THE OTHER: MYSELF...

		I am concerned about my friend’s drinking habits... “Don’t think about anything that concerns others. “And that’s what you go on thinking. Ninety-nine percent of the things that you think about concern others. Drop them – drop them immediately! “Your life is short, and your life is slipping out of your fingers. Each moment you are less, each day you are less, and each day you are less alive and more dead! Each birthday is a death day; one more year is gone from your hands. Be a little more intelligent. “Do not think about anything that concerns others. Train first against the defilement that is greatest. “Gurdjieff used to say to his disciples – the first thing, the very very first thing, 'Find out what your greatest characteristic is, your greatest undoing, your central characteristic of unconsciousness.' Each one’s is different. Somebody is sex-obsessed. In a country like India, where for centuries sex has been repressed, that has become almost a universal characteristic; everybody is obsessed with sex. Somebody is obsessed with anger, and somebody else is obsessed with greed. You have to watch which is your basic obsession. “So first find the main characteristic upon which your whole ego edifice rests. And then be constantly aware of it, because it can exist only if you are unaware. It is burnt in the fire of awareness automatically. “And remember, remember always, that you are not to cultivate the opposite of it. Otherwise, what happens is a person becomes aware that, ‘My obsession is anger, so what should I do? I should cultivate compassion.’ ‘My obsession is sex, so what should I do? I should practicebrahmacharya, celibacy.’ “People move from one thing to the opposite. That is not the way of transformation. It is the same pendulum, moving from left to right, from right to left. And that’s how your life has been moving for centuries; it is the same pendulum. “The pendulum has to be stopped in the middle. And that’s the miracle of awareness. Just be aware that, ‘This is my chief pitfall, this is the place where I stumble again and again, this is the root of my unconsciousness.’ “Don’t try to cultivate the opposite of it, but pour your whole awareness into it. Create a great bonfire of awareness, and it will be burned. And then the pendulum stops in the middle. “And with the stopping of the pendulum, time stops. You suddenly enter into the world of timelessness, deathlessness, eternity.” Osho...

Transforming Panic Into Peace: 3 Steps to Relieve Anxiety...

Here are the 3 things that dramatically reduced or eliminated the anxiety and panic I had been experiencing. Consider implementing the following and see if it brings you more peace.

1. Meet your panic and anxiety head on.

Zen is essentially about who we’re being in relation to something or someone, and this includes needless anxiety. It also includes this very moment. In fact, especially this very moment, as it shows up, and not as I wish it would show up.Inherent in anxiety and panic attacks is the belief that it shouldn’t be happening. But this is never true.No amount of wishing a particular moment to be different than it is can ever change that moment. Many actually think it’s a good strategy, but it rarely ever works out.Upon closer examination, I saw that whenever I ran from anything, that thing chased me. This included thoughts and feelings.I found that whenever I faced and embraced anything, it eventually dissolved and left my experience. I was encouraged because I knew I was onto something significant.I walked around with a new mantra: “What I run from must chase me.”It served as a great reminder and often snapped me back into being in alignment with what was actually occurring.Whatever I met head on lost its power, every time. Resistance would often magically drop away. And it was palpable.I learned that I can either live with the laws that govern me (and all of life) or I can resist them and suffer.Seeing that I couldn’t escape the consequences of how I met anything, I began to face what was facing me. And that insight, I found, was the difference between living a life of peace versus a living a life of stress.I began to consciously choose peace.In fact, any challenging situation (or emotion) that arose wanted to be met by my loving attention.Stress manifested only if I avoided the negative thoughts and feelings.If I shined the light of gentle awareness on what wasn’t at peace within me, it had to come out of hiding and release me—because I met it.

2. Allow it to be as it is.

Notice how your mind in its infinite wisdom will tell you that any particular thought, feeling, or experience should or could be different than it presently is.Is it ever true? Can it ever be true? As much as the mind will try to use logic and reason, it’s never true.Things are often different than they were, but they are never different than they are!This may seem counterintuitive, but the reality is we must first accept our present lot if we wish to experience something different in the next moment. We can’t expect to resist our current situation and simultaneously be at peace.It won’t happen.The essence of Zen is about being with whatever arises without offering any resistance whatsoever. It’s about being neutral emotionally so that we are in a position to respond appropriately.Alternatively, resistance is the energy that gives life to what we don’t want.If we simply allow our symptoms of anxiety to be as they are, we find that they don’t hang around long enough to torture us.By taking the backward step (as they say in Zen) into this present moment, we discover that peace never left us in the first place.It just seemed that way.Allow your anxiety to be as it is, as you look to overcome it.

