One should not be serious, but rather sincere in life. Seriousness destroys the ability to be playful. As children, we are naturally playful, but as we grow up, elders, noticing the need for accomplishment, begin advising us to take life seriously.
According to them, seriousness will fulfil the need for accomplishment, while playfulness is seen as an obstacle. This is a big myth. It is not seriousness that helps us reach our goals, but commitment.
In fact, when commitment is combined with playfulness, the journey becomes enjoyable. Being playful is a great secret to happiness. Playfulness makes you feel light, while seriousness makes you feel heavy.
The so-called religious people look lifeless because they have lost the art of being playful. Be playful, but at the same time sincere, and you will have a childlike presence. However, a childish person is playful but not sincere.
Observe whether you are taking things lightly or seriously. When you become too serious, you feel heavy and unhappy. For example, if you have a fever, notice that becoming overly serious might lead you to imagine you need to be admitted to the hospital, and as a result, you could make yourself feel worse with worry.
On the other hand, if you take it lightly, your attitude might be: ‘God has given me an opportunity to rest. Nature is healing me in its own way.’ And, at the same time, you will see the doctor.
Secondly, you should observe and recognise that what is happening is merely the observed. Create this distance between the observer and the observed. Then, you will not become identified with the problems, and you will be more objective about what is happening.
You will become objective about yourself, and then, you will not be caught up in self-imagination and self-projections. Most of us fall victim to our own self-projections. We might believe we are intelligent until someone offers a better perspective.
You may reject this new perspective because your imagined self believes your way is the best. It’s a valuable insight to recognise how your imagined self and its projections operate. Additionally, observe how your thoughts and emotions work, and how your private plays and self-dramas unfold.
There is no better learning experience than observing yourself. Also, observe whether you are on the side of truth and goodness or lost in lies. All lies lead to a leakage of energy, and justifying our lies weakens us rather than strengthens us.
At the same time, listen to your inner voice—what is it saying? Are you lost in personal agendas, or are you committed to transformation? Check your values. All these observations require alertness. Great learning happens through them, more than through books alone.
When you observe your lies, psycho-dramas, interpretations, justifications, self- projections, and negative emotions, you will find that they become the cause of energy leakage. Ask yourself whether you want to go up the ladder of growth or down it. To move up the ladder, you must dis-identify with them.
You need to detach yourself from them and create an inner separation. When you are in an unpleasant state, distance yourself from it, and you will find that the unpleasantness slowly fades. When you identify, you magnify.
In the presence of a silent mind, the dance of joy is experienced. Join the free online Navaratri celebrations with Swami Sukhabodhananda Ji on October 12. The utsav that begins on October 3 runs until October 12.
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