This happened in your school, maybe later in your university, later in your work – it’s happening to people. Maybe not everyone, but a whole lot of people. Their commitment to success is weak. They want to succeed. They will take three steps, then something little interesting happens here – they will go away here, they will go away there, they will go away there – hey, I want to live! Their commitment to success is weak.
Our commitment to success should not weaken
Either situations around them, in some way – you know, situations can impede you from doing what you are doing, very easily, many times it happens to everyone. But when this happens, people weaken their commitment for their success. Maybe physically they will feel little weak – they will weaken their commitment to success. Maybe their emotions slosh around a little but – they will weaken their commitment to success. This is very important right now – however long it takes, this virus, you must come out of this successfully. That means, you must stay alive. That’s an important part. And commitment to staying alive, should not be slackened. No matter what happened – somebody where dear to us passed away – more important, we must live. People around us are all sick – all the more important, we are healthy to take care of the people around us.
So, our commitment to success should not weaken, because there is social drama going on, or physiological drama, or psychological drama. Whatever happens, your commitment to success should not weaken. That is what will get you across so many lines in our life, so many barriers in our life.
So, what does success look like? What does it take? You must understand, those who made any significant achievements in their life – they did not, you know… I don’t want to take any personal examples of anybody. I’m trying to avoid obvious things that are coming into my mind!
Well, you know, I know family and friends who always have their breakfast on time. And after breakfast, of course, they must have coffee. After coffee, of course, they must light up a cigarette. And sit there nicely, because they are trying to become peaceful. And then they will go to work. Come back home exactly on time for lunch. Eat lunch, rest for one or two hours. Then evening, have one tea, and smoke, and then again go to work. And 8 o’clock, 8:30, they are back home for dinner. And then maybe other things, drink and this and that and whatever. Well, that’s their priority. It’s fine, I’m not complaining that it should not be that way.
Those who are committed to being successful with whatever they are doing, they are not settling down wherever it’s a bit comfortable
But those who have been very successful, either in music, sport, art, business, spiritual process – doesn’t matter what – those people never know when they ate, when they slept, when they got afternoon rest! I’ve not seen such a thing in my life. So, those who are committed to being successful with whatever they are doing – one important aspect of their life is – they are not settling down wherever it’s a bit comfortable. Because comfort will happen when they lower you into your grave. Very comfortable you are, you know. Have you seen how comfortable they are? Once they are dead – if you throw them, there also they are comfortable. If you lower them they are comfortable. Even if you burn them… yes or no? Comfort will come.
Right now, it’s about ensuring that there is profoundness of experience, and there is impactfulness of activity. Because, if they had given you a limitless amount of time – you could do all those things, nothing wrong. I’m not against them. But they gave you such little time, with such tremendous potential of being human – that’s the problem. If creation had made you like an earthworm, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with an earthworm, it is just that it’s a unipolar potential. It can only do that much. An earthworm is not thinking of climbing a tree, because it knows it will be picked up by the birds. It never has such aspirations. It just wants to recycle the earth. You know, it is beneficial to so many other lives, including us. But, it’s objective it very clear – to eat and to reproduce and to die – very clear objectives. That purpose to fulfil, he strives. I don’t think he sleeps in the afternoon. I don’t think so, because many afternoons I’ve seen earthworms, they were all vigorously active.
If your idea of success is that you are doing a little better than your neighbour – I call that sickness
But a human being came with too many potentials. Because of that, it needs a certain level of striving for a human being – forget about the world – to consider yourself successful. If your idea of success is that you are doing a little better than your neighbour – I call that sickness – that is not success. You are happy that your neighbour is worse than you – is this sickness, or success? It is sickness. But, in some way you feel fulfilled with what you are doing. Let’s consider that as success, for now. It doesn’t matter whether you are better than somebody, or worse than somebody – that question should not even come up in your mind. But, in some way you feel, you are using yourself fully, and there is a certain sense of fulfilment, in your activity.
Well, if you are capable of just closing your eyes, and simply sitting without any activity – that’s fantastic. But you can not do that. You can not do that right now. In the states that you are, you can’t simply close your eyes and become still. Instead of becoming busy, you will become pre-occupied. That doesn’t mean you are improving, that means you are regressing in some way. The problem about this success is – people always making judgements, I did this, I did that, maybe this didn’t work, maybe it’s a mistake, that’s a mistake – there is no such thing in life.
See, at one time you were a monkey, alright. This is not me, this is that Englishman, you know. Charles Darwin said – you were all monkeys. At one time, you were a monkey. Just a brief while ago. Was it a mistake that you committed that you were a monkey? Or was it just a certain stage of evolution? Was it a mistake, or was it just a certain stage of evolution? Similarly, since you were born – because as a human being you are born largely unformed, unlike other creatures. Other creatures, if they are just… there food is taken care of, they know what to do with their life.
It doesn’t matter whether somebody thinks you are worthwhile or not
Because human being has come with such open sense of possibilities, you come unformed. You don’t come fixed. You have to fix yourself. Different people throw different types of balls at you – from all over, your parents, your teachers, your school, the neighbours, and the society, and the world – throws all kinds of things at you. To gather all this muck, and make something worthwhile out of yourself, is your business. That’s your success. It doesn’t matter whether somebody thinks you are worthwhile or not. You feel you are a worthwhile life – good enough, for now. World may not recognise. It doesn’t matter. But you know, you are worthwhile.