3. Be compassionate with yourself.

Sure, you’ve heard it before. Be nice to yourself! Get off your back! Stop blaming yourself! The key to effective transformation—turning panic into peace—is to stop beating yourself up and to make yourself the most important person in your life.Wouldn’t you treat someone who really needed support with kindness and compassion?Why are you any different?Perhaps the greatest quality of spirit that the Buddha spoke most about was compassion, not only towards oneself, but to others as well. Compassion is the great neutralizer that has a way of dissolving old wounds, as well as new ones.The truth is you’re not to blame for your anxiety, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for it.You aren’t “crazy” or “weak”—and you’re no less worthy a human being for experiencing it, either. Your mind may tell you different, and even sound very convincing, but is it really true?No, it isn’t. Not even a little bit.Work with yourself, not against yourself, if you truly desire to transform your panic into peace. It’s all in how you relate to your current condition. Self-condemnation only gets you more of what you don’t want.The truth is, you are much more than any thought or feeling that arises. Within you is the power to transform your panic into peace.As the Buddha said, “Be a light unto yourself.

”Transcending anything never involves rejection, but it always involves acceptance.

“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” ~Buddha

Humans complain...

"Humans complain: 'Life is too much for me. I can’t take life

the way it batters me around. I don’t have the strength. I can’t



make the proper decisions.' And you understand that this is said

not only with the words, but as an attitude inside. Summary of it,

'Life is too much for me.' Lets see the hands of everyone who’s

ever said that, thought it, believed it and suffered from it.




Well, let’s correct your semantics. What are you talking about?

'Life is too much for me.' You use the word life as if you under-

stand it, as if it makes sense to you.




What you really mean, if you could be that direct and clear inside

yourself, is that you are not adequate, you are not strong, life

commands you instead of you commanding life, but you use the word

_life_ as a scapegoat as something to blame and accuse because you

don’t want to see where the actual problem is."

Understand with your whole being...

Understand with your whole being, you have nothing to do but be happy. That means you have nothing to do but be content. That means that you have nothing to do but live in this higher sunshine. Look, let the world go by, let it do anything it wants. You’re not going to be carried away by it, it has nothing to give you, nothing. You've had their insanity, you’ve lived in this madness of competition.Goodbye world.

 What an experience to live right in the world of commerce, of families, of traffic, to live right in the middle of it, driving that car right down the freeway, the noisy freeway and live in another world at the same time. And this other world understands perfectly why that man in the car next to you shook his fist at someone in front of him, why there’s all that smog, why there all these nervous people in the car..."

Anger Is A Small Thing...

How can I be aware during strong emotions? My anger feels like thousands of wild horses are running away with me!

Anger is a very small thing. If you can just wait and watch, you will not find “thousands of wild horses.” If you can find even a small donkey, that will be enough! Just watch it and it will go, slowly. It will enter from this side and will go out from the other side. You just have to keep a little patience not to ride on it.

Anger, jealousy, envy, greed, competitiveness…all our problems are very small, but our ego magnifies them, makes them as big as it can.

The ego cannot do otherwise; its anger has also to be great. By its great anger, and great misery, and great greed, and great ambition it becomes great.

But you are not the ego, you are only a watcher. Just stand by the side and let all the thousands of horses pass — let us see how long it takes for them to pass. There is no need to be worried. As they come — they are wild — they will go. But we don’t miss even a small donkey; we immediately jump on it! You don’t need thousands of wild horses. Just a small thing, and you are full of anger and fire. You will laugh about it later on, at how stupid you were.

If you can watch, without getting involved, as if it is something on the screen of a movie house or of a TV screen…something is passing; watch it. You are not supposed to do anything to prevent it, to repress it, to destroy it, to pull out a sword and kill it, because from where will you get the sword? — from the same source as the anger is coming. It is all imagination.

Just watch, and don’t do anything — for or against.

And you will be surprised: that which was looking very big, becomes very small. But our habit is to exaggerate.

A small boy comes home running, and tells his mother — he is not more than three years old — “Mum, a great lion, roaring loudly, was running after me for miles! But somehow I managed to escape. Many times he came very close. He was just about to attack me when I started running faster.”

The mother looked at the boy and said, “Tommy, I have told you a million times not to exaggerate! How can you find a lion in the city…and you have been running for miles? And where is the lion?”

