piece of life – it was a miracle to him. He felt such a deep sense of love and compassion for the calf that he picked it up and hugged it. And since it could not walk, he carried it on his shoulders back home. The next day, when he went to the forest with his cows, again he carried the calf on his shoulders, and he continued to do so every day. Over time, the little calf grew into a big bull. As its weight increased, the man’s strength also increased. By the time he walked around carrying a full-grown bull on his shoulders, everyone in town thought he was a superman. I want to see supermen and -women like that everywhere. You should not put a limit on what you can do. Let us see where life puts a limit. Human beings who put limits upon themselves cannot create anything big.

It is important that you use your life to the fullest, in every possible way. This is such a brief life – why waste your time on things that are not worthwhile? Either you must do something for your inner wellbeing, or you must be doing something that is useful for people around you. If the moment you hit the pillow, you fall asleep instantly because you have spent all your energy for the day, whatever sadhana you do will become many times more effective. Do not sit around thinking about what to do and what to avoid. If you shift from unwillingness to willingness, from inertia to effervescence, your life will become joyful; your journey will become effortless. And when it is time to die and you look back, you will see you have lived a spectacular life. It is very important to me that this happens for you. Become spectacular and light up the world. I shall burn with you.