We are living in an age where there is much to do and not enough time to do it. Every day, we are caught in a net of information; bombarded by information through various technologies, platforms and outlets and much of our time is spent in gathering this information, be it about the world around us or things that we believe are healthy for us.
Oftentimes, however, we end up simply spending our time in gathering this information but not making use of it to better our lives. We are given 24 hours each day to put to good use, out of which, after discharging our worldly obligations and giving rest to our body, we have about six hours to put to good use. How we use this time defines how we use our day and therefore it is important where we focus our attention during this time. The key to making the most of our time is to first and foremost understand what our priorities are.
It is helpful to stop and ask ourselves, where is our attention going? What are our priorities? We may find that we spend too much time and attention in the monetary aspect of our life or our careers at the cost of neglecting our families, our personal growth and our spiritual growth. If so, we may want to look at balancing out our life. Many of us become so absorbed trying to amass money and possessions in our everyday life that we neglect other aspects of our life.
We may not only miss out on the beauties of nature and the joys of relationships with other people, but we may be missing out on the greatest treasure of all—the spiritual riches.
There is nothing wrong in earning a livelihood. However, when earning money becomes all-consuming at the neglect of our health, our family, or our spiritual growth, then we may be leading an imbalanced life. It is important to lead a balanced life. We can attend to our responsibilities in the world and towards our families as well as to our spiritual development.
We may all have worldly goals, but in this human existence, our foremost goal, is to experience God and to find our oneness with God. If we leave this world without having achieved this goal, this golden opportunity will have been wasted.
Once we recognize this goal, and once we realize that the way to achieve it is through meditation, it is up to us to prioritize meditation in our daily activities such that our attention is focused on putting in the time for our meditation practices each day. If we do not prioritize meditation, and instead allow ourselves to get carried away by worldly deadlines and distractions, we will end up sometimes meditating and sometimes not meditating; and before long we will have fallen behind on our most important goal.
Kingdoms have come and gone. Kings and leaders have come and gone. Everything in this world is temporary. We are here but for a short time, and we have been given this human existence with one clear purpose. Once we realize this purpose, we need to do all we can to take steps toward it. The more we focus, the more successful we will be and the sooner we can get there.
By sitting in meditation for some time each day, we would find that we are using our time for lasting spiritual gains. Meditation is a way to devote time to our body, mind, and soul. It allows us to spend some time daily in the quiet of our own self and tap into the treasures within. The by-product of that is that it also has an effect on improving our physical, mental, and emotional health and wellness.
-Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj