By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Opposite values in our life are complementary. Activity and rest are two vital aspects of life. To find a balance in them is a skill in itself. Wisdom is knowing when to rest, when to have activity, and how much of each to have. Finding them in each other – activity in rest and rest in activity – is the ultimate freedom.

Struggling to Keep Up? Here’s Why It’s Okay to Pause

Time is like a river, and you are sitting on the banks with your feet in the water, watching time flow. Time is moving, and it has made you swim in its tough and unpleasant times. Sometimes you jump into the water, sometimes the water goes above your nose, but somehow you manage to come up.

As long as you don’t forget that there is a shore to hold on to whenever you have to, it’s okay to be in the water. But if there’s a flood or a fast current is flowing, then at that time get onto the shore.

Similarly, in life, too, sometimes you have to be cent percent in life; be cent percent with time. And at times, you have to sit on the banks and watch. There’s a balance that you need to keep in life. You have got to be serious to be playful. Frivolousness is not playfulness. Wake up! There are only two categories of people who do not feel they are wasting time: those who are in deep slumber and the enlightened ones.

When you fail, don’t take it too seriously. See it as a play, it’s just another game, and then move on. When you succeed, take it seriously, and don’t waste time on what you have achieved. Your potential is so big, and you have achieved a few things, and you’re beating some drums the whole time. You have to take life seriously.

Pulling Back the Arrow of Attention

When we want to build a tall building, the foundation must be sufficiently deep. The string of the bow is stretched back further when the arrow has to go far. So to transcend the mind, we bring our attention to our body, and then we realize we are beyond the body in meditation.

Just like the bow and arrow. The longer we want to shoot the arrow, the farther we need to pull it back. So, the more productive, sharp, and excellent we need to be at work, the greater our need for deep rest. Sudarshan Kriya, the powerful breathing technique and meditation, increases both alpha and beta waves in the brain, reducing stress hormones like serum cortisol, resulting in a state of relaxed alertness, the feeling of being in the FLOW. A state of maximum productivity without stress.

The Fine Combination of Inner Peace and Outer Dynamism

The goal of this depth, achieved by pulling back the arrow of attention, is to create harmony, not withdrawal. What is the need of the hour today and every day is that fine combination of inner peace and outer dynamism. Isn’t it?

Often, we see that people who talk about inner peace are complacent. They are resigned to everything, including realities, and are happy being a recluse. That peace has no value. Similarly, a dynamism that has no thought, which is full of agitation and has brought pain to oneself and others, has no value either.

Meditation can help you resolve many conflicts and find the much-needed peace.

Inner peace makes us sensitive to others’ needs. It is just a matter of understanding one’s sensitivity and bringing some sense to it. This can happen only if we are peaceful.

We need a combination of sensitivity and sensibility. Sensitive people are so hyper; they lose their temper at the drop of a hat. And sensible people don’t care about the impact of their actions on others. They don’t care because they think they are righteous. Coming to communication, neither the sensitive person nor the sensible one can be a good communicator in the world.

What we need is a balance; connectivity. I believe one of the most important characteristics of a civilized person is connectivity – the ability to connect with everyone effectively. When communication is better, conflicts simply disappear.

Join the world’s largest meditation event with the global spiritual master and humanitarian leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on World Meditation Day Live on 21st December.