What are you doing for yourself? Not the going to work. Most of us have obligated ourselves to the necessity of working. To the cycles of working, spending, acquiring – wash – rinse – repeat. What are you doing to maintain Self? Have you even taken time to think about what comprises Self? Self, as I define Self, is that aspect of your being that works toward the aligning of mind, body and spirit with the Source of All Creating / Sustaining / Dissolving. Effort must be expending in order for this alignment to turn into enlightenment. If this is not part of your daily activities, then you are running on the perpetual hamster wheel.
So, the work thing is not to be abhorred. It is a requirement for existing in this present system. According to Goswami Kriyananda (Temple of Kriya Yoga, Chicago, IL, ‘Money is the prana of this artificial earth’ (Emphasis added). Prana is prana, the breath of GOD, Chi. The universal, inter-dimensional energies cannot be duplicated. People have been indoctrinated to pursue money as if it were life. The perception of what constitutes life has been intertwined with the pursuit of money. Thus, the necessity of work becomes a source of validation for many.
The obligation of work need not take us away from giving needed attention to Self. Time must be given everyday to taking care of the body and the mind. To take care of these two things goes beyond coming home and plopping into the chair to be subsumed by the T.V. or eating while mindlessly numbing out. To undo the binding down of Self one must spend time in finding that Self. Exercise, it need not be excruciatingly grueling. It must be something that moves the body or facilitates deep and focused breathing. One does not need to be self-absorbed to pursue health for the body, but one must be persistent in said pursuit. Likewise, mental wellness must include going beyond the sense realm. Mental attachments to seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling (tactile stimulation) pulls many away from what lies ‘beyond’. According to Nikola Tesla – “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”
The bulk of what is to be realized lies in the realm beyond the senses. We must put in the work to realize that Self lies beyond the physical. This takes us into the spiritual. There is nothing spooky about this realm as we are All part of the Divine. We are but aspects of the SOURCE. As we seek out, discover and develop Self, the more easily Self melds into SOURCE.
We can and must give time to Self; to that aspect of being that unites mind, body and spirit to that from which they all emanate. Work is a necessity, but it does not have to be an all-consuming endeavor. Separation between those mundane obligations and higher goals of Self-care can lead to better outcomes in wellness, health, personal outlook, relating and relationships and spiritual insights. What you do positively for Self will pervade and enhance all your actions.
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 