The boy looked outside the door. He said, “He is standing there. But, to tell you the truth, it is just a small dog — very small! But when it was running after me, it appeared…. You tell me not to exaggerate, and right now you have been exaggerating that you have told me millions of times.”

Our minds are very exaggerating. You have small problems, and if you can stop exaggerating and just see, then by the door a poor small dog is standing. And there is no need to run miles; your life is not in danger.

When anger comes to you, it is not going to kill you. It has been with you many times before, and you have survived perfectly well. It is the same anger that you have been through before. Just do one thing new — which you have never done; every time you get involved with it, fighting. This time just watch, as if it does not belong to you, as if it is somebody else’s anger. And you are in for a great surprise: it will disappear within seconds.

And when anger disappears without any struggle, it leaves behind it a tremendously beautiful and silent and loving state.

The same energy that could have become a fight with the anger is left within you. Pure energy is delight — I am quoting William Blake: “Energy is delight” — just energy, without any name, without any adjective…. But you never allow energy to be pure. Either it is anger, or hate, or love, or greed, or desire. It is always involved in something; you never allow it in its purity.

Every time anything arises in you, is a great chance to experience pure energy. Just watch, and the donkey will go. It may raise a little dust, but that dust also settles on its own; you don’t have to settle it. You simply wait. Don’t move from waiting and watching, and soon you will find yourself surrounded by a pure energy that has not been used in fighting, in repressing, or in being angry.

And energy is certainly delight. Once you know the secret of delight, you will enjoy every emotion; and every emotion arising in you is a great opportunity.

Just watch, and bring a shower of delight on your being. Slowly, slowly all these emotions will disappear; they will not come any more — they don’t come uninvited. Watchfulness, or alertness, or awareness, or consciousness, are all different names of the same phenomenon: witnessing. That is the key word...

OVERCOME THE TOP 25 EXCUSES TO WAIT ON YOUR DREAMS...

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses…The gift is yours—it is an amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the quality of it.” ~Bob Moawad

If we try, we can always find a reason not to do what we want to do—and it can seem perfectly valid. We can convince ourselves that we’re being smart, realistic, or safe, or that we don’t even really want it.

We’re great at justifying the status quo, because we know exactly what that’s like—even if it’s dissatisfying.

The unknown can feel terrifying. But somewhere in that same realm where anything could go wrong is everything that can go right.

So many times in my life, I’ve finally pushed myself to do something and then wondered, “Why did I wait so long?” If I had known the benefits would far outweigh my fear and discomfort, I would have pushed myself sooner.

But we can’t ever know that in advance. We can only know that our reasons to do something are greater than our excuses not to.

In my efforts to keep moving beyond my comfort zone, I’ve compiled the top 25 excuses not to go after a dream, along with a few reminders to help us overcome them.

EXCUSES ABOUT TIME

1. I’m too busy to do what I love.

2. I don’t have time to discover what I’m passionate about.

3. I’ve already put a lot of time into a different path.

4. I’ll do it—someday.

5. It’s too late for me now.

We all have the same number of hours in each day, and we all have the potential to use them to do what we want to do.

That being said, we’re all starting with different schedules, responsibilities, and obstacles. A single, childless person who inherited a large sum of money may have more immediate time freedom than someone with a large family and mounting debt.

I share this not to be discouraging, but rather to acknowledge reality: We all have unique circumstances that could make it challenging to find or make time.

While it might be easier for some of us, it’s possible for all of us.

We can all create at least a small window of time to take one simple step. We can all decide our dreams are priorities, and that we owe it to ourselves to pursue them, regardless of what we’ve done before. We can all recognize it’s never too late for us unless we decide it is.

The important thing to realize is that the time is now, whether we have days, hours, or even just minutes to devote. We might not have the time to do everything, but we all have the time to do something.

EXCUSES ABOUT MONEY

6. I don’t have the money to get started.

7. I need to continue earning exactly what I earn now.

8. I can’t make any changes until I pay off my debt.

9. I need a bigger safety net before I take a risk.

10. What if I can’t make any money at it?

We all need money to live—there’s just no getting around it.

We may sometimes have to do things we don’t love to get by, and we may not all be able to completely change our lives overnight. We might not be able to up and travel the world, or make massive financial investments in our goals.

What we can do is decide that our dreams are important, and then leverage our most valuable resource—our passion—to honor them as best we can.

That might mean doing something on the side as a hobby, or bartering for free lessons, orvolunteering our time to help someone who will serve as a mentor.

