What does it mean to live passionately? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Rumi (2017)

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Video Information: 30th Advait Learning Camp, 25.3.17, Jim Corbett, Uttrakhand, India

Quote:
With passion pray.
With passion make love.
With passion eat and drink and dance and play.
Why look like a dead fish
in this ocean of God?
~ Rumi

Context:
¬ What does passion mean?
¬ For what should one be passionate?
¬ How can inner fulfillment be attained?
¬ What does truth mean?
¬ What is the mind?
¬ Why is love a prerequisite for our passion?

Music Credits: Milind Date
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Transcript

00:00With passion, pray. With passion, make love. With passion, eat and drink and dance and

00:18play. Why look like a dead fish in this ocean of God? Shobit is asking what passion is.

00:34The last line must reveal it to you. Passion is to not to feel as if you are an outsider.

01:02Passion is to not to feel that you are thirsty. Passion is to not to believe that you have

01:19to reach somewhere. Passion is an inner fullness. When you play with that inner fullness, you

01:33play to play, not to win. When you make love with that inner fullness, you make love to

01:44make love, not to feel satisfied or not to impress. When you eat and drink with that

01:56inner fullness, then you eat and drink to eat and drink, not to become somebody else.

02:09Passion is the thing that the mind has for the truth. What is that thing? That thing

02:23is it cannot be far away. It is mine. Wherever I might be, the truth is my destiny. This

02:37is passion. You are passionate about something when you can not only not do without it, but

02:54you also know that there is complete security, so you will never need to do without it. Passion

03:06means not only is something very very dear to you, it is also assured that your dear thing

03:18is never going to be taken away from you. The relationship between the fish and the ocean

03:25can be summarized in two sentences. One, the fish loves the ocean. Second, the fish is inseparable

03:40from the ocean. It is not necessary that both these conditions are met for everybody and always.

03:47You may find yourself in a situation where you find that the one that you are with is not lovable.

03:57That is what often happens to those who are stuck up in the world, caught in relationships. You find

04:06you are with somebody, but there is no love there. Conversely, it is also possible that you find that

04:13you love, but the object of your love is either unattainable or only temporarily yours. None of

04:26these two are applicable with respect to the relationship of the fish and the ocean. The fish

04:37loves the ocean, that love is absolute. Second, the fish knows that it cannot be separated from

04:48the ocean, that security is absolute. Do you see what passion is? And do you see why passion makes

04:58one go ecstatic? Firstly, I love someone. Secondly, my love is totally secure. And I repeat that in

05:11our case, it is not necessary that both these conditions are met. Usually we find it difficult

05:17to love. And if we do love, then it is not necessary that the love has a secure base. I'll

05:30come back to the two conditions. What was condition number one? There must be love. What was condition

05:35number two? The love must be secure. In our case, even the first condition is unlikely to be always

05:43met. Love is not there. Love is a rarity. And if love is there, our love is always vulnerable. It

06:01needs all kinds of defenses and protection. It can be snatched away or killed at any time. Passion,

06:14the fullness of joy, when you know that that which really, really pulls you and captivates you,

06:23is within your reach. Do you see the euphoric feel of passion? One, I am in love. Second,

06:42my beloved is secured. Firstly, I am in love. That itself is a rarity. That itself is bliss.

06:52Second, my beloved is well within my reach and always within my reach. So there is security.

