In Stillness I Listen to the Symphony of Life and Act in Consequence
The Monkey Mind (the constant internal talking) can’t stand the present moment
What I learned over the last sixty years is that life does what it does, and I am not in a position to judge it.
I have spent many years trying to be smarter than life, actually most of my life. I was a fighter, fighting life as it is, believing that the present moment is not enough.
We are all in the same boat because we try to squeeze reality into our mental concepts. It is almost impossible to find someone who lives in perfect harmony.
Our consistent focus on what is wrong and declaring life as an area for improvement is the true pandemic of our times, especially here in the West.
In Western societies, we are on a never-ending journey for the new and the better. There is nothing wrong with the new or the search for solutions, but not at the expense of the present moment.
I have traveled to most European countries; I have been to America, India, Southeast Asia and Africa, and in my experience, it is absolutely clear that Western people are fighting against life. It’s never good enough for us; even the rare moments of happiness don’t last long, very soon a new list pops up of what makes us happier.
The Monkey Mind (the constant internal talking) can’t stand the present moment.
In non-Western countries, we find the same pattern of behavior, but less strong, and people are usually still interwoven with a spiritual, social and cultural context that is not obsessed with getting more and more. They still have the connection to the great symphony of life. They are still part of a greater whole. I’m not saying they are happier; they have many problems, and some are much worse than ours. But there is humble knowledge that humans are not the center of life, something we have lost here in the West. You may call it something else, God, Ala, Brahman, the Great Spirit, but they all point to something greater than ourselves.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should accept life without doing anything, or that we should sit resigned in the corner with the mentality of “I can’t do anything either way”. No, on the contrary, if you can act, then act with all your strength, but with life and not against it.
When we listen to the symphony of life, everything changes.
Stress becomes relaxation. Fastness is slowing down. Conflicts turn into peace. The joy of the present moment replaces the constant searching for something new and better.
How can we listen to this symphony?
My way is stillness.
When the mind comes to rest, I hear the symphony of life.
Sometimes I call it the cosmic symphony, but these are just names; what matters is to enter this space beyond words, beyond mental activity, and let the music play. Actually, the symphony of life is always playing; it doesn’t matter that we don’t hear it; the music is always present.
When the mind becomes still, the personal self vanished, and we are not living anymore in the experience that life happens to us. No, life happens, and that’s it.
There is no way to enter the concert hall with the ego. The ego is useless and makes it impossible for the music to come to our hearts.
I wish I could take you with me, because it’s the most beautiful place. It’s better than anything I know, but I can’t. Just as I can’t live your life, I can’t pass the music on to you. We are all alone in this, but we can all, absolutely all, hear it.
When we visit the concert hall more often, it becomes a habit. We start to act in consequence. The most important thing is that we don’t take life any more personal, and that is a great relief and a new dimension of being — an aliveness that the mind can’t grasp.
Our perception shifts from “I have a life” to “life expresses itself through me”. We begin to understand that it was always life and never this imaginary little me that acts, breathes, loves and lives. We understand and experience the eternal nature of feelings and emotions.
Love is always love.
Love is the music, and you are the instrument.
Or do you really believe that you create love?
Or it is unique to you?