We don’t need a massive amount of money to start, or a guarantee that we’ll make a ton of money down the line.

We just need to know that our dreams are worth the effort, and that we’re willing to be creative with the resources we have.

EXCUSES ABOUT KNOWLEDGE

11. I don’t know where to start.

12. I don’t know enough to start.

13. I’m not smart enough to succeed.

14. I don’t know if I can make it.

15. I’m not an expert.

No one knows going in exactly what they need to do—or what they can do. No one has it all figured out, and no one starts off with expertise.

If we wait until we feel we know everything we need to know, we’ll likely never act.

When I wrote for a ‘tween publication, I interviewed a young girl named Leah Larson who started a magazine called Yaldah at 13 years old.

She wrote all the articles for the first issue herself, and then made countless calls to printers and potential advertisers, having no idea what she was doing. Perhaps because she was so young, she never worried about what she didn’t know. She just jumped in and started learning.

Ten years later, Yaldah has expanded to Yaldah Media Inc., which now offers books, retreats, and more. She’s grown with her company, as we all can with any dream.

We don’t need to know everything to start. We just need to know we want and need to do it.

EXCUSES ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE

16. My friends and family don’t think I can do this.

17. My friends and family don’t think I should do this.

18. I need to focus on the people who need me.

19. I don’t have anyone to do this with.

20. It’s all about who you know—and I don’t know the right people.

There will never be a day when everyone agrees with us, believes in us, and supports us. There may never be a time when other people stop needing us. And for many of us, there won’t be a likeminded partner waiting to hold our hand on a parallel journey.

If we believe in ourselves, none of these things have to deter us. As we do what we love and create new possibilities for ourselves, we will inevitably form mutually beneficial relationships.

In my early days on Twitter, I had a different account where I tweeted uplifting messages. It was my first attempt at making the difference I wanted to make.

Back then, I’d never have imagined I’d be connected to so many amazing people; and I wasn’t sure I could run a website since I knew nothing about the tech side of things.

One day, a web strategist and designer named Joshua Denney tweeted about me, complimenting my profile and tweets. Since we connected then, he’s been instrumental in shaping Tiny Buddha—and he’s become one of my closest confidantes, consultants, and friends.

There are countless people out there who could support and help us, but we can only meet them if we put ourselves out there too.

EXCUSES ABOUT PROBABILITY

21. Things likely wouldn’t pan out.

22. Many people have tried to do this and failed.

23. I’ll probably be scared and uncomfortable if I try.

24. I’m not sure if this is the “right” decision.

25. There aren’t any guarantees.

The reality is there aren’t any guarantees. That means even a sure thing could one day be not so sure. Certainty is an illusion that comes from comfort—but just because something’s comfortable, that doesn’t mean it’s permanent.

We can either cling to what feels safe, avoiding potential disappointment, or realize the worst disappointment is the type we feel in ourselves.

That’s what happens when we ignore our calling; we may feel more secure for not taking a risk, but we also feel unhappy with ourselves for not finding the courage to do it.

We can’t ever know what the results our efforts will be, but we can know we dramatically decrease our odds of feeling satisfied if we make it a priority to do what we love—no matter where it leads us.

That’s what it means to make the “right” decision—to do what feels right, right in this moment, the only one that’s guaranteed.

–

And one more excuse I didn’t include: I’m not good enough. We’ve all thought this at one time or another. Especially in our socially connected world where we have constant reminders of everyone else’s achievements, it’s easy to feel we don’t stack up.

But maybe we don’t have to. Maybe we don’t need to be better than anyone else, or even better than we are now to make a difference.

Maybe the world needs us exactly as we are, with our unique blend of skills, talent, and potential. Maybe the difference we make isn’t just about where we end up, but also how we learn, grow, and share on the way there.

Sure, our gifts and accomplishments can make the world a better place, but what we really want and need is to be inspired—and what’s more inspiring than starting right where you are, believing in yourself, and taking a leap of faith?

When we’re feeling overwhelmed, it can seem like dreams are luxuries, but they’re not reserved for the chosen few. They’re reserved for people who choose to believe in them and act on it.

To do that, we need to stop telling ourselves the story of why we can’t, and start creating the story of how we can.

What’s your dream, and what can you do today to start living it?

