Consider your life as sacred

Wisdom from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

India (Bangalore), Sept. 19:

Jeevana jeeva jagat nashwara

Nothing stays forever. Good as well as bad times go away. Be happy, reminding yourself of this again and again. Our life as it is, is Sadhana.  True sadhanais relaxing, deep relaxation. What do you want to know? Everything is destructible here. Everything is changing – your body, your intellect. Everything will dissolve. 30 years have passed like a moment*. Time is running so fast. If you feel there is something which is not changing, that is your consciousness. Let us settle there, which is not changing. 
Make use of this time in the best manner. 

Consider your life as sadhana, sacred. When you put efforts, you get some benefits. Your body is strengthened, your mind is strengthened to some extent, and you gain skillfulness to some extent. For example, you get skilled in sitar, computer or exercising with some effort. But these are limited benefits as compared to the ones that you can have with true relaxation. 


Sadhana happens when all the efforts are dropped. When you are totally relaxed, you experience true bliss. You cannot gain love with effort. True relaxation gives you happiness, kindles human values in you, sharpens your intellect, and makes you creative and skillful.

Relaxation does not mean inert rest or being lethargic. Why to do yogasanas in the morning? Relaxation can only happen after putting some effort, when laziness in you disappears. The desire should be to be free from laziness.

The cycle of desires and sleep, we keep on oscillating between rajogun and tamogun. This is bondage. Satogun dawns with genuine relaxation and knowledge. The summary of the whole Ashtavakra Geeta is to be able to joyfully relax while being awake – satvik relaxation. That relaxation is true relaxation. In that relaxation all the attachments and bondages lose their grip. So, consider your life as sadhana.

Lord Shiva is called Mahakaal. Maha is grand and kaal is time. Lord Shiva is the field of energy that dissolves in it the effect of time. Time follows some rule. It has its own rhythm. Sometimes, something desirable happens and at some other times, something undesirable. Time continues to teach us thatopposite values are complementary.