~ Sanjay Tumati
There used to be a time when I used to consider having too much work, a valid reason for not finding time to meditate. Isn’t that what you hear all the time? It’s what I hear all the time. These days, those same words make me laugh as I would laugh at genuinely good inside joke with close friends.
I have never been busier in my life than I have been at c3StreamLand and never have I meditated so regularly, so effortlessly. Not only do I meditate regularly, I manage to exercise regularly as well, again effortlessly. This was brought home to me during the Pongal Holidays when I went to visit relatives. There was no work to do, and I struggled mightily to meditate daily and I did absolutely no physical exercise there whatsoever. And it’s not just this visit. It is the pattern in any situation where life is comfortable. Why is that? Here are some humble reflections
I meditate regularly at C3StreamLand because life here is so challenging. I have to teach, to work and earn a living, deliver projects on time, make sure team members deliver, do registration for a Vipassana center, handle finances for a school, supervise an electronics lab, come up with new experiments, try to work on practical circuits such as inverters and adaptors, branch into a new area of work such as firmware programming, handle Vipassana group sits for the community in Auroville. I need a very sharp mind to be able to keep all this going on a daily basis. So I am forced to meditate everyday and also exercise regularly or else I will be overwhelmed by the responsibilities I have taken up.
I see that exercise and meditate regularly keeps me at my full potential. If I am not at my full potential I fail disastrously. . There is no middle way here. There is no possibility of a Chalta-hai (it’s ok) attitude. No dependence on last minute Jugaad (wing it). I notice that in a meditation session when I have meditation session where I struggle through the 1 hour session without as much concentration, I know I benefitted from the meditation because of the sharpness of mind that I experience in discharging my responsibilities.
I can’t afford to indulge my senses via net surfing or overeating as I immediately experience a dullness of mind that again does not permit me to discharge the responsibilities I have taken up. So wholesome work that is also challenging also drives lifestyle changes in other areas.
Thus, it becomes clear that the problem with not meditating is not too much work. It never is. The problem is lack of motivation. When I am engaged in wholesome work all day and I know I need a sharp mind to complete the work, I will somehow find the time for both meditation and exercise. When I do not actually have any work to do, any responsibilities to discharge, I somehow never find the time to either meditate or exercise. How strange!!!
I am now discovering my own version of GoenkaJi’s admonition that one must meditate 2 hours everyday except when one is extremely busy in which case one must meditate 3 hours.