5 STEPS TO LET GO OF ANGER FOR A HAPPIER LIFE ...

1. Replace a negative thought with an awesome one.

More often than not, it’s a negative thought derived from a bad memory that makes me upset, instantly.
As stated, this is where you should replace the bad thought with an awesome thought.
Don’t even approach the bad thought.
Don’t try to rationalize it.
Don’t even think about it.
The way I see it, any of the above is a passive reaction to the negative thought, hence making you feel the negative feelings that follow, which isn’t helping you at all.
So, replace the negative thought on the spot.
Just think of something you like. It could be a fond memory in the past or something you really want in the future.
I personally like to go crazy with my imagination and come up with amazing scenarios, like when I’m listening to a song I like, I imagine myself singing it in my own music video.
Sometimes distraction is a good approach, if it’s something you’ve already dealt with but keep rehashing in your head. Watch TV, listen to music, read something, or just go out. It helps.

2. Let it all out in cliché manners.

You know something?
The clichés work.
Every tip you can find in blogs, magazines, or the newspaper work.
You just have to apply yourself and try it out.
Screaming onto your pillow actually makes you feel like you released a ton of emotions that are trying to get out.
Writing an angry letter to the person you bear a grudge against allows you to clearly articulate your feelings. Just make sure you don’t send it.
Exercising really helps with anger too. Sweating it out and letting the adrenaline take over your body can clear just about anything.
I know how it is when you feel angry and then listen to advice that you doubt will help your situation. It feels like nobody out there can fully empathize with how you feel, so who are they to talk, right?
I can empathize, and I promise that if you give it a shot, you’ll be surprised with the results.

3. Surround yourself with positive people.

Anger is a personal issue for everyone.
But unfortunately, some people around you cannot fully understand what you go through.
I find that most people feel angry because of their surroundings.
You hang out with supposed friends who make condescending remarks at you, but you don’t think you should do anything about because you don’t want to come across as petty.
You have a really dysfunctional office environment, filled with shady colleagues and a controlling boss.
Do these things sound familiar to you?
The problem is, people think they are “stuck” or they absolutely “must” be with such people because of their circumstances.
I say otherwise.
Make the conscious effort to surround yourself with people you can look up to and talk to. It won’t always be easy—if you need to look for a new job, for example—but it’s worth the time and effort.
Our surroundings influence our mood in a major way. So instead of focusing solely on addressing your inner anger, also address the external factors that trigger it.

4. Make caring for yourself a priority.

I used to be a lot angrier before my dad’s passing.
Sounds contradictory? Continue reading.
You see, as I grew up, I always did the “right thing.”
I never talked back to people who insulted me to my face. I walked away from fights. I held back a lot of my emotions.
But as a result of doing all the “right” things, I went home feeling angry with myself.
When my father died, it just hit me there and then, “I did so much for people around me, and yet this still happened.”
My biggest takeaway from my father’s death was that you have to live life to the fullest, and sometimes, if not all the time, it’s okay to take care of yourself more than anything in this world.
I’ve fallen out with friends who kept insulting me.
I now actively make the choices that suit me, even if others disagree. (For example, I may not even go to a gathering when I know someone I dislike is there.)
I even quit my job to be a full-time blogger, much to the surprise of my friends.
Caring for myself more has allowed me to truly express myself and not hold back any longer. The anger has subsided a lot as I don’t have to look back and ask, “What if?”
Your life is your own. And life is short.
If you feel anger taking control, let it go by caring for yourself. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. It is by being yourself that you can fully realize the life you’re meant to live, and anger has no part in that.

5. Decide you don’t want to add to the hate in this world.

When I feel angry sometimes I have crazy ideas of seeking justice, of finding my wrongdoers and letting them have it once and for all.
But I don’t act on it because I don’t want to add on to the crap in this world.
Let it go, not just for a better future, but also because you’re a good person. And a good person isn’t angry most of the time. Instead, he sees beauty in the world and strives for a positive life, in which others around him can be inspired too.
Choose to let go of your anger so you can be that person.
There are many other positive emotions you can enjoy when you make the effort to let go of your anger.

A Letter From Your Life...

Dear (Your Name Here),

How’s it going? I’m your life. I am the power button to your existence. However, I’m starting to get a little hurt at your response when people ask you, “How’s it going?”

Same stuff, different day? Is that really how you feel? Is life that boring? Let me tell you about my days.

My job is to keep you alive. That’s the only thing that matters. That’s the only reason I’m here.

And it wasn’t an easy road to get here, I traversed:

World Wars
Imperialism
Slavery
The Dark Ages
Small Pox
The Plague
The Holy Roman Empire
The Conquistadors
The Ottoman Empire
Ghengis Khan
The Greeks
The Romans
Wolves
Bears
Rolling seas
Great Walls
Berlin Walls
Slips
And falls

Through all of that, I got to you.

And that’s only the last few thousands years. I don’t have time to go back the other 3.5 billion years. But you catch my drift, right?

I animate your body for only a few years in the sands of time. Don’t worry about why. There is no why. The only thing I can tell you is that I will continue to fight for you for as long as I can. Unfortunately, this body will begin to break down at some point and there will be one too many leaks or one too many clogs. But you already know this.

You are going to die. Get over it.

So whaddya say you start attacking every day with some fervor?
Whaddya say you see what this body can do at full output?
Whaddya say you try to experience different stuff on these all too limited, different days.

If you don’t want to go full throttle for yourself—do it for us. Poor Mr. Heart never even gets a break! He’s there pumping day and night. He yearns to go out and see a sunset, fall in love, start a business, or volunteer, but he can’t. He is too busy pumping for you. Talk about same sh*t, different day! And gosh, the Mitochondria brigade would jump at the opportunity to explore far-off countries, read a book, or learn another language but they’re too busy managing all the cells. Do it for white blood cells, the tireless soldiers of your body.

I will make sure your bones, blood, brawn, and brain have the nutrients they need. Let them shine! I know you have doubts and you’re worried what people will think if you fail at something (believe me, we get showered in stress when you’re nervous) but I assure you, you can slay the Duke of Doubt. I only put that old fart there to keep you from killing yourself. When it comes to chasing your dreams, he’s a scarecrow. He’s a relic. Believe me, I’ve seen him. You’d laugh at the little guy that causes you such fits.

Live me to the fullest. I’m the only life you got. Let’s do this before I have to split unceremoniously one day.

Of course, in your pursuit for “the fullest,” put on a sweater, get your rest and eat right so I can help revive, replenish, and repair this body, because in the words of that music you like to listen to: The chances of being born are so slim, so keep warm; keep warm.

We can be great together.

Sincerely,

Your Life

P.S. Oh and hey, it’d be great if when using that potential of yours you could make the world a better place along the way. I’ve been on one hell of a journey and if the road was a little less bumpy ahead, I wouldn’t hate that.

Feeling Anxious? Be Alert...!

