THE SIMPLE THINGS!!
Joseph Danladi Elvis Bot
September 08, 2006
It seems like everybody is always complaining about how busy they are these days. Time is rushing by faster than we can think. We can continue to complain and fill our days with frantic rushing about… or we can make the conscious effort to stop and capture time more often.
Life has such a way of sucking all free time out of us; it is harmful. It’s harmful to our health and our emotional well being. Don’t let life take away the magic of lying in the grass, daydreaming, and looking at the clouds.
There is however no harm if we make a sincere attempt to learn to perceive the world in ways we have never done before. We may not be able to put an end to the movements of our brains or Time, but we can make an honest attempt to live in the present and experience the world each moment as it passes by. We can turn our gaze to things we have never cared to observe before and feel inside things we have never felt before.
Becoming sensitive is one way to accomplish this. By slowing down, by just lifting our heads and looking around we will realize how much life we are missing each day. We will realize how we have stopped looking at people and things we do not care about, how we stopped appreciating the wonderful creation of God that exists all around us and how we have stopped expressing our gratitude to God and deactivated our connection with him by not acknowledging the beautiful things He created for us. If you feel that you are too much into material things and have limited your vision to your nose or what is right in front of it, it is time you wake up your senses and start enriching your life with the simple pleasures of your daily existence.
People go to faraway places for vacation or a cruise to experience nature, enjoy a trip or seek relief from daily routine. As long you can afford such trips, there is no harm in going on a vacation to relieve yourselves of the monotony of your life. But should you limit your choices only to such expensive and rare occasions ? The answer is certainly no.
All too often, we spend so much time pursuing so many other adventures, and so many other ambitions. We spend so much energy chasing after dreams and running after shadows. Sometimes, we forget to be grateful that we can simply still do that: chase, run, and walk. We fuss over bruised egos, calculate over how much is owed to us for our efforts, tarry over promotions due to us and worry when we’re passed over for those promotions. And we forget to be grateful that we still have work, and employment, and an element of financial security. We worry about how well we’ll do in our examinations, and how much better we’ll do than the next examinee, and how much more somebody else is studying than we are. Of course, we forget to consider how privileged we are, our basic senses intact and our mental faculties unbroken: these simple abilities at our disposal for whatever purpose we choose. Yet, if we had only taken a minute to contemplate, our health – both mental and physical, our family and our lives – these simple things are such precious, priceless things.
Joy exists not in the things but in the seeker. For a trained mind the very process of living is a great source of enjoyment. It is immaterial whether a person is rich or poor. What is material is whether he knows how to appreciate life and beauty in his daily life and how far he can enjoy the simple pleasures of his life by becoming sensitive to the environment in which he lives. A sunset is a sunset, whether it happens in front of your house or in the Andes. What is required is a loving heart and an appreciating attitude. Even the silence of a street, or a secluded place in your basement can bring you peace that also comes through your experience with nature.
A keen sense of observation will put you in touch with yourself and help you develop a worldview in which you perceive yourself increasingly as the source of all sources and a master of all your happiness and inner harmony. You will be above ordinary and more at peace with yourself and your life. You will free yourself from your old habits and experience things you have never experienced before.
This way, we achieve freedom from the shackles of our conditioned mind, or destroy the illusion that keeps us ignorant of the higher aspects of truth consciousness. Though we cannot easily break the conditioning of our minds, but we can make a sincere effort to live in the present, become aware of the present, become sensitive to the reality around us and live spontaneously and joyously, with a sense of gratitude and love, experiencing life as truthfully and originally as you can.
By observing the world around us with loving attention, and appreciating the positive aspects of the most ordinary things- the beauty of a flower, the innocence of a child, the serenity of a sleeping baby, the insecurity of a flying bird, the mysterious silence of the expansive sky or a starry night - anything that makes you happy or gives you relief, you can put yourself in touch with your higher self and achieve freedom from the need to find freedom in distant places and dreamy situations. Take time to reflect on the following thoughts:
The beauty of the sunrise, to light a brand new day,
Nature's perfect rainbows, colours all array,
A million different shades of green, adorns our countryside,
Seas and lakes & waterways scattered far and wide.
The sweet smell of the summer rose, a butterfly on wing,
Echoing sounds of the birds, how sweet the lark does sing?
The simple things in life by far, treasures for us all,
Winter, spring & summertime, not forgetting fall.
Snowflakes in the winter, everyone so rare,
Each single flake's quite different, floating through the air.
Sit and watch the sunset, as the day draws to a close,
Ripples of a mountain stream how perfectly it flows.
Animals and all insects, wildlife that we know,
Wonder's of their species, nature's helped them grow.
Flowers bloom through seasons, brilliance everywhere,
Some wild, yet so appealing, for everyone to share.
Life can be expensive, causing so much strife,
Priceless things are there for all, the simple things of life.
