Thanks Matt and Inky. It is pretty deep kinda stuff.

Hi N @chameleon

I have not heard of the guy’s name whose u-tube you have watched. However, I will share my perspective based on the title of this post, “meaningless effort”.

When I first started to read up on spirituality and gain more understanding on WHO AM I, I came across many such opinions and it was very confusing. If everything is nothing or somewhat pointless, then why waste time doing anything ? Why don’t we all just go and sit on Himalayas and meditate with DL until we are ready to leave the body, yeah ?

After doing regular meditation for couple of years now, I have come to understand that when we are happy, life is flowing well and all our wants are being fulfilled, we don’t question anything as nothing. Everything is meaningful and beautiful on earth. Life seems like a bed of roses and if we had a choice, we wouldn’t let go of this state of being. However, like everything in nature, nothing is permanent so the mental state of calm is also limited for non-enlightened beings like us.

Bring in meaningless tasks, unfulfilled wishes, unhappy relationships, unmet basic survival needs etc and all of us start searching for some form of relief. We beg subconsciously for peace, calm, happiness and contentment in life. Some people turn to spirituality, some to religion and some to D/A 🙂 etc

If we could continue in the state of bliss in all circumstances, I doubt any of us would question anything as nothing. What provides bliss in life ? An awareness that everything is impermanent in this dimension and all things exist in duality. If there is sadness, there is happiness. If there is death, there is life. If there is darkness, there is light. If there are meaningful tasks, then there are non-meaningful tasks etc. By understanding this, we can enjoy being in the moment and truly embrace all that life has to offer without getting attached to anything or anyone. Attachment comes from falsely feeling and believing that someone or something is never going to leave us. This is against the natures law and this law works the same for all.

What makes a job or anything pointless or even meaningful ? OUR MIND. Someone has nicely quoted that our mind is our biggest friend and it is also the worst enemy. Our mind helps us to come out of any adversity but it also helps us to remain attached to impermanent things if we do not take control its activity. This is probably the biggest difference between Dalai Lama and us. He still does all the mundane tasks that we all do but he doesn’t get attached to the outcomes. His mind doesn’t get disturbed by the outcomes. Whatever happens will be perfect and he accepts everything that comes his way. And what does this achieve ? A constant state of bliss and minimal mental chatter.

How can we achieve a similar state and still fulfil all our worldly obligations ? I have found that meditation; selfless service to our bodies, families and community; acceptance of self and others; and unconditional love for everything and anything can go a long way in achieving above.

What can take us away from this state of bliss ? Chasing things or people without questioning their purpose in our lives. And perhaps, this is what the you-tube guy is referring to when he says, “they sometimes strive at things that are ‘meaningless”. When we are constantly chasing money, fame, status, people etc without appreciating the beauty around us on a daily basis, everything becomes meaningless.

Another thing I have come to learn is that we cant fully appreciate the “I” until we fulfil our worldly obligations as the “attachment to things and people” will keep dragging us back into the worldly dramas. We can truly only proceed to the highest levels of our spiritual quest once we are able to look after our and our families well-being to the fullest capacity.

Until we reach that state of higher consciousness, everything that we do for living and surviving is very meaningful and necessary. We cant do a Phd until we go through all the levels of school, college, uni etc, can we ? Spirituality is very similar – we cant skip the steps by making an excuse that hey, what’s the use of it all ? Everything is a stepping stone and things become clearer as we move higher in our consciousness.

Hope this makes sense.

Jasmine