1. Remember one thing always — that there is no cause to be anxious in life, and all causes are just excuses. If you decide not to be anxious, then nothing will make you anxious; there is nothing worth it. Life is such a fleeting phenomenon that is going to disappear one day. Why be bothered too much about it? We are only here for so few days. Just play the game and remain aloof. If one can remain a witness, aloof, distant from things, then anxiety is not possible. Anxiety comes into existence only when we become identified with small things. And they all pass.
2. The accidental man is idiotic. Such a vast universe, running so smoothly… Look at the stars, look at the change of seasons; rivers running from the Himalayas to the ocean, clouds coming and showering. Watch nature — everything is running so smoothly! Why not become a part of it? Why create any conflict? Conflict creates anxiety; anxiety brings anguish. If you have a private goal you are going to get mad. Relax! Drop out of the accidental world so you can drop into the essential world. Then one starts accepting things as they are.
3. What you desire does not matter: you can desire presidency of a country, or you can desire money, or you can desire sainthood, or you can desire God, you can desire truth — desire is desire. Desire means you are torn apart between that which you are and that which you would like to be. This is anguish, this is anxiety. And this anxiety will not allow you to become a hollow bamboo.
4. Consider anxiety as your unit of measurement. As soon as anxiety begins to make you uneasy then at once take note that you are demanding more than is necessary — because it is desire for the nonessential which creates anxiety. Necessities do not create anxieties at all. The unessential thing — without which we can carry on but are not willing to do so — is the cause of our cares and anxieties. So when the mind becomes worried, observe how you have been busy in satisfying demands which go beyond the needs of the sense organs.
5. You can go on changing your anxieties — somebody is seeking money, somebody is seeking power, then somebody starts seeking god — but all things will bring anxiety. Every desire brings anxiety as a shadow to it. No desire can exist without anxiety, and anxiety is hell, anxiety is destructive, because anxiety creates a split in you — you are tom apart. You are not one piece, not together, not integrated. Only love makes you integrated.
6. As you start looking inwards, you are amazed: you were ignoring yourself, and that was the trouble. That was why you were in misery, anxiety, suffering. You were trying everything to remove the misery, but it was caused by your unawareness, by your unconsciousness, by your ignorance of your own being. That was the cause. And unless that cause is removed, you will never have a taste of blissfulness, of ecstasy, of immortality, of the divineness of existence.
7. One just needs to relax, to be in a let-go and accept life joyously, with no desire to achieve anything. The desire to achieve creates tension, anguish, anxiety, and in that anxiety we go on missing that which is very close by. We remain occupied with the anxiety and remain oblivious of the truth that is within us. Relaxation is the law, let-go is the law. God is not a question of conquest but of surrender, hence the ego is not interested in it. It is interested in conquest. Without god our life is nothing but a defeat, a failure, a frustration. Only when god enters into your life is there meaning and joy and love and laughter. With the entry of god some celestial music starts happening within you. Your heart becomes a temple and your life starts having a beauty, a grace.
8. When evolution is still unconscious, it is an automatic process; there is no uncertainty about it. Things happen through the law of cause and effect. Existence is mechanical and certain. But with man, with consciousness, uncertainty comes into existence. Now, nothing is certain. Evolution may take place or it may not. The potential is there, but the choice will rest entirely with each individual. That is why anxiety is a human phenomenon. Below man there is no anxiety because there is no choice. Everything happens as it must. There is no choice so there is no chooser, and in the absence of the chooser, anxiety is impossible. Who is to be anxious? Who is to be tense? With the possibility of choice, anxiety follows like a shadow. Everything has to be chosen now; everything is a conscious effort. You alone are responsible. If you fail, you fail. It is your responsibility. If you succeed, you succeed. It is again your responsibility. And every choice is ultimate in a sense. You cannot undo it, you cannot forget it, you cannot go back on it. Your choice becomes your destiny. It will remain with you and be a part of you; you cannot deny it. But your choice is always a gamble. Every choice is made in darkness because nothing is certain. That is why man suffers from anxiety. He is anxious to his very roots. What torments him, to begin with, is: to be or not to be? to do or not to do? to do this or to do that? “No choice” is not possible. If you do not choose, then you are choosing not to choose; it is a choice. So you are forced to choose; you are not free not to choose. Not choosing will have as much effect as any other choice. The dignity, the beauty and the glory of man is this consciousness. But it is a burden also. The glory and the burden come simultaneously the minute you become conscious. Every step is a movement between the two. With man, choice and conscious individuality come into existence. You can evolve, but your evolution will be an individual endeavor. You may evolve to become a buddha or you may not. The choice is yours.
9. People talk of conquering nature, people talk of conquering this and that — how can you conquer nature? You are part of it. How can the part conquer the Whole? See the foolishness of it, the stupidity. You can be with the Whole in harmony, or you can be in conflict with the Whole in disharmony. Disharmony results in misery; harmony results in bliss. Harmony naturally results in a deep silence, joy, delight. Conflict results in anxiety, anguish, stress, tension.
10. The beginning of meditation is when you start dropping your conditionings. A moment comes when you become unconditioned again, like a child. Then your intelligence explodes. And an intelligent person cannot desire, that is impossible, because desiring only brings misery, frustration. Desiring only creates anxiety, anguish; it never brings any fulfillment, never any contentment.
11. Meditation is just being delighted in your own presence; meditation is a delight in your own being. It is very simple — a totally relaxed state of consciousness where you are not doing anything. The moment doing enters, you become tense; anxiety enters immediately. How to do? What to do? How to succeed? How not to fail? You have already moved into the future.
