See, as a child you have lived in the present. A child cries and the tears are still on its cheeks and it starts smiling again. But if you're upset, for you to smile again may take many months, and sometimes years. This is why I say, "Live in the present moment". It means let go of the past, wake up now, and live every moment.
In this moment there is a depth of the past, and there is a depth of the future as well. But all that is there is only this moment; right now. The past is there only as a memory, the future is there only as a plan, but what is always with us - is the present moment.
If you think, "I am doing a service", while you are serving, it is no good. Service should be part of your nature. When you do something for yourself, do you call it service? Do you say, "I'm serving myself?" No, because it's such a natural instinct. Any thing you do to your own children, do you call it service? You consider it your duty. So as a human being, our duty or our nature is to help others.
For a conscious person, helping is his nature. He's not doing it as an act or favour to someone. So all that we need to do is raise our own consciousness and the consciousness of the people, and service will happen automatically, because then you can't be without service. I feel that this way is better than asking someone to serve..
It is the same with compassion as well. When consciousness is elevated, it feels as though everyone is part of you. At that time compassion also loses its relevance as an act. It becomes quite natural for you to be compassionate. Not that compassion disappears, but it's not a conscious effort that one has to make.
Turn back and look at your own life. How many times have you felt like that? How much time have have you spent worrying? Even though you worried so much, things still happened in the right manner, didn't it. There was no need to worry! So looking back at your own experience, you should see that it is futile to worry.
Second is, you should have confidence in your own ability, and in your own fortune. You should know that only the best thing will happen to you. Have that confidence. If these two things don't work there is a third option. Invoke valour in you, "Come what may I will face it, I will handle it. I have the power to handle it".
Okay, even if this doesn't work, know that there is a higher power that loves you dearly, and it will never let you down. This faith will pull you through any tough period.
Smile more and feel everyone as a part of you, belonging to you. The time we spend on this planet, 80-100 years is such a short time when compared to the billions of years this planet has been going on for. So we are very insignificant, yet very significant. This is the dilemma. We are insignificant, yet very significant. Every little thing is significant here. Knowing this gives you that deep rest and dynamic outlook towards life.
Mind is just a projection of soul. Soul is your whole consciousness, the life force in you. The part of it which is listening to me right now, which is asking the question, which is perceiving - we call it the mind. So if your mind is elsewhere, though I'm speaking and the words are falling into your ear drums, still you don't get it because the mind is elsewhere. So it's through the mind that we see, smell, taste, hear, and experience the sense of touch. That is what the mind is.
The mind has another function which we call intellect. As I'm speaking, something in you is saying, "Yes, I agree", or, "No, I don't agree with this". There is something in you which is accepting and rejecting, judging and accommodating -- that is the intellect.
There are seven layers to our existence: Body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego and the soul. See, we keep breathing but many of us don't even know that we are breathing unless we have an asthma attack or some problem. We don't realize how important it is for us to breathe deeply.
Body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego and the soul or self. The self is that total consciousness. There is something in you that doesn't change, which is the reference point for all changes. Your thoughts are changing, your emotions are changing, your body has undergone so much change. If you look at a 25 years old picture of you, you can't say it's the same body. It's much different than what you are now, but still you are the same person. So there's something in you that is not changing in spite of all the changes. That non-changing aspect in you, or the reference by which you recognize the changes so to say 'this is changing', there should be something that doesn't change, and that is what is the soul.
When we go deep into this, it's amazing, amazing, and amazing! An arena opens in front of you. And the way to go deeper into this is meditation.
