“One should never conceal one’s strength and prowess”
- Acharang Sutra

How is it, that in most cases when faced with a request, the general excuse that comes from our mouth is “I’m not feeling up to it” or “I don’t have the time for it”. We avoid work at all costs, and that attitude is costing us dearly.

Life is work, and work is growth. Even in early retirement, although you may change the mode of work, you must never stop working!

So as the Acharang Sutra states, “no ninhavejja viriyam” – you should never conceal your strength and prowess. Consider your divine strength, as you decide on what to do next with your time. Immerse yourself in your work, whilst detaching yourself from the outcome. Use this today to build your inner strength as you embrace the next moment and take on just one of the opportunities that land on your lap.

“The striver who is perceptive and wise knows how to walk the different paths of life. He uses his discrimination in trying to understand the situation as a whole and behaves accordingly”
- Acharang Sutra

How easy is it, to get distracted in our everyday lives? No sooner do we start one task, that something else beckons for our attention. So you’ve noticed it too, huh? With the mass of distractions that surround us nowadays, is it a surprise that the work we do, the way we play, or the times we sit still, tend not to get the quality of energy it deserves?

Whatever happened to being able to immerse ourselves in that one critical task, without interruption? How do we retrain ourselves to focus our energy on what’s most important, rather than pour it down the drain?

The best lesson we can give to ourselves and to our children, is the skill to discriminate between what will serve, and what will damage. Our current action can either serve us and our world, or you can consider it time wasted on a meaningless distraction.

“One who neglects or disregards the existence of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence which is entwined with them”
- Tirthankar Mahavir

Springing from the ancient Jain texts, we hear of “Parasparopagraho jivanam” which literally means ‘souls render service to one another’. From this, we can take it to mean that all life is bound together by mutual understanding and interdependence.

If only you knew that earth, air, fire, water and vegetation was also life, would you be creative about the way in which you use them? Consider the effects that self-restraint and moderation have on the quality of your life, and the impact your simplest of actions have on the world around you.

“Intention springs from our deepest desires, and those desires are shaped by karma. You and I don’t have the same karma; therefore we don’t have exactly the same desires. ”
- Deepak Chopra

“If you think you can… or if you think you can’t… you’re right!”
- Henry Ford

“Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.”
– Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari

“You have to do your own work;
those who have reached the goal will only show the way.”
- Buddha

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer,
it sings because it has a song.”
- Maya Angelou

“Bhuj, Chandkaushik, Bhuj! Wake up, Chandkaushik, wake up! Realise what you are doing.”
- Bhagwan Mahavir

He first said it 2,600 years ago to the vicious cobra, Chandkaushik, who terrorised everybody in the village. When Bhagwan Mahavir was meditating in the dense baron land, the snake, Chandkaushik came upon him and bit Lord Mahavir on the toe. But Mahavir Bhagwan calmly opened his eyes and told Chandkaushik to wake up and realise what effect his present actions will have on his future.

Do you know the consequences of today’s actions on tomorrow? What situations are coming up for you today and how are you responding to them? How will your response determine the situations that come up for you tomorrow?

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
- Rumi

This applies to love, as well as any of the other innate qualities which we all have. Love, like truth, strength, and creativity, is covered by loads of barriers. At the moment, these qualities are playing hide-and-seek really well, aren’t they?

To have love, truth, strength or creativity in your life, it doesn’t have to be about forcing yourself into those states. As Rumi put it, simply seek and find all the barriers WITHIN yourself that you have built against it, and then pay attention to (attend to) these barriers. Look them straight in the eye, and patiently observe as the barriers fade away.

When the barriers fade away, what’s left? You got it – love, truth, strength and creativity!