07:01That is passion. I want to run towards my beloved and I know I can run and I know I can reach. That

07:13is passion. Now, how would you run? What would be the quality of your steps? Joyful, energetic,

07:24and poetic at the same time. Passion is energy meeting poetry. Both these must be simultaneously

07:49fulfilled. We have a lot of examples where either none of them is fulfilled or only one

07:59is fulfilled. It is possible to love and yet be cynical. It is possible to deeply love and yet

08:10feel that your love is going to remain unanswered. That your love is going to remain unfulfilled

08:17because the one that you love is beyond your reach and if God and truth are the one you love,

08:30then it is very easy to dismiss your chances of ever reaching them. You will say, I am a body

08:39and God is bodiless. How will the body ever reach the bodiless? You will say, I am limited and God

08:53is limitless, infinite. How will I ever reach him? You will say, I am so imperfect and God is total

09:01perfection. How will I ever reach him? So, it is very possible that you love and yet are very

09:10hopeless about your love. Then you won't be passionate. Then your love would rather be a

09:22drag. You would all the time be singing sad songs. Have you seen those plays and movies where the

09:33protagonist is deeply in love but at the same time his love is doomed to fail. The one he loves can,

09:44for some tragic reason, never belong to him. We have so many tragic love stories. That is not

09:57passion. In passion, you must love and you must also know that come what may, I belong to my love,

10:10my love belongs to me. There can be no mishap. There is a total assurance. If the total assurance

10:20is not there, then your love would rather become a load upon your mind. Then your love will become

10:28your own misfortune. Then you will curse the day you fell in love. Then you will say, you would

10:36have been better had you not loved. You would meet many such people. A lot of poets only write

10:43poetry of frustration. They, in fact, literally curse the day when they saw that particular man

10:57or woman and were enamored. They say that was the day of the beginning of my ruin. That is not

11:10passion. That is rather poison. To really live in a centered way and to really live in a way where

11:28there is abundance, ebullience and unhindered flow, you must have both. Attraction towards the

11:46truth and a certainty that you will reach there. Always be certain that you will reach there. You

11:58are destined to reach there. In fact, be so sure that you will reach there that know that you are

12:06already there. Because if you say I will reach there, but there is some distance, then there

12:14still remains a faint chance that you may not reach. After all, distance is still there and

12:19who knows what may happen in the course of the distance. Life is unpredictable. There might be

12:28robbers along the way. You may meet an accident. You have to be so certain that you will reach the

12:36destination that you feel like saying I am at the destination. Then there is passion. Passion

12:46is the exuberance of living. Passion is when you are in so intimate contact with the total that

12:59your cup starts overflowing. Your cup is little and the total is great. So your cup has to overflow.

13:07Passion is that overflow. Your mind just cannot contain the joy that it has been blessed with. So

13:19joy is just dripping over, flowing over and you are totally wet. That wetness is passion.

13:32Mind you, such passion is not mere excitement because that excitement which we normally

13:55experience does not last. It is an excitement that drains out our energy and then itself gets

14:03drained out. If you remain excited for any period more than an hour, then you have chances of a

14:15physical problem. If you remain too excited, you may get a heart attack. That is the quality of

14:24our day-to-day normal excitement. So passion is not comparable to a normal state of excitement.

14:31Passion is deeper. Excitement doesn't last and that is why we find excitement so valuable because

14:41it is rare. For 30 minutes in a day you can remain excited and then you say my passion is to let's say

14:49run or cook or write or play the drum. But tell me for how long in the day can you run or write

15:06or cook or play the drum? For how long in the day will you run? Let's say two hours, four hours? Not

15:18even that much. For how long in the day will you cook? For how long in the day will you write poetry?

15:26For how long in the day will you play drum or flute or anything else? So passion cannot be

15:40activity-centric. But you usually find people saying I am passionate about this, I am passionate

15:49about that. We relate passion to an object, sometimes even to a person. You say I am

15:56passionate about meeting somebody. Now that somebody will always not be the same in your

16:04eyes. If today you are passionate about meeting him, tomorrow that passion will drop. That doesn't

16:11mean that the person will drop out from your life. The person may still remain but the passion may

16:18sink. Excitement is only there when there is a rarity, only when there is a beginning. When

16:28something becomes regular and known, then passion drops. This is the quality of our so-called

16:34passion. The passion that Rumi is referring to is not such passion. The passion that Rumi is

16:43referring to is the passion in which the object is infinite and hence the energy associated with

16:49that passion is also infinite. If the object, if your passion is a limited being, then your

16:58passion is also going to be limited. 30 minutes a day for 30 days, full stop. But if you are

17:07passionate towards the truth, then your passion will be everlasting. Then it will show up in

17:12everything that you do. If you are passionate about playing the drum, then the moment the

17:19drumming stops, your passion will also drop. That is what happens when you say that you are

17:26passionate about something X. Then everything that is not X only sees a lackathetical, a

17:36disinterested face of yours. You don't have any worth there. You look drowsy. In fact,

17:55after you are freshly done with your bout of passion, you look the most drowsy. You have

18:06played the drum for two hours. Now your passion is exhausted. What do you want to do now? Sleep.

18:12The height of passion is gone. Falling from the crest, now there is only the trough. You are at

18:25the mountain peak. Now you are in the valley. You want to sleep. But look at what Rumi is saying.

18:34Rumi is saying eat with passion, drink with passion, make love with passion, pray with passion,

18:39which means passion has to be all-pervasive. Passion has to be 24 hours. Passion has to be

18:45there in every activity. This passion cannot be there in every activity if it is object-specific.

18:52Hence, it has to be only towards the truth. When you are passionate towards the truth,

19:04then there is passion in everything that you do. And that passion is not merely an overflow of

19:15energy. That passion is not merely a periodic excitement. That passion is much more than that.

19:45Sit with passion, sleep with passion, wake with passion. Let passion be the environment in which

19:52you do anything. Sleep with passion. Now what does this passion have to do with energy?

20:04It is something else. It's a quality. It's a way of living.

20:14Rise with passion, fall with passion. Up with passion, down with passion. Speak with passion,

20:31listen with passion, meet with passion, depart with passion, win with passion,

20:47lose with passion, build with passion, demolish with passion. If you are passionate only about

21:02building, then demolishing will demolish you. You have to be just passionate. Then you are

21:13passionate about both building and destroying. Now that's nice. With great passion you are

21:27destroying everything that you yourself build. Nice. Kiss with passion, kill with passion.

21:38Heal with passion, hit with passion.

22:08Come close with passion, break apart with passion.

22:23You will then be able to say, I've just had a very passionate breakup.

22:40What does that mean? They will never know. Most people never know anything anyway.

23:10So when we talk about this passion versus all this love, why we tend to relive our experience

23:34of love. It is just much more than worldly love. What Rumi is talking about is surely

23:52applicable to worldly love as well. But it is not limited to worldly love. When Rumi says,

24:03love passionately, that includes the love that you make to your wife.

24:11But that is not limited to loving your wife. Rumi says, live passionately and life does include

24:24the gamut of all your relationships, the totality. So you can indeed mean Rumi's words to imply

24:42that you should have a passionate relationship with your wife.

24:45But Rumi is saying have a passionate relationship with your wife and your dog.

24:53And the tree in your courtyard.

25:00So it is not limited to one object. Passion is the total environment in which you live.

25:10When the wind blows, it caresses every leaf.

25:17The touch of the wind is not reserved for a single leaf. That is passion.

25:24Everything is touched and caressed.

25:33When the sun shines, everything is illuminated.

25:40The sun does not say here that one is my favorite house.

25:45I will illuminate that particular one only.

25:47To be passionate is to illuminate everything. To be passionate is to caress

26:01every face you come across,

26:05is to greet every person you come across.

26:17Good evening.

26:33Not only we met the artists, but even then that

26:38beta was there and he was also very modern.

26:43So,

27:03if you want to see the lack of passion, just see how you are after your bout of passion.

27:13Just see how you are after the party has just finished.

27:20Then you will see what is meant by lack of passion. Our passion is very dualistic.

27:26We reserve our energy for specific people and occasions.

27:30And if you want to see a total lack of energy, see how we are after that occasion.

27:42After a very passionate weekend, look at your face on a Monday morning.

27:59After spending a few passionate hours with your girlfriend,

28:03look at your face at the time of farewell.

