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Is philosophy better than being practical? – Part 4

In our world of tragedies and horrors, we seek to achieve success that’s as fleeting as water on a lotus leaf. Instead, when we live beyond the ‘I’ field and enter the arena of transcendence- just for a brief period daily, we move to lasting fulfillment.

From achieve to receive

During confusions, we’d like to imagine that clarity would solve all problems. For a change, try giving up ‘control’ – ‘let go’ the need for perfection and focus on ‘receive.’ You may be surprised that through another dimension of eternal reality, you’d attain peace even in your bewildered state. The world of dependence on the Almighty and vulnerability of our fragile lives is safe; if we are sheltered at the right place and with the right person- God, known as ‘Krishna’ in the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sect, we can receive abundant love.

But to connect to God we also need one more quality.

Have patience

A thorough, common-sense reading or hearing of self-help talks may help us learn to cope with our routine tasks. Still, it doesn’t help us go beyond the world of our psycho-physical reality. Religious records of the past spring from a realm beyond our tiny subsistence and help us access our intuition- they appeal to us to also rise to a timeless sphere.

Remember: while smart solutions could help you sometimes, it’s a connection to sagacious writings that helps discover limited, personalized remedies for your more profound issues.

And they happen over some time.

Have patience and trust yourself on this journey. Although it may seem abstract now, the light of wisdom would shine forth at the right time and place. Then all the practical things of this world would mean naught, for you now shine in enlightenment.

When you see a beautiful rain or sunrise and are merely present, you access divinity. On the other hand, when you use every action and thought from the yardstick of ‘What’s in it for me,’ you live only in this world. Just as financially endowed men and women in third world countries may go to Europe for a vacation, we too need to go out of our mind’s world to the beautiful world of being present. And you can afford it- it costs only your soul’s tender willingness.

After living in a space beyond my world, when I return to my ‘country’- my hardships- I am refreshed. I have newer perspectives to solve my problems. I don’t need others’ nifty solutions; I now discover my own. And you could take this holiday every day for a few minutes and then come back to more active living in your world of imbroglios.

We can then see all our problems, not as challenges; instead, they emerge as opportunities to rise and grow.

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