like dead stone

i've heard it and read it lots of times when people describe the mode of living they are in now as something like "dead stone". it is so, they say, because of routine. they go over the same usual rounds of activities day after day after day. and because of these, they almost feel the same regular feelings. regularity breeds familiarity. familiarity breeds indifference. indifference leads to stagnancy. one then becomes stone cold.  they say this mainly because they find themselves unhappy.

rich people, poor people, they have the same complaint-- that they find it hard to stay happy. for most  people, rich or poor, happiness is counting the additional products of this material world that they have amassed. that they were able to possess. if the day does not provide this, that day is an unhappy day. so for most of us, happiness is equated with possession. of material things. for most of us, this then is our routine: day after day after day, to perform the same round of actions that will benefit us more. self-serving activities that make us able to hoard more material possessions.

if we have only two feet, why aspire to have 100 pairs of shoes? if we only have one body, why seek to collect clothes that we just wear once or twice and end up being forgotten in one's closet? if our stomachs can only hold as much food, why continue buying excess food that just become spoiled and thrown away?

old Sages have always advised: live Life for a greater purpose. know our true selves and then live life to help others find their true selves too. do not be caught up in self-aggrandizement. live each day with a purpose of service to others. this will bring new light to each day. this will end a life of routine. this will prevent one from becoming stone cold.

yes, stones are inert materials. yet, when the man of purpose arranged them to create his zen garden, these very stones were able to be viewed under a different light. they are no longer cold. they instead evoked feelings of Life Vibrant, Life Alive, Life Divine.

if you feel like dead stone now, close your eyes, and discover the greater purpose to life. let yourself be touched by your True Self and be like that living stone in the Infinite' s zen garden.