In the world, not of the world
There is a principle that works well, which the Advaita sages have been telling us for a long time: be fully present IN the world (i.e., you do one thing at a time with full attention, in surrender and self-recollection), but do not be OF the world (i.e., do not identify with it and do not keep it constantly in your mind). The result is that you feel much lighter; it’s enlightening.
In fact, this is also the basis behind the nowadays so popular ‘mindfulness’ practice. However, the essence is missing here because that oh-so-important self-recollection (described by Ouspensky) is forgotten. This is the sensory perception of everything around you, including our own inner state, however it presents itself, and how it continually tends to adjust to external influences.
We must, therefore, act consciously in the NOW, with full attention to the situation and our actions within it, including a sensory perception of our own inner state. This is the inner attitude that allows us to truly observe, feel, and understand. It should be our sincere desire to adopt this attitude at every moment of the day. Our thinking then, just like the other mental tools we have available as humans, serves our ‘Being in manifestation’, or in other words, it is entirely subservient to our actions. This Being is Creative. Happiness is inherent in this Being, because this ‘full presence in the Now’ reveals our True inner state of Sat-Chit-Ananda.
We can stop the ‘inner noise’ that disturbs our happiness by truly being conscious in everything. By being fully present IN action or non-action (whether it’s meditation or shoveling horse dung) and by becoming one with/in that action. This is the Essential identification where the Observer and the observed become one. This is experiencing Advaita (non-duality). At the moment of this ‘unity’, there is that feeling of happiness, and all knowledge needed at that moment is at hand.
Denying that we have an inner state that continuously changes with circumstances – sometimes awake, sometimes ‘asleep’, sometimes exuberantly joyful or deeply despondent – is either ignorance or arrogance. Being consciously yourself in every situation means: being present, fully observing in self-remembrance, and accepting the inner state of both yourself and others as they are, whether they feel positive or negative. In this way, we make it practical, and ultimately, we make our essence true.
Living in truth means that we lovingly and patiently say goodbye to anything that blocks us in this, or that makes us unclear and takes us out of the Now. By gaining a purer insight into ourselves, we realize an autonomous and quiet mind that enables us to be both engaged and detached in every situation. Simultaneously!
Once purified, there’s no longer any conditioned resistance to ‘what is’, while we can indeed still experience a desire for correction from our head and heart, from our loving essence. Because we still see and feel, for example, an inaccuracy or injustice in a situation. We can now freely observe that this inaccuracy or injustice should be corrected for the benefit of everyone involved (including ourselves). Although we have become much more neutral and free inwardly concerning the circumstances (and we can then do or refrain from what we truly deem necessary), it doesn’t mean that it all no longer affects us. On the contrary. There may objectively be an injustice, and we are allowed to feel it. It can even hurt a lot! We can genuinely experience a lot of pain or grief from an internally pure and free state. We shouldn’t reason away our feelings. It always tells us a lot, as the language of our soul, because it draws from true love. Acting in and for the world remains crucial for our inner development.
So: act fearlessly IN the world, but no longer be spellbound BY the world, without demanding a result.
