Wednesday, November 23, 2011

weight watching

i was able to go home early from work the other day.  i thought of giving myself some respite by dropping by to the nearest mall.  many times, i found that a fine way of de-stressing is to amuse oneself with the material opulence that the mall displays. lots of stores inside, offering a variety of goods that promise of bodily comfort and aggrandizement.  soothing to the body, soothing to the ego. that is, if one will be able to afford them.  anyways, visiting the mall is always a good way of making oneself current because one can physically see the latest products that are being advertised. 

this time, however, what stopped me and caught my attention were the people inside the mall's physical fitness center. i was passing by the center when one of its sales agents handed me a brochure detailing their latest physical program offers.  even outside, one can see some of the people who have already enrolled and are enjoying the center's facilities.

i watched them.  every one so preoccupied with the exercise regimen they enrolled in.  some were on the stationary bikes.  others were on the tread mills.  still others were on the various exercise machines. pushing, pulling.  perspiring, sweating heavily, panting, gasping at precious breath, burning unwanted fats and calories.  the target is to tone the body, to tune the body.  to bring down the weight to the desired limit.  to be healthy again. or, to extend the state of health that they are now blessed with. 

i stared at them all and immediately the reminder of my Master came to mind -- we must strive to keep the body fit, to be always at the best of health.  the sole purpose of prolonging our lives is to be able to have more time to contemplate the Infinite, to achieve full realization of our True Self.  being born in a human body is a great gift from the Infinite because it is only in this form that we are allowed the opportunity to know our True Being. being gifted with a human incarnation allows us to be a citizen of the inner worlds.  to focus the consciousness inward, to know the Real Self, to realize what is Eternal, Unchanging, Unending.  thus, to watch the weight, to be healthy, just to prolong one's enjoyment of the physical, ever changing world, just to be able to focus our attention to the outside worlds, defeats the purpose of having good health.

as i watched them, i also realized this other thing.  there is another weight that we must bear watching. and we must be equally diligent on this.  we must always watch the weight of our words, the weight of our opinions.  so many times we have been so careless. we forget that our words and opinions bear weight. words have power.  when used carelessly, they can hurt, they can pull down others to the abyss of despair, they can invoke unhappiness and bitterness,  they can bring darkness. 

 and so we must be careful and diligent. 

we must be weight watchers.  but,

we must do it right. 

always, we must strive to be light, 
 
and, we must become Light..

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