After my awakening in 2008, I was very uncomfortable with motivational teachings about “achieving something”. These teachings always portray “you can do and achieve anything that you want,” which is not always true. I also avoided the below quote of swami vivekananda for the same reason. But-it-was-my-mistake.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.
I always pondered what is worthy goal in life? I didn’t resonate with the last part of the quote. How does the way of success produce spiritual giants? Once I understood this quote more deeply from a different perspective, it changed my life.
Let me explain..
Not every idea or goal can fulfill the above quote’s conditions. If your worthy goal comes from your ego to achieve this or that, the above quote is not meant for egoic wanting or craving!
The idea needs to come from your being, the god within, and not from your egoic mind. The idea has to be about the – The ONE and arising from – The ONE
Within your being, that idea is already a reality. Hence you need to manifest that idea in the outside world from the abundance within. First you realize the destination within you and then you start the journey
A worthy goal is a conscious manifestation that differs from egoic manifestation in some very significant ways:
The Worthy Life Goal Need to be Dynamic and Not Static:
Make sure your goal or vision is not static. A static goal is usually an inflated image of oneself and, therefore a hidden form of ego, such as wanting to be a celebrity, a renowned author, top boss in your firm or a famous entrepreneur. Also, be sure your aim is not to have this or that, such as a multimillion dollar mansion, your large than life company, or a ten million dollars in the bank.
An expanded image of yourself or a vision of yourself possessing this or that are all stagnant ambitions that do not empower you. Instead, ensure that your objectives are dynamic, pointing toward an activity in which you are involved and through which you are linked to the whole of humanity in their service. Instead of seeing yourself as rich, famous, and invincible, see yourself inspiring a large number of people with your life’s work and blessing their lives.
Feel how your work enriches and liberates your life and that of other countless people. If you expand your life’s work for the well-being of others, people will pay you in abundance. But pls don’t attach yourself with this reward too as then that attachment will turn into greed.
The worthy goal will awaken you and dissolve your ego along the journey to the goal
Give yourself a goal that is — ‘the Final One. Give yourself a purpose, after which no more purpose will be needed. Hence your primary purpose of life is enlightenment or awakening. Whatever worthy goal or secondary purpose, you choose in the outer world will intensify your awakening inside. The more you act selflessly in the outer world for that goal, the more you will be connected with your inner divinity. In that way to manifest this worthy goal, the goal-setter (mind-body) would be no more. That goal can only be of your total annihilation.
“Just surrender yourself to something so worthy that it deserves your total attention.” Unless your goal in life is that meaningful, worthy, and benevolent, you will be frustrated and your mind will always be distracted all the time.
When you have ambitions, you usually go to the goal to obtain something or to achieve. The sign of the ‘Real Goal’ is that when you attain it, you will be totally empty or spacious within. You will realise kingdom of god within. On the outer level you will lose your ego. You will gradually lose your unhealthy thinking. You will lose all your worries. You will be losing yourself in god. Hence the worthy goal is a proposition in the loss.
Do you anticipate to gain anything by achieving that goal? Then that objective is meaningless. Do you realize you’re simply losing, and losing, and losing as you go closer to your worthy goal? Then that objective is worthwhile. Unless you are completely owned and enamored by that worthy goal, you will not allow yourself to be destroyed by that goal.
The ‘Real Goal’ disintegrates you along the way. And you are aware that you are dissolving. You are aware that every step you take you are paying the price. Why are you willing to pay a price? Because that is the price you pay to universe to enlighten you.
True success, then, is absolute failure of your ego. Your ego has completely failed to protect you. You ego tried to save itself and it completely failed – that is ‘Real Success.’
You are not here to bulk up, collect, fatten, and eventually die an obese person full of disease . You’ve come to expend yourself. And you must burn yourself twice as quickly. My favorite image is of a candle burning from both ends. Sublimation is the transformation of matter into light. That is the goal of life: to burn quickly. Transform into light and vanish. You were born with a lot of potential. Die empty.
