I talk to a lot of people in my travels.
Sometimes “formally” as in a class or talk situation, other times less so, like on a train or in an airport.
I love talking to people about what lights their fire, what makes them passionate. I love finding out what their greatest memories are, and why. I love discovering what they want most from life.
Obviously that requires a level of deep and meaningfulness that doesn’t regularly happen in an airport, for example, but it’s amazing how often I can steer the conversation that way.
People love to talk about this stuff because its not talked about enough.
Life can so easily slip into a kind of drudgery and hence being reminded is like a ray of light.
My memories of the high times in my life are the reason why I learnt the Ishayas’ Ascension meditation in the first place.
I knew life could be amazing because I’d lived through some amazing moments. The thing was I didn’t want them to be memories, I wanted life to be constantly alive, not an up and down of happy/unhappy or alive/drudgery … you know?
I wanted the kind of life where I moved from highlight to highlight.
How about you?
Now I know the intensity of the highs is impossible to maintain. And I also saw, very much so, the role of my own mind in the low times in life.
I realised that my own mind was controllable, in a sense that the outward circumstances aren’t.
My greatest shot at living a constantly fulfilling, content, happy life lay between my own two ears.
My last email was about how people would rather shock themselves with electricity than be with their own minds.
I get that. I also know, even with seasoned meditators, people who have been doing the Ishayas’ Ascension meditation for years, they can fall into a kind of a funk and lose track of why they’re doing what they’re doing.
They forget the purpose. When you forget the purpose and then life gets a little tough it’s easy to throw the whole thing away.
So remember the why. Do what you can to stay reminded.
The whole point for me for meditation is to be fully involved in life. To make it simpler and lighter. To bring the world Alive.
Sometimes that practice of going beyond the limitations of the mind is straight forward. Sometimes its not, stuff gets in the way.
But whatever - you have to do the work. You have to practice. Otherwise life slowly becomes one of struggle and “meh”.
Which is fine if you want to live that kind of life, but really, do you?
I know for sure that I don’t.
So my commitment every day is to make sure I do the things that give me the best shot at being the best version of myself. Regardless of how I feel, how motivated I am, how busy I am.
It’s just got to be done. Because the end result, the overall result, the trajectory is becoming better every day.
If you want to know how, or need a reminder, I have some very good colleagues who will be able to show you how:
Whatever you do, make sure you have a spectacular day
- Arjuna
PS. It’s 100% up to you how alive your day is.
How much you remind yourself, how much you keep doing the work that creates that, how often you ask questions to remove your doubts. Totally up to you.
Don’t wait for life to be given to you.
That link again: