By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar┃Posted: October 17, 2018

The ancient scriptures say that we’re all floating in a vast ocean of life. Even though everybody is born out of the same consciousness, no two lives are the same. As diverse as our lives are, they’re interdependent and there’s something to learn from everyone.

To get an all-around exposure to life, take out five days – not too many, just five days.

• Spend one day – morning to evening, with a farmer. Go with him to the farm in the early morning and see what he/she does all day. You’ll become sensitive towards the environment, towards food. A third of the food in the world is wasted and thrown away. Spending a day watching a farmer will help us know and be grateful for the hard work and resources that go into producing food, so we’ll think twice before wasting it.

• Spend one day in jail (but without committing a crime). You’ll realize that the individuals we label as criminals and put in prisons landed there due to circumstances and ignorance. When anger grips a person, they aren’t in control of their actions. If you ask the most hardened criminals, they’ll say, “I didn’t do it. Something came over me and it just happened.” It’ll become evident that inside every culprit there’s a victim crying for help. Compassion will arise in your heart. If you have hatred in your heart towards anybody, that’ll vanish.

• On the third day, become a school teacher. You’ll understand why a guru is needed. Wherever you are in life, there are so many that you can help and guide. It brings a deep satisfaction within. It’s not that only those with long hair and beards can be gurus. Everybody can play the role, at least for someone. You don’t really need special skills, but you need compassion. Being a teacher, you can channel that compassion. “I want nothing but that my student should progress.” Such unconditional love comes to our life.

• Spend the fourth day in a mental institution. Whatever anybody in a mental hospital says to you, whatever names they call you, you won’t take to heart. After spending a day when anybody can say anything to you, you’ll develop the strength to face criticism without being shaken. Not only will you be strong enough to accept all criticism, you’ll have compassion for those who criticize you. We get anxious over small matters. “What does he/she think about me?” We’re shaken and then we react. You should have the courage to give criticism and receive criticism as well. If we teach our children this, they’ll grow into strong and stable members of society.

• Spend one day in a cemetery or funeral home. You’ll have a very close and intense experience of life’s impermanence. Whatever complaints you carry around will vanish. Having the knowledge that death can come anytime will change your perspective for good.

Just a formal education isn’t enough. It’s important to explore different dimensions of life to get a holistic education. When we keenly see the different facets of life unfolding around us, it makes us centered and established in our higher self.