Create from Abundance of Being and Not From Ego
When we manifest from ego, we tend to feel lack or scarcity. With conscious manifestation, we create from a feeling of abundance, rooted in the fullness of our being. When the human becomes co-creator with God, that is our inner being itself; then Presence can flow into the human mind and use human thoughts to create original things, which is beautiful.
When you create from a state of presence, you create for the joy of creation. You just love the process without worrying about the result. You create to give and serve.
The worthy goal must be irreplaceable by any other ambition. As a result, it cannot be a petty thought about the “small things” of the world. This needs to be a intention of the Immensity. And you can’t really have a ‘idea’ of the Immense until it comes from within you.
Ask, “What Does Life Want From Me”?
When we manifest from ego, we tend to ask, “How can I get what I want?” With conscious manifestation, we ask, “What does life want from me?”
When you create from ego, you want to be exclusive, when you create from the fullness of being, you are inclusive. In the state of inclusiveness, you are ONE with the whole universe and create for the well-being of everybody.
You realize that you are not a separate fragment in this universe. You act as if everybody is ONE. There are no others. You act as if you are a mother to the world. And you treat the whole world like how you treat your own child.
Let The Universal Intelligence Create Through You
When we manifest from ego, we rely on our personal willpower. With conscious manifestation, we can rely on the power of universal intelligence. Universal Intelligence acts through you whenever you are fully present in the moment without identifying with your thoughts and emotions. Then the universe uses you as an instrument of its co-creation and manifests through you.
Be ONE with challenges and difficulties
When we manifest from ego, we become angry and anxious, when any situation or person arises as an obstacle. Ego treats every obstacle/ hindrance as an enemy. When we create from awareness, the obstacle is not considered an enemy. In fact, you will yield to that obstacle. Meaning you surrender and become ONE with it and transform that hindrance/obstacle into an opportunity
You need to surrender the right to “not choose” the worthy goal to the god.
Because If you continue to hold that dangerous right, then inevitably at some point you will “un-choose” that worthy goal for the petty pleasures of the world
All mind’s goal will fail the conditions of above vivekananda quote.
Have you not had plenty of ideas already? Have those ideas really served you well? Have those ideas survived? Have you ever been deficient in ideas?
In fact, your mind produce hundred of ideas in an hour. So, you must be very conscious about the quality of the idea that Vivekananda is referring to. Don’t be in confusion.
Vivekanand is not saying, “Take up some relevant and random idea, and give your life to it.” Not that it will not be successful; It will be successful and soon you will feel hollow and unfulfilled again. Because you will not be able to give your life to any egoic idea. Sooner than later that idea will depress you. Sooner than later, you will be in life-crisis because of that random idea. Sooner than later, some other idea will come to replace that idea.
You must, of course, give yourself a goal, but that goal has to be so total, that it totally consume you; and your are one with that goal. If you decide your goal with your dysfunctional mind then very soon you will find that your mind will corrupt your goal, and soon it will start looking for another goal and same thing again and again..
It usually works like this. Your mind decides the goal, and it feels that it is controlling the goal and once it has the power to control the goal, it also has the power to give up the goal.
So let the goal decide you. Let the goal arise within your being. Let the goal own you fully. That is possible, only when the goal is — God. That is possible, only when the goal is divinity itself.
Then, you will not be moving towards the goal, the goal would draw you in. Then there is no question of boredom or distraction, then there is no question of shortage of energy. Because now the energy would be supplied by the goal(god) itself
Now there is also no question of distraction, because you are now an instrument to the goal(god). Let the goal clear your confusion. You are just allowing yourself to be moved in the hand of god. You are not really moving, you are not the ‘doer’. The ‘doer’ is the god itself.
PS: If you are contemplating, what do I do with my life? What’s my purpose in this world? You can talk to me by CLICKING HERE
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