Conscious or Unconscious?

In life, either things happen to us or we allow things to happen to us. There is no third possibility, really. Things happen to us means we are unconsciousness of those things. When we allow things to happen to us is, that is through consciousness. Though things happening to us unconsciously cannot be termed as a choice in the literal sense, still, the fact remains that it is a kind of ‘passive choice’ that is made in unawareness. The difference between the two is of quality, which we know as consciousness. When our actions are compulsive in nature, that is, happening out of our karma, past memory, then we say that things are happening to us. Something just happened rather automatically, repetitively and in a set-pattern as if someone is driving or forcing us to do that. Unconsciousness is the reason and basis for our bondage, which makes us move in circles and takes us nowhere. Seeing things as they are and doing what is needed is about being conscious. It’s a quality that perhaps only human beings have. By practising and exercising this privilege in our life, we can become completely free — free from the cycles of life, free from the birth-death cycle. Consciousness is our true nature. It is the freedom in which life happens to us. There is no bondage or compulsiveness in it. Only a life lived in awareness is worth living. Life lived in unconsciousness is of no value even if lived for a hundred years or for a hundred lifetimes. And that is what spirituality and spiritual practices are about — moving from unconsciousness to consciousness.

Source: Economic Times, 26/10/2018