Survival is Not Enough

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Survival is Not Enough

Wherever you go, people are going on talking about stress management, particularly the Western countries. Too much stress management, I think it’s come to you also now. It made a full circle around the globe and came to you also. I cannot understand this. Why would you manage stress? In my understanding, we manage things which are precious to us, our family, money, business, wealth, whatever else that is precious to us we will manage that. Why would we want to manage stress? Some of you think it’s a part of your life, isn’t it? Stress is not happening to you because of your family situations. Stress is not happening to you because of your profession, because of your business, because of the world around you. It’s happening to you because you do not know how to manage your own systems. You do not know how to keep your body. You do not know how to manage your mind. You do not know how to manage your emotions, or your chemistry, or your energies. This is why stress is happening, isn’t it? Yes.

What is stressful for one person, another person is breezing through the same situation. Isn’t it true? The stress is not in the situation, it is in your inability to manage yourself. Right now, you’re depending totally upon your five sense to perceive life. These five senses are not reliable. People always told you seeing is believing, but you know everybody sees what they want to see. Going a little deeper into your resonate self. You know the bird owl? Do you have them? The owl? Just now, sun is setting, it’s becoming dark for you, but all the owls are saying good morning to each other. It’s light for them. Morning when the sun comes up, it’s light for you, but it’s darkness for him.

If you and an owl sit together and start an argument as to which is light and which is darkness, where would it go? Endless argument, isn’t it? I’m asking who is right, you or the owl? What is that? Both. If you’re saying both, either you’re working in the diplomatic core or you have a successful marriage. You have learned to say both, both, both to everything. I’m asking which is the truth? Which is light? What you see is light or what he sees is light? Both of us may be wrong, one of us may be wrong, but both of us can’t be right, isn’t it? What you see is light or what he sees is light. Now this is an endless argument because nature has opened up your senses as it is necessary for your survival. Nature has opened up his senses as it is necessary for his survival.

If survival is all you’re seeking, sense perception is good enough. If you’re seeking something more than survival, certainly it’s inadequate. Once you have come here as a human being, then somehow survival is not enough. When survival is in question, it’s a very big deal. Once it’s taken care of, it doesn’t mean anything. Isn’t it so? Yes? See, if you had come here as any other creature on this planet, stomach full, life settled. Is that no? Once you come as a human being, stomach empty, only one problem, food. Stomach full, 100 problems. What you call as human life begins only after survival is taken care of, isn’t it? Until your survival is taken care of, you are also like any other creature, just a biological entity. Only after survival is taken care of, other dimensions of what you call as human begin to find expression, isn’t it?

What does being human mean? It doesn’t mean anything because there is no one established quality which you can say this is human. Say if a tiger is born for example. A tiger is born, a tiger is not sitting here and struggling how to become a good tiger. Just find enough food, he will become a good tiger. He has no such struggles, “Will I really become a good tiger? Will I end up as a house cat?” There are no such struggles in him. Just find enough food, he will grow up as a good tiger, isn’t it? You’re born as a human being. To become a good human being, how many things you have to do? After doing all those things, you still don’t know where you belong. You thought you were doing great, your children grow up and say you are no good. Isn’t it? You thought you were really doing great because you studied in a good university, you got a great job, you build your career and you thought you’re doing really great. Then your child stands up and says, “You are no good.”

In comparison to somebody, looking at this man you say, “Compared to this man, I’m better.” By yourself, you don’t know where you stand, isn’t it? What you call as human is a flux. This moment you can be God like, next moment you can be brute like. What is human is not an established entity. It can go whichever way. This is the beauty of your life that this moment you can be whichever way you want to be. Now, this freedom is what humanity is struggling with right now. If you are suffering your bondage, it’s all right. You are actually suffering your freedom. If your life was as fixed as any other creatures life, you would not experience any stress. You would go through it effortlessly. Your problem is there is freedom to be whichever way you want to be the next moment. This is what you’re struggling with.

If you’re suffering your bondage, it’s all right. If you’re suffering your freedom, that’s a tragedy isn’t it? Your life is not a tragedy because this happened or that happened. Your life is a tragedy because everything is happening and you’re missing it, yes? This did not happen, that did not happen. That’s not a tragedy. Sun came up in the morning, but you cannot experience it. You’re breathing, you cannot experience that. You’re alive, you cannot enjoy that. This is a tragedy, isn’t it? Yes or no? What happened, what did not happen is not the point. The most significant aspect of your life is that you’re alive right now. Is that so? Everything else is secondary and incidental. Is that so? Yes? You are not aware of your aliveness. You’re busy with your psychological nonsense. Your thoughts, your emotions, your psychological reality has become far more important than your existential reality.

What it means is you are so enamored with your own petty creation that you are completely missing the grandeur of creator’s creation. That’s what it means. You will go to the temple and rope. You do all kinds of things, but if you truly value creation, the best thing that you can do is to pay attention and to experience it, isn’t it? Yes or no? What is the greatest tribute? Suppose somebody cooks some nice food and presented it in front of you. What is the greatest tribute? That you write a poetry on it or you joyfully eat it? Which is better? Somebody has done a work of art. You ignore it and give him an award. Is that great or you truly appreciate it and enjoy it, is that great? Your damn worship, your ritual, your nonsense is not important. If you truly value the creator and the creation, the best thing is that you live blissfully. That is the best appreciation for the creator.