Our Serious Responsibility

I wanted to share a favorite quote of mine. It's from my teacher's teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:

"We have an infinite number of reasons to be happy and a serious responsibility to not be serious."

When most folks think of meditation, they think it's pretty serious stuff. Concentration, controlling the mind, focusing on eliminating thoughts, and achieving stillness. With our practice, we do the complete opposite.

We're simple, innocent, and fairly indifferent. We take it as it comes. The only thing we're serious about is getting to the chair twice a day. Once we've sat down, we're down for whatever.

The greatest need of the time is elevating consciousness. The world is filled with so much reactivity. It's our responsibility to ease up. Rather than fight or flight, we need more stay and play. These days, it's a radical act to relax and enjoy and the ripple effect is profound.