“It is very rare to find a human being today. They are always going somewhere, hardly ever being here. That is why I call them ‘human goings’. ”
~ Ajahn Brahm, a British-Australian Buddhist monk known for his warmth and sense of humor.
Yes, most people tend to be human goings, not human beings. Or they are human doings. The going (or doing) starts with the mind. The mind is the engine that gets you going, and it’s the engine that keeps you going. It’s also the engine that seemingly never lets you stop going. It never lets you just be.
You have To Do lists and bucket lists, but never lists of ways to stop and be. You are commonly subjected to magazines that list the best places to go and the best things to do when you do go. Few advise that the best place to go is here, and the best thing to do is be. No wonder you are so often somewhere else! Hello?!
As a result, when it’s finally time to go on vacation, you might notice that you need several days just to “land” — meaning, you need several days to let go of all the going and to settle into being where you are. It takes a lot of time to be here and now. I am reminded of Aldous Huxley’s novel, The Island, which I read in college. It was assigned as required reading for a sociology class. Every book the professor assigned for that course blew my mind. The books opened up vistas, showing us new ways of living. Or old ways that are better. Huxley’s novel is set on the fictional island of Pala where a utopia has been established. The Palanese culture was created with a mingling of western science and eastern tantric yoga philosophy. The Palanese are taught to be aware of who you are and your relationship to the universe. Meditation is instrumental in developing such awareness. Scientists trained the birds of the island to mimick the word “Attention!” So, wherever you ventured on the island, you would be reminded to be attentive, to be aware, to be in the here and now. You are reminded of your essence, your Self as Consciousness itself. Sound familiar?
The first principle of the Palanese culture was “Nobody needs to go anywhere else. We are all, if we only knew it, already there.”
We are all already there —where we need to be. If only we knew! In this month’s teaching article, What is Death?, Swami Nirmalananda reminds us again of where we need to be and are meant to be. The purpose of human life is to know your Self. She writes:
“Yoga opens up your ability to perceive the subtle levels of reality, so you can find your own indestructible, ever-existent, unchanging, Self-Knowing Beingness.”
You were born as a human being. You were born to know your Beingness. All the goings and doings are meant, ultimately, to teach you who you already are.
“You are the Self right now, while you are in a body,” Swami continues. “When you leave your body, you will still be the Self. In the knowing of your own Self, you are free while you are in a body as well as when you are done with it. This is why you were born — so you can be the One who never dies.”
When you know your Self, you know your immortality, and you realize there is nothing to fear.
So, the best place to go is here, and the best thing to do is be. How? Yoga and meditation will get you there, now.