A good traveler has no fixed plans,
and no intention of arriving.
—Lao Tzu
Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it.
Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it.
Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it.
—Sai Baba
To have faith is to trust yourself to the water.
When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water,
because if you do you will sink and drown.
Instead you relax, and float.
—Alan Watts
I have a simple philosophy: Fill what’s empty.
Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches.
—Alice Roosevelt Longworth
A few years ago a question appeared in my mind while in meditation, “What are my teachings in one sentence?” The answer came quickly: “Relax, enjoy, and do something useful.” I like enjoying life, relaxing, eating, going places, and talking to people. While I am laid back, I do not forget about doing something useful. Thus, this Key Vortex came about from my own natural personal life philosophy.
The way I conduct my life is in juxtaposition to the way most people conduct their lives. Most people maintain a pretense of relaxing and enjoying. They also delude themselves about the usefulness of their activities. What most think is useful will not make them happy (or healthy) in the long run. Our world is beset with a perverted sense of responsibility, which replaces real satisfaction and happiness—the two things that make life worthwhile—with ephemeral obligations. This Vortex, at its core, is meant to break the cycle by focusing on what is really important.
Relax: What does it mean to relax? To relax means to let go and let be. Letting go of stiffness in our body, useless concepts or stuck thoughts in the mind, of stuck emotions, of trying to get back at people who hurt us, of guilt about mistakes we have committed. Letting go is about allowing ourselves to start fresh and anew right now.
We could say “meditate always” instead of “relax”. In order to truly relax we must relax into the present moment, the point of meditation. If we are not relaxed in the present, our minds are either in the future or in the past—not fully present. Feeling bad about the past or scheming about the future are ways to miss the present.
Enjoy: The present moment is important because the present is all you have—the only space for engaging and enjoying your life. If you focus on the now, you will have a chance to notice gifts that life brings you every moment. Do we need to explain why enjoying your life is important?
Useful: Why did I add “do something useful” to this Vortex? Humans tend to become lazy when relaxation and enjoyment are integrated into their lives. We exist in the world of time-space reality. We need to act and achieve in order to grow, feel good about ourselves, and earn our worth to others and ourselves. Graduating from college, getting a job, saving for retirement, and becoming serious about your life and spiritual path are all examples of doing something useful for a better future.
We live in a certain setting, surround ourselves with particular people, and think certain thoughts. The setting, the people, and our thinking define our reality right now. How to escape your present reality? How to find more meaning and joy, away from cooking in your boring and stale soup, away from swimming in a cold and tempestuous river? “Doing something useful” is about finding a peaceful and abundant river, and starting to cook a new, tasty soup.
We create our own reality by methodically advancing toward our desires, in small or big steps. A small step forward would be to begin thinking more productive thoughts. A big accomplishment begins with the first step and proceeds, until done, in small steps. Big or small achievements are always about taking concrete, positive steps to better yourself and your circumstances.
Observe also that the first two practices of this Vortex (relax and enjoy) are prerequisites to the last one (do something useful). To really get going towards what you want, you have to have the first two qualities well developed. If you do not relax, you are not in an allowing state, and it will be very difficult to engage with what you want. You may not even come close to knowing what you want. Take note of where your joy is and follow the path toward your bliss. If you are truly relaxed and truly enjoying, doing something useful will be very easy. It will come out of inspiration rather than motivation.
There is a big difference between these two modes of action. Someone who is motivated is coming from a tense (not relaxed) space. Someone who is inspired is coming from in-spirit-ation. It comes from the Spirit—from your soul’s call for abundance and joy. Anything that emerges from true inspiration arises for the best and comes out great. Knowing this is true wisdom!
If we were to condense all Modern Seers teaching into one simple instruction, then this Key Vortex “Relax, enjoy, and do something useful” is all you need to know. This Key Vortex contains all Modern Seers Teachings.
Action: Relax, enjoy, and do something useful!