“Learn to act - don’t react.”

Gurudev never tired of reminding us, in and out of lecture, “Be quiet, alert, and vigilant.” But he added with a twinkle in his eye, “Sounds simple. Try it. Most of us can’t do it. When our minds are quiet, our physical bodies are asleep. The mind that can achieve a state of quietude while being alert and vigilant is the meditating mind. And the meditating mind is the one that can realise the presence of the Lord.”

An important part of being alert is leaving behind all mechanical action, Gurudev reminded us repeatedly. He would say, “Learn to act - don’t react.” And again, “Know what you are going to do and then do it. If you don’t know, don’t do it.”

If we appropriately heeded his words and were alert in his presence, we picked up invaluable tips about our own sadhana. Some of those teachings were, in fact, about alertness itself.

Since we exist in the present, we are not only the ‘effect’ of the past, but we are also the ‘cause’ for the future. Thus we can, if we intelligently live in scientific self-discipline, become the architects of our own future.
Swami Chinmayananda