April 17, 2021

Now or Here or Nowhere - (2 min Read)

A great sage was, with his disciple, passing through a town. He was talking to him when suddenly a fly came and sat on his forehead. As he was talking, he moved his hand over his forehead to chase the fly away. Suddenly he (the sage) realised that the movement of his hand had been unconscious, mechanical. As he was talking consciously to the disciple, the hand had chased the fly away mechanically. He stopped and although the fly had gone, he moved his hand again consciously over his forehead.

The disciple asked his Master: What are you doing? The fly had gone away. The Master replied: The fly had gone away…but I have committed a sin, because I did it in unconsciousness.

Meaning of Sin:

The word sin was used by the sage in its right meaning. The word sin originates in the roots of the word, which means forgetfulness, unawareness, un-watchfulness, and doing things mechanically. Our whole life is almost mechanical – like robots. I tell you, never allow a mechanical feeling to take possession of you. Do everything watchfully. This is the only secret of transformation.

Living consciously:

When you do everything consciously, you become a luminous phenomenon. When you act without awareness or in an unmindful manner, you miss the world of light; you are like a blind man. The man of watchfulness is really the man who has eyes of awareness. When you understand and practice this mindful living, you will understand the power of now. Your life is more now; more in every way physically, emotionally and spiritually. When you understand that life is now, all your physical pains disappear. You will see that a tremendous sense of freedom happens in you.

Buddha says, “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

Living in the now; a sense of freedom:

If you don’t live now and here, you will reach nowhere. When you live in the now and here, you will never bother about the next moment. Every moment is going to come to you only as now, here. If you can manage now, here, you can surely manage the next moment which comes as now, here. Every moment takes birth only from this moment. Life is a succession of moments. To live each one in the now is to succeed.