Action versus reaction

People like to think that they are in control of their destiny. While it is true that we create our own future, it is also true that most people are not in control of their destiny because of lack of awareness.

People think that they decide what to do, what action to take. They think that they are free, with freedom to choose what to do, freedom to live their life any way they want. However, if we look at the actions of most people, it is easy to see that this so called freedom is wasted on them. Most of the time we get carried away by the tide of day to day life, swept away by the tide of lack of awareness. We live in our chattering minds, in our wayward thoughts, affected by our prejudices and preconceived notions, our actions guided by false ego, unfounded fear, misplaced ambitions, and false smugness of our knowledge and superiority. And, although we might catch a glimspe of this every now and then, most of the time we are not even aware of these forces behind our actions, especially at the time of the action. Since we are not really aware of life at the given moment, can we really call this action?

It seems that most of the time what we call action, is really just a reaction. We never really act, most of the time we are just reacting! Let's stop here and let that sink in. If we really understand that, not just logically and intellectually, but really understand it deeply, then that understanding will alter our lives fundamentally. It will change how we approach life, how we live our lives and will put us on the doorstep of awareness.

Note that this is not a call to inactivity! Quite the contrary. This is a call to stop the 'busy-ness' and false activity that we mistake for action.

Let's stop reacting all the time and let real action arise out of awareness. Let's be active, not reactive.