Who doesn’t want to live a better life? Not many people can state that life couldn’t get any better than it is for them right now. We hope for the perfect job, a loving partner, and the thrills of owning and playing with all sorts of material possessions. Yet most people live day to day unfulfilled and are rarely happy for long periods of time.
We seem to trap ourselves with our material accumulations and even with our various relationships, rather than allowing ourselves to feel light and free. Yet we continue to look in the same direction, always hoping that the next item purchased, that next vacation trip, or even that new relationship will make us feel complete, happy, and fulfilled. But does it? Maybe temporarily, and then our search continues.
Sadhguru helps us understand why we pursue an endless search for a better life but never seem to attain it.
Sadhguru: You said you want to live better. I have seen a lady, who I knew very well at one time, wanting to go somewhere one evening and standing in front of her elaborate wardrobe, crying and biting her nails because she is confused as to what she should wear that day. I told her, “It is very simple. You must give away all these clothes and just keep seven. Sunday this, Monday this, Tuesday this…”
I am not saying everyone should have only seven pairs of clothes. All I am saying is that if you can gracefully walk through the material in the world, it is fine. But if you are going to carry the material world on your head, possessing everything that you touch, you are not going to live better.
There is substantial scientific evidence for this. In the evolutionary process itself, only those creatures flourished that learned how to cooperate and think of each other’s wellbeing. Those which only thought “I must survive at any cost” did not survive. Over a period of time, they perished. If you look around, you will see; people who are thinking “I must get this, I must get that” they may be getting a lot of things, but you will not see joy on their faces.
You can have a thousand things and be confused about what to wear or use today. Or, even if you have just one thing or nothing, you can be blissed out within yourself. Which is a better way to live?
Everything you possess is dug out of the planet. Unfortunately, in today’s world, most people think living better means they have to dig up everything in the planet and carry it on their heads, where, if someone breaks one window in the house, their heart will break. Living better is not about digging up the planet and heaping it on your head. That happens when you go to the grave. People will put mud on your head when you are dead. When you are alive you are supposed to walk upon the planet, not carry it on your head.
Our ideas of living better have to evolve, for our sake and the sake of the planet. To save the planet, people are saying you must use this kind of fuel, drive an electric car, and all kinds of things. These are minor adjustments. If you really want an ecological transformation on the planet in this generation, you must turn the whole population into spiritual seekers.
They must understand that living better is not about what they possess but about how they are. If they understand this much and start living that way, there is no problem. Even if ten billion people live on this planet, which we are expecting by 2050, there will be no problem if people understand that better living is about how you are within yourself, not about the things that you possess.
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