Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
23th May 2018
Fresh
“Stale”
Life is fresh and not stale. Life is fresh in every moment and not stale even by a moment. Life manifests the moment fresh and, therefore, every moment anywhere is fresh. Life manifests what is in the moment and this implies that whatever is in the moment anywhere is fresh in life and not stale even by a moment.
Why is life fresh every moment everywhere, is the question?
Life is fresh every moment anywhere because a moment in life anywhere renews itself without numerical duration of time. Furthermore, since duration of numerical time is needed for a letter or a word to exist, a moment in life signifies that not even a letter exists in any moment in life.
Also, since in between a moment and the next is a moment as well, it signifies that a moment in life is eternal. As the moment in life is eternal and without a letter or a word, it implies that all that is present in any moment anywhere in life is light and sound, which are always fresh and not stale.
The human mind always reports life. The report is needed to live daily life. The human mind reports what is present in life, what is happening in life, what is expected in life, what should happen in life and what should not happen in life.
The report refers to every aspect of daily life, including health and relationships. So what could the understanding be that makes life fresh and never stale, is the question?
The moment in life cannot be judged, because an eternal river of light and sound is all there is in life in any moment, with its characteristic light and sound. Therefore, life is fresh in the moment when the report of the moment is not judged by the mind.
The eternal moment in life, however, appears to the mind that life is made up of moments that follow each other. Thus the report of the moments in life is interpreted and judged.
If a moment in life is judged or interpreted, it makes life stale and not fresh, because judgements and interpretations involve the past and the past is always stale and not fresh.
The enlightened live daily life reported by the mind to them without judgements or interpretations. The enlightened live life as it flows, without judging life or how life should flow.
The enlightened accept life as it flows in any moment, because they understand that life cannot be more fresh than it is. This is why life is always fresh to the enlightened no matter how life flows and is never stale.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
©Copyright V. S. Shankar 2018
Editor’s Note:
Freshness breathes through this article. How can a page of printed words or spoken words smell fresh? And yet this is what they do – on the instant, when they are not judged.
Julian Capper, UK.
German Translator’s Note:
“...life is fresh in the moment when the report of the moment is not judged by the mind“ – Dr. Shankar’s article explains deeply the mind and how life appears stale as soon as judgements are present. A plain report of what happens, albeit illusory, without judgement or evaluation, does not make life stale but keeps it fresh in the moment. However, judgements are often hidden in language, such is the conditioning of the mind. For example “He is a lazy man” is not a report but contains a judgement hidden in the adjective “lazy” although it might appear as a description. “Laziness” involves a comparison based on the past, therefore it is not fresh. Judjements cannot be avoided, but they can be understood as personal opinion. A lazy man is a man who behaves in a way which does not fulfil the observers expectations about what the man should do or should have done. Humans need to be aware of hidden judgements in their language; only then, if it happens, life will always be kept fresh every moment.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.