Baba Lokenath on Awareness and the path to a peaceful and happy life

[Ajay0]

A discussion between the enlightened sage Baba Lokenath and a disciple, on the theme of leading a peaceful and happy life through awareness...
 

https://babalokenath.org/pages/teachings

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To the question, “What is the path to a happy and peaceful life?” Baba spontaneously replied, “Do whatever you like, but do it consciously, with a sense of awareness.”

The questioner, however, continued, “If You give me permission to do as I please, then what would You say if I hit somebody’s head with a stick?” Baba smiled and replied, “Do it and see. I asked you to perform all actions consciously. Once you become conscious and aware, you will find that your conscience will prevent you from hurting anyone.”

The evils in society are perpetrated because awareness is absent. All evil actions are the result of unconsciousness. To seekers of truth and bliss Baba gave another fruitful instruction. “If you intend to become spiritual, you must analyze your actions and thoughts each day before you go to bed at night. You must assess the good actions and evil actions and come to a firm resolution not to repeat evil actions anymore.”

A seeker should try to practice all activities in a state of awareness. This is the most important “abhyasa-yoga” or spiritual practice for the aspirant. Most recurring actions that flow from lust, anger, greed, jealousy and the like manifest only in a state of unawareness. The seeds of these tendencies lie dormant in the subconscious layers of the mind.

 

[Ajay0]

A similar article and teaching by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar...
 

https://wisdom.srisriravishankar.org/the-importance-of-awareness/

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I would like to tell you a story about a saint. A thief once came to a saint and said, “See, I can’t stop stealing. I am a pathological stealer. What do I do?” The saint said, “Look, I’m not going to tell you not to steal, but I am going to advise you to steal with awareness. Whenever you try to steal something, first look at your hand and know what it is going to do, and then with that awareness, go steal something.” The man came back to meet the saint after three months, and said, “Swamiji, it was impossible! I could not steal with awareness.”

The same happens with anger. Anger comes as a sudden outburst, as we commonly say, “I lost it.” What is it that you lost? Nothing but awareness. To do something destructive, all you need is momentary passion, an impulse. You can evoke passion in a person and he can go and destroy something. But to do something creative, we need more than passion. What we need is awareness. We need a certain focus. 

 

[strika]

Spot on, this is how i approach life too, it works great for me.