28:13So,

28:27passion is love and security taken together.

28:37That security is faith.

28:43I have faith that I will never lose my beloved. I love

28:56deeply and I have faith that I will never lose my beloved.

29:03When both these things are together, that is passion.

29:12Relaxation.

29:18Of course, relaxation. And not just a resigned relaxation.

29:26It is a celebratory relaxation. You are relaxing at the summit.

29:33You are relaxing at the destination. Like a winner.

29:43So, you have great ebullience.

29:52As we just said, there is so much that your mind can't even contain it. It's overflowing.

30:12Dhyan to me is the same thing. Dhyan is attention. Attention is to attend to the truth.

30:37In passion too you are attending only to the truth.

30:42But passion has an added quality. You are not only attending to the truth,

30:47you are also assured about the truth.

31:04You know that you are not fighting a losing battle.

31:09You know that the battle is already won. You see, you can be very valiant and you can very

31:20energetically fight a losing battle also. But that will not have the quality that Rumi is

31:28referring to as passion. Passion is when you are fighting the battle and you know in advance

31:37that the battle is already won. You cannot lose it. Now you fight it with passion.

31:47You know two things parallelly. One, the battle is for something invaluable.

31:55The battle is for your beloved. And second, you also know that you cannot lose this battle.

32:01Now you fight with abandon. Now you fight with all that you have.

32:07Now you fight without inhibition. That is passion.

32:31If your goal is small, you can never be secure. The smaller your

33:02beloved object is, the more unreliable would it be. When the small cannot

33:18even belong to itself in the sense that it has no mastery of itself,

33:23how can then the small belong to you?

33:33The small is always susceptible to the vicissitudes of time, situation,

33:42coincidence. Hence the small is never reliable. Today the small may claim that it belongs totally

33:54to you, tomorrow it will back off. Today what seems like a flourish will tomorrow become a withering.

34:06The only way then to remain assured about your love is to love the grand, the big, the regal.

34:26If you love anything less than the biggest, then you will always live in fear about losing your love.

34:37The smaller the object of your love is, the more fickle would be the relationship.

34:49It would be very moody. It would be full of ups and downs and ultimately it will collapse.

34:56Even if it does not collapse, it will keep you annoyed and anxious always and that is as bad as a collapse.

35:07In matters of love, make sure that nothing less than a Himalayan bigness attracts you.

35:28Don't fall for the petty. You will find that your life is being spent in petty affairs.

35:46Avoid the petty as much as possible.

35:48With the petty, there can be no passion. With the petty, there would only be pettiness.

36:09Passion and fullness are inseparable. Passion and bigness are inseparable.

36:19Don't try to be passionate about something little.

36:30I am passionate about cooking sambhar.

36:38I am passionate about brushing my teeth.

36:48People are passionate about strange things. I am passionate about cleaning my left ear.

37:08Don't be passionate about the little. The little is so little that it won't be able to take the

37:22weight of your passion. If you are too passionate about cleaning your left ear,

37:27chances are very soon you will lose your hearing.

37:38Your little left ear won't be able to bear the weight of your passion.

37:48Either your passion will be exhausted or your ear will be exhausted.

37:56I once met a fellow who was very passionate about cleaning his tongue.

38:12Some amongst us might be passionate about monkeys.

38:15That is not good news, neither for you nor for the monkeys.

38:36Be passionate about the large and that does not mean a gorilla.

38:46So,

39:03I hope the ladies and gentlemen here will understand that

39:06by largeness I do not mean dimensions of limited objects. I am not referring to size.

39:22I am referring to another quality, the quality of immensity, the quality of immeasurability.

39:37Otherwise, you will start being passionate about a Maharaja dosa. It is quite large.

39:55So, you have graduated from sambhar to Maharaja dosa.

40:06That will only give you some fat.

What does it mean to live passionately? || Acharya Prashant, on Saint Rumi (2017)

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