Courageous living
Facing your fears and living a full life
Whether we are aware of it or not, there is only one reason for all our fears: we are not able to face the ever-changing nature of life!
We are wary of life, because life is always moving, and we are terrified of letting go. We try to hold on to things, to people, to feelings, to situations – not realizing that it is impossible to hold on to anything in life.
All our fears are rooted in the fear of change or loss, which is nothing more than the fear of death, in a subtle form. Losing our possessions, our social status, our identity – all these are like daily deaths for us.
A simple change in the way we understand life and death can free
'I was having sugar allergy for a long time. When Swamiji explained how our thoughts about diseases create diseases, I felt that I was creating this problem for myself. I just came out of the class with a resolve to drink a coffee with lots of sugar. And I did it! Nothing happened. Since then I have incorporated sugar into my diet again after 8 years!'
- Clotilde Gay, Social Worker, France
start believing that life is joy. But whether you create a pain shaft or a joy shaft, please understand that both are not true, because the shaft itself does not exist outside of your imagination! When we learn to disconnect or 'unclutch' from our thoughts, we become free of the play of the mind. We start living in the moment, without preconceived ideas.
When you live above the play of the mind, you are living enlightenment. Then you will suddenly see that your whole life becomes so effortless! Then you will attract new and different situations, people and incidents in your life. There are only two kinds of life: living thoughts and living enlightenment. It is your choice!
- THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
'Before I came here I was trying to live my life on my beliefs. Now after Inner Awakening, I realize that no matter what belief the mind shows, I can always function from a full space.'
- Geetha A., Engineer, USA
Liberate yourself from the mind!
Do you know that the mind is not a solid thing, as you imagine? What you call 'mind' is no more than a constant flow of thoughts, where each thought is being swiftly replaced by the next. You hardly have any control over what thought is going to enter your mind next - because thoughts themselves flow in an illogical, chaotic manner. But we give too much respect to this chaotic mind! We base our whole life on the dictates of the mind.
For instance, we start connecting a few thoughts that run through our mind, and start giving profound meanings to them. If you believe that your whole life has been suffering, you unconsciously collect and connect only the painful incidents of your life, which strengthen your belief that life is suffering. This is called creating a 'pain shaft' – making an imaginary connection between disconnected painful incidents, which gives the impression that life itself is painful.
Sometimes, very rarely, you believe life is joy! Then you connect all the joyful incidents and
'Now I have a strong belief in Existence… I feel that everything will be ok for me. I have this idea that there is something that will take care of me all the time.' - Shannon Kim, Korea
chaos. Then you become a materialist. You continuously
- THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
'All I needed to know about my life has been answered in these 21 days. Now every moment I feel intense joy and happiness for no reason at all. What a liberation!! This truly is living enlightenment...' - Ravikumar S, Research Engineer, Singapore