12. Be more meditative, become more conscious of your being. Let your inner world become more silent, and love will be flowing through you. People have all these problems. The problems are different — violence, jealousy, misery, anxiety — but the medicine for all these illnesses is only one, and it is meditation.
13. Spirituality cannot be an outcome of desire, because desire is the root cause of all our anxiety and anguish. And you cannot direct your desires to the spiritual realm. But it happens, it is natural, because we know only one movement — that is desire. We desire the things of the world. Someone desires riches, someone desires fame, someone desires prestige and power, or something else. We desire things of the world, and through this desiring we are frustrated.
14. The whole life is nothing but a play, and one should not take it seriously. The moment you take it seriously you get into trouble. The very attitude of seriousness is the root cause of all anxiety. Take it non-seriously, take it easy… take it as a fun! That is one of the most essential teachings of the east — that life is nothing but a drama.
15. The way to come out of your misery is meditation, because the mind has been created by the society, and if you remain inside the mind you remain inside the prison. Mind is the prison, the root cause of all your slavery, of all your despair, anguish, anxiety. It is continuously destroying you — it is poison. And it is very easy to get out of the mind just by becoming aware of the whole mechanism of mind — thinking, desiring, expecting. All these things have to be watched as if you are just a mirror reflecting whatsoever passes by, with no judgement, with no desire even to judge, just a pure witness — and immediately you are out of the mind. First it will come in glimpses. For a few seconds you will be out of mind, but those few seconds will give you a taste of freedom, of tremendous ecstasy. And then slowly those small moments will become bigger; the intervals when the traffic of the mind completely stops will become bigger.
16. A man of meditation is simply no longer miserable. He has forgotten the language of suffering, anguish, anxiety. He knows only joy. He knows love, he knows peace. He has nothing to forget. In fact, if you force him to drink wine he will refuse, because that will be forgetting peace, forgetting joy, forgetting blissfulness, forgetting silence. If you are miserable and suffering and continuously tense and in anxiety, then certainly alcohol can give you relief, just a temporary relief, and perhaps at a very big cost because tomorrow you will wake up again with all those miseries and the desire to drink again the same drug to forget them. And each time the drug will need to be increased, because each time you will become more immune to it.
17. You become nervous when you lose money. Ponder this. Look deep within to see whether the fear is actually because of the loss of the money or if there isn’t some other cause. At first you will feel you are afraid because of the loss of the money, because you have gone bankrupt or are going to go bankrupt, but search within. You will find that the real cause of your anxiety is your hidden fear of death. Money helps you in life; if you have money you have the means of supporting yourself, of saving yourself. If you cannot get the best treatment and the best medicine here in India then you can go to America — provided you have the money. But if you have no money you have no remedy. Then you have no way to save yourself. Then your helpmate has disappeared and you will be helpless when death comes knocking at your door. The fear one feels at the loss of money, or even at the idea of losing money, is nothing but the fear of death.
18. Desire means you are dragged out of the moment; that creates a tension, that creates anxiety, that creates hope. And then finally hope turns sour, becomes frustration. Each hope leads you into anguish. Buddha calls it the only impurity. Cut the roots of desire, live in the moment so totally, pull yourself out of the past and don’t project yourself into the future. Let this moment be all and all. And your life will have such a purity, such a crystal-clear consciousness that right now you cannot imagine.
19. Once you sow the seeds of desire…desire means to have more. You have a certain quantity of money, you would like to have double that. Desire means the longing for more. And nobody thinks twice that any quantitative change is not going to satisfy you. If you cannot be satisfied by ten thousand rupees, how can you be satisfied by twenty thousand rupees? The rupees will be doubled. But if ten thousand rupees cannot give you any satisfaction, your satisfaction cannot be doubled; there has been no satisfaction in the first place. In fact, when you have ten thousand rupees you have a certain quantity of anxiety, fear — those anxieties will be doubled when you have twenty thousand rupees, trebled when you have thirty thousand rupees, and so on and so forth. You can go on multiplying….
20. Your desire creates the future. Your memory creates the past. They are both parts of your mind. Don’t desire, and the future disappears. And when there is no future, how can you be tense? How? There is no possibility of being tense if there is no future And if there is no past — if you know that it is simply memory, the dust collected on the way — how can there be any anxiety? With the past, anxiety enters. And with the future — plans, imaginations, projections — tension exists. When the past drops and the future is not open, you are here, now. No anxiety, no tension, no anguish.
21. Seeing the futility of desire,
    seeing that It always brings pain and  anxiety and anguish
    Seeing that desire is hell
    One becomes free of desire
    One simply lives with no desire for the future.
22. Bliss makes one an emperor. You can possess the whole world but you will remain a beggar if deep inside you bliss is not happening. If deep inside you there is misery, suffering, anguish, anxiety, then you may sit on a throne of gold but it is irrelevant. It is wasting your life. And that’s what millions of people go on doing. They have all become achievers: achieve this, achieve that. They keep themselves engaged so that they don’t have to look in, because there they find great misery, great anxiety. They want to remain oblivious of it so they go on from one conquest to another conquest, from one desire to another desire, endlessly. But their whole life is futile. Unless your inner being is full of bliss you have not lived at all. And the way to bliss is not difficult; it takes a little perseverance, persistence, patience, but it is not difficult. If I can attain it, you can attain it. In fact to use the word ‘attain’ for it is not right. It is already there, we just have to become connected with it. We are disjointed; we have to plug ourselves into our own being. We have to become rooted, that’s all.