Remember!, we only have one life. We only get one chance, don’t miss out on all those moments that can only be captured in the still calm of life!
Life has such a way of sucking all free time out of us; it is harmful. It’s harmful to our health and our emotional well being. Don’t let life take away the magic of lying in the grass, daydreaming, and looking at the clouds.
There is however no harm if we make a sincere attempt to learn to perceive the world in ways we have never done before. We may not be able to put an end to the movements of our brains or Time, but we can make an honest attempt to live in the present and experience the world each moment as it passes by. We can turn our gaze to things we have never cared to observe before and feel inside things we have never felt before.
Becoming sensitive is one way to accomplish this. By slowing down, by just lifting our heads and looking around we will realize how much life we are missing each day. We will realize how we have stopped looking at people and things we do not care about, how we stopped appreciating the wonderful creation of God that exists all around us and how we have stopped expressing our gratitude to God and deactivated our connection with him by not acknowledging the beautiful things He created for us. If you feel that you are too much into material things and have limited your vision to your nose or what is right in front of it, it is time you wake up your senses and start enriching your life with the simple pleasures of your daily existence.
People go to faraway places for vacation or a cruise to experience nature, enjoy a trip or seek relief from daily routine. As long you can afford such trips, there is no harm in going on a vacation to relieve yourselves of the monotony of your life. But should you limit your choices only to such expensive and rare occasions ? The answer is certainly no.
All too often, we spend so much time pursuing so many other adventures, and so many other ambitions. We spend so much energy chasing after dreams and running after shadows. Sometimes, we forget to be grateful that we can simply still do that: chase, run, and walk. We fuss over bruised egos, calculate over how much is owed to us for our efforts, tarry over promotions due to us and worry when we’re passed over for those promotions. And we forget to be grateful that we still have work, and employment, and an element of financial security. We worry about how well we’ll do in our examinations, and how much better we’ll do than the next examinee, and how much more somebody else is studying than we are. Of course, we forget to consider how privileged we are, our basic senses intact and our mental faculties unbroken: these simple abilities at our disposal for whatever purpose we choose. Yet, if we had only taken a minute to contemplate, our health – both mental and physical, our family and our lives – these simple things are such precious, priceless things.
Joy exists not in the things but in the seeker. For a trained mind the very process of living is a great source of enjoyment. It is immaterial whether a person is rich or poor. What is material is whether he knows how to appreciate life and beauty in his daily life and how far he can enjoy the simple pleasures of his life by becoming sensitive to the environment in which he lives. A sunset is a sunset, whether it happens in front of your house or in the Andes. What is required is a loving heart and an appreciating attitude. Even the silence of a street, or a secluded place in your basement can bring you peace that also comes through your experience with nature.
A keen sense of observation will put you in touch with yourself and help you develop a worldview in which you perceive yourself increasingly as the source of all sources and a master of all your happiness and inner harmony. You will be above ordinary and more at peace with yourself and your life. You will free yourself from your old habits and experience things you have never experienced before.
This way, we achieve freedom from the shackles of our conditioned mind, or destroy the illusion that keeps us ignorant of the higher aspects of truth consciousness. Though we cannot easily break the conditioning of our minds, but we can make a sincere effort to live in the present, become aware of the present, become sensitive to the reality around us and live spontaneously and joyously, with a sense of gratitude and love, experiencing life as truthfully and originally as you can.
By observing the world around us with loving attention, and appreciating the positive aspects of the most ordinary things- the beauty of a flower, the innocence of a child, the serenity of a sleeping baby, the insecurity of a flying bird, the mysterious silence of the expansive sky or a starry night - anything that makes you happy or gives you relief, you can put yourself in touch with your higher self and achieve freedom from the need to find freedom in distant places and dreamy situations. Take time to reflect on the following thoughts:
The beauty of the sunrise, to light a brand new day,
Nature's perfect rainbows, colours all array,
A million different shades of green, adorns our countryside,
Seas and lakes & waterways scattered far and wide.
The sweet smell of the summer rose, a butterfly on wing,
Echoing sounds of the birds, how sweet the lark does sing?
The simple things in life by far, treasures for us all,
Winter, spring & summertime, not forgetting fall.
Snowflakes in the winter, everyone so rare,
Each single flake's quite different, floating through the air.
Sit and watch the sunset, as the day draws to a close,
Ripples of a mountain stream how perfectly it flows.
Animals and all insects, wildlife that we know,
Wonder's of their species, nature's helped them grow.
Flowers bloom through seasons, brilliance everywhere,
Some wild, yet so appealing, for everyone to share.
Life can be expensive, causing so much strife,
Priceless things are there for all, the simple things of life.
Remember!, we only have one life. We only get one chance, don’t miss out on all those moments that can only be captured in the still calm of life!
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