Being active, not reactive. The power of silence

How many years does one spend being reactive to the constant noise of external stimuli and mistaking that for hard work and activity. And then looking back and wondering why what was achieved was either not enough or not satisfying enough ? The mind becomes a whirlwind of thoughts, ideas, doubts and contrary messages. The ego becomes an instrument of the search for affirmation in other people's eyes. Not even a clear idea of what other people think of you, but just what your mind imagines they think of you ! We mistakenly start to think that we are responsive and responsible to the world - but actually we are just responsive to the whirlwind of what sometimes becomes our greatest enemy. Our own mind. So how do you discover ACTIVITY rather than Reactivity ?

Silence. To take myself away from the the noise and be in solitude. Where if not in meditation, then at least in thoughtful awareness. And if not that, then atleast in a conversation with oneself, allowing the mind to throw out all it's own arguments, it's own quarrels with itself and settle. And then out of the silence ....

Passion. To discover the true sense of who I am. Then let that evolve. For who I am will define what I do. And vice versa. And then allow that passion to bubble every moment and drive you. You do not have to create passion, just discover it and express it. Be fearless with it and you will find that world will be fearless with you. Passion has that effect not only on other people, but also on the Universe.

Discover your emotional self. Do not deny that fundamentally we are emotional and mythic beings. That we are defined not by our compartmentalized, structured, separate and pigeon-holed identities like father, mother, son, daughter, friend, worker, boss, but by an emotional and mythic beingness that encompasses everything. Otherwise we go through life creating a myriad short term and long term identities in relationships and situations to other people/stimuli. Even on a bus, for example, we are creating identities with (say) the bus conductor, the passenger sitting next to you, and so on. And finally...

To allow yourself the luxury of the moment so completely that you are both completely focussed and completely free at the same time. There has much been said about the 'power of now' in the modern interpretation, but essentially it is a way to focus so clearly on the moment that you become free of being a creature imprisoned by a finite mind.