When can you truly rest? When is rest actually possible?
Rest is only possible when all activity has ceased. When you stop moving around, when you stop working, thinking, talking, seeing, listening, smelling, tasting—when all of these activities come to a halt—then rest becomes possible. What remains are only the involuntary actions of the body (breathing, the beating of the heart, digestion, blood circulation, etc.)—this is called sleep.
Sleep provides rest—but is it complete rest?
Recall the times when you weren't in deep sleep:
There was some restlessness, excitement, or desire.
The mind kept planning, and planning, and planning.
Your ambitions made you anxious.
There was a strong urge to do something: "Oh, I have to do this."
In all these moments—your mind wasn’t free.
Only when the mind settles does meditation happen. Meditation gives you complete rest and deep relaxation.
How can we be free from desires?
As long as there are desires swirling in your mind, you cannot experience complete rest. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says: “You cannot enter into yoga (union with the Self) unless you have let go of the desires and cravings within you.”
Expand your desire
Another way is to make your desire vast—expand it! Then it won’t bother you. It’s the tiny grain of sand that irritates the eye—a rock or a mountain cannot enter your eye. It cannot disturb you.
Be dispassionate
As long as you're entangled in "doing" something (the sense of doership), as long as you're caught in planning ("I want to do this, I need to do that"), your mind won’t settle. Every desire or ambition is like a grain of sand in your eye—it irritates. You can neither close your eyes nor open them. When there’s a grain in your eye, it’s uncomfortable either way.
Dispassion is the removal of that grain of sand so you can freely open or close your eyes—you can enjoy the world without clinging, you can relax and be at ease.
Dispassion is not apathy
“Oh, everyone’s going to the grave anyway, so what’s the point?”—that is apathy, not dispassion. There is an incompleteness in apathy.
Dispassion is full of enthusiasm and joy! It brings all the joy into your life... and that’s what allows you to truly rest. When you rest deeply—when you go deep into meditation—then, when you emerge from that deep meditation, you become dynamic—you are able to act more effectively. The deeper the rest you experience, the more dynamic your activity will be. Although deep rest and dynamic action are opposites, they complement each other.
From deep rest => to deep meditation => after meditation => into dynamic action
Learn to relax... and rest
When you learn to relax, you’ll be filled with joy... and once you begin to feel joy, more will be given to you. To those who have, more will be given—that is meditation.
To fall asleep, you must let go of everything—only then can you rest.
Why not apply the same principle to your daily activity, moment by moment? At the very least, when you sit to meditate—or during meditation—let everything go.
The best way to do this is to think or feel: “The world is disappearing, dissolving, gone!”
What is there that you can really hold on to? You can’t even keep this body forever! No matter how much you care for it, one day it will leave you. You will be forcibly evicted from this world—without warning! Before the body leaves you, learn to leave everything else. That is freedom.
Meditation is:
Letting go of anger from the past.
Letting go of past events.
Letting go of all future plans.
Accepting the present moment.
Living each moment fully—with depth.
Meditation is the art of doing nothing… and the rest you get in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep you can ever have. It is several times deeper—because in sleep, desires still linger somewhere. But in meditation, you go beyond all desires. It brings such coolness to the brain! It’s like a complete service or overhaul for the body-mind complex.
Relax and observe. Just this understanding, along with a few days of regular meditation practice—this brings so much rest—it can completely change the quality of your life.
