Hey,
This is Ish,
And in today's talk,
I'll be going over contemplating a spiritual life.
So if you've been following a spiritual discipline,
You might have observed a different orientation towards life compared to how others who are firmly planted in the material world operate in society.
So you might have observed a contrast between the meditative life of happiness and inner peace compared to the chaos and stress of going after things and trying to grab at things in the world.
And this difference becomes more noticeable as you deepen your qualities of meditative wisdom,
Your conduct,
And the cultivation of your meditation practice.
And you'll start to live from a place of being fulfilled from within,
Which then spills over to your external life,
Compared to living from an outside-in approach that is usually the way that the world orients.
And different sages have noted and commented upon this dichotomy of differences,
Of how their way of being and operating in the world may seem completely different from how the rest of their society at the time operated.
And it's interesting to note that these teachers had experienced these differences between themselves and the world hundreds of years ago,
And even thousands of years ago.
And not much has actually changed,
Especially if you look into what certain societies prioritize now,
And especially if they're firmly rooted in the material things of the world.
So not much has changed in many ways.
So what are these differences?
Well,
For example,
Lao Tzu,
The Taoist sage who was said to have lived in 500 BC,
Says in verse 20 of the Tao Te Ching,
The people are excited,
As if enjoying a great feast,
As if climbing up to the terrace in spring.
I,
Alone,
Am quiet and uninvolved.
Another in the verse says,
The people all have goals.
I,
Alone,
Am stubborn and lowly.
I,
Alone,
Am different from them,
And value the nursing mother.
Now another Chinese philosopher by the name of Ang Ying Ming,
Who lived in the 16th century in China during the Ming dynasty,
Also had noticed the differences between what society at the time valued compared to doing the opposite of that,
And actually some of the drawbacks of what society values.
So he writes,
After you have resided in a lowly position,
You know the danger of climbing to a high status.
After you have been in shadow and darkness,
You know the great exposure of facing the bright and clear.
After you have abided in inactivity,
You know the over-exertion of those who love activity.
After you have cultivated yourself with silence,
You know the confusion of an abundance of words.
So you might have noticed certain themes here.
So one of the themes would be a lowly position versus a high status position.
Shadow and darkness,
Which represents being more of a low profile and staying hidden compared to being bright and clear,
Which is being exposed in the spotlight.
Another theme,
Which is inactivity,
Which in this context refers to peace and stillness compared to activity,
Which is being busy in the world.
And lastly,
You observe cultivated silence versus an abundance of words.
So the latter qualities here,
Which are high status,
Being bright and clear,
Activity and abundance of words,
All represents what the material world really values.
And you can also see this in society today and how different things are advertised to us and the idealization of different stars and celebrities and the emphasis on being in the spotlight and advancing in status and possessions and so on.
And the opposite qualities here represents some of the things we cultivate in our meditation practice.
This is what meditators value.
So there comes great peace when we let go of unnecessary activity and there comes great peace when the body and mind are still.
You may have observed that on meditation retreats,
For example,
You do take a vow of silence and only maybe speak when it is necessary.
There is also emphasis on blending in and being unobserved.
So you avoid some of the attention that comes with being in the spotlight.
So these things go against the way of how society really operates and what they value.
And it's interesting that Hang Ying Ming points that unless you've experienced these things,
You wouldn't really realize the downsides of the way people conduct themselves in the world.
So I think this is because you simply don't see the other way.
But once you have experienced the other side,
Which is the meditative orientation and the way of living in the world through that way,
You start to see how that way is just more fulfilling to you.
So I invite you to notice the difference between these two orientations.
If you currently live attaching your attention to different objects and being caught up with the affairs of the material world,
Try for a moment going within and taking some time to do a meditation retreat and notice how you feel afterwards and what the difference is.
I know for me personally,
I had lived a lot of my life actually immersed in the material world,
Chasing after higher status and attention and being busy all the time and working and all these things that Hang Ying Ming talks about.
And it is only when I had gotten rid of these things and renounced these things in the world and start to look within and take more of a low profile and start to cultivate meditative calm and not just blabber and talk as much as I used to,
That I actually found more peace within.
And this is an invitation to look within and see and notice how do you actually feel when you orient yourself in this manner compared to how the rest of the world operates,
Which is looking for externals and the spotlight and being out there to fulfill them.
And what you may end up finding out is that that way of living actually creates more stress within you because now you have more burdens,
More worries compared to this other way of being,
Which the meditative masters talk about,
Which is a bit more quiet,
More inwardly focused,
And it actually creates more peace in your life and less chaos and complexity and suffering that people immersed in the material world,
The worldly affairs,
Tend to face more of.
And I also invite you to think about some of the downsides that the material world and society tends to value.
So start to think about some of the dangers that come with being of high status and the increased attention that it may bring.
And you can only look at celebrities to see this,
But start to notice this in your own life.
And also notice some of the drawbacks of being exposed in the spotlight.
Also notice how your mind feels when you overexert yourself in activity compared to deep stillness and peace that comes with meditation.
Likewise,
Also notice how this inner peace that develops is cultivated through silence and how an overabundance of words,
So if you are with people that like to chatter a lot,
How that can be confusing and may disturb your peace as well.
So just things to think about.
Thank you.
