Living Dangerously

Living Dangerously -“V” Note: For the purpose of this article, the term “stuntman” refers to anyone who has chosen to live dangerously. Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously! - Nietzsche Why is it so? Many of us witness other humans putting their life at stake performing all kinds of deadly stunts. Infact some of us even criticize them, terming their actions as sheer stupidity. One hardly understands why another would prefer to live life dangerously. Sounds very silly to a mediocre mind. Are they are just doing it for the $$$? Or is there another motive for such behaviour? Have you ever been in a dangerous situation? A situation which was the decider between life and death. Tell me, what ran thru your mind for the split second? I assume that since you are reading this, you are still alive. What was the decider? How OR Why did you survive? If you reflect back, you will be able to recall a moment, where the mind seized to exist. It stopped. The last thought that you remember was that you were going to die OR God please help OR I screwed up etc. and then the mind stopped. Something happened, didn’t it? In that split second, ‘you’ made a move that saved your life. Something took over you. So what was it? At that moment, the mind seized. And when the mind seizes, there is awareness. There is trust. There is instinct. You were aware that very moment, in other words, you experienced expansion of awareness. It was intoto. It was just different. The awareness lasted for just a split of the second (the time it took to save your life), and then, your mind took over again. You were relieved. Your mind started functioning again. All systems were back to normal. Heart rate started soothing and you just experienced an event which pretty much would have changed your life. Now the question is, why did the mind seize? The mind reacts, your being acts. The mind has been programmed with infinite knowledge of the past. Its like a computer with a memory. All it was trying to do was to react to the current situation, based on previous experiences and knowledge. It tried to gather information to save you. But I guess, time was limited OR it had no previous knowledge, every Pico-second mattered. Just like a PC hangs, your mind hanged. It just was ‘shocked’. It had to surrender / giveup…now, and aren’t you glad that it did? Many say that God helped them, which is absolutely true; She/He can only help you if you were available to them. Else, its impossible. At that very moment, you were absolutely available, the force acted through you, and … Bravo!

So back to our very first question, why do people choose to live dangerously? What is it in danger? Well, there are many reasons for a person to choose a dangerous life. To start with, it could be the $$$. I am not denying it. Its certainly a factor. But those who really have passion to live dangerous lives are different. Their passion arises from something way much deeper. An urge. What do you think runs across the mind of a stuntman as she or he performs a stunt? Many say that they are in full concentration, very deep concentration. Which is partially true. But, at the same time, from danger, arises awareness. It’s a spiritual experience. Its no longer just another stunt. For the stuntman, it’s a different experience all together. The person experiences joy, tremendous joy. Do you know why? Because at that moment, there is no past, there is no future, there is only NOW. Only the very present moment exists. Nothing else. They live totally in the present. There is total awareness. They trust. And sometimes, bliss happens. And they enjoy that bliss. They come back a changed person after the experience. That’s the reason, often they say goodbye to their loved ones before they engage in a stunt. Its for the simple reason that they don’t know. No one can guarantee return; hence, they love their loved ones passionately. Performing stunts is as dangerous as meditation. Meditation and dangerous ? Doesn’t seem to rhyme does it? But…at one point in meditation, one can experience great disturbances. Its like an inward suicide. Emptiness…total emptiness. Nothing but emptiness. And you are there, what do you think is going to happen? Fear, Anxiety and all sorts of feelings may encompass you. That’s where your gurus play an important role. They know when to ‘save’ you. They are just like a net underneath a rope walker. Those interested in God, have an intense burning urge in them. Its sort of an addiction too (in human terms). They can’t stop but to think of It, to love It, to be with It. Hence many stuntman OR those who have passion to live dangerous lives, have the urge of going back. Some even pay a high price for it, a lot of damage is done to their bodies. But once they recover, they go back. Why is that you wonder? Living a dangerous life is like outward meditation. Awareness at all times, and sometimes, bliss. They truly appreciate life. Its not that they don’t, but they just don’t seem to get enough of it. They are actually living their passion. Think about it, how many times fear has stopped you from doing something dangerous or thrilling. For example, riding on a rollercoaster, or skydiving. It’s a common example. Some are so excited. Some are so scared. Both are natural responses, there is nothing “wrong” with them. The challenge is, fear has played such a significant role in one’s life, that one misses out on life itself. Some people will ask, how do I get rid of fear? And I say, your very question is wrong. How can you get rid of fear? What you resist, persists. You cannot fight it. Initially, you think you have achieved significantly. But deep down, you have only ‘won’ the battle, and not the war. Subconsciously, its there. Someday, just sit and probe into your subconscious, see the amount of garbage that has been gathered there. Witness it for yourself. And you will know what I am talking about. The only way is to UNDERSTAND IT. Once you understand fear, then you will become fearless. Its not an effort that you put in to remove fear, its just a deep understanding that which doesn’t result in fear. Fear has plagued a lot of society. It has prevented you to get the best out of life. And that’s what stuntmen do, they get the best out of life. I would say, not many can appreciate life they way they do. I am not asking you to commit suicide, what I am

saying is, if you have passion for a certain thing, and fear encompasses it, then there is opportunity. Wherever you encounter fear, there is opportunity. Opportunity to understand the fear. When a stuntman first started, she/he too would have started with fear. But, they took the opportunity to understand it. And somewhere deep, an understanding happened, an understanding which set them free. For the first time they felt tremendous FREEDOM. There are many who do it for fame. Which is also acceptable. Probably that’s what they really want, Fame. So its ok, nothing ‘wrong’ about it. They deeply understood the fear and it became a skill. Skill is of the mind, and they are satisfied. They keep repeating the same stunt over and over again and earn their fame and $$$. But some, just can’t get enough, they were exposed to the presence of NOW in totality. Deep down, they keep craving for the experience. Living dangerously reveals that part of you that you have never seen. You will truly encounter yourself. You will have different revelations each time. You may ask, whats the difference between concentration and awareness? They are surely not the same. Infact, they are at two different ends of the spectrum. Concentration is mindfulness, Awareness is mindlessness. One is of the mind, the other is not of the mind. One is with efforts, the other is effortless. One is doing, the other is nondoing. And then you will have that question, what is bliss? Sorry to say, your very question is wrong. Bliss is that which cannot be explained. But your mind will not be happy with this answer. It wants more details, it wants theories about bliss, it wants dogma. And so I say to you, bliss is when Concentration and Awareness occur together. That’s the best way I can answer you. Or at another level, bliss is where none exist. Probably you have another question, how can something be there, and not be there at the same time? OR how can there be 2 different answers for the same question? The mind keeps on querying, it can go on and on and on. But my question to you is, how can that which is way beyond the mind, be explained through the mind. Don’t you think its ridiculous? And you may ask again, at least tell me how does that feel? And I’m sorry again, but I have to say the very question is wrong. There is no answer. And don’t go on seeking for an answer, you will miss. The answer is in the experience, or rather the experience is the answer. Go out there, or Go in there and experience it. Experience cannot be worded. The very effort is futile. Its just like experiencing nature for real. And taking a movie of the surroundings and watching it at home. And most humans are satisfied with this. That’s the sad part. They have become ‘plastic’. They love the artificial too much, that they forget, there is a reality to live with. Then they are not fulfilled with life. They complain. Life is boring. What do you expect? Garbage in, garbage out. How and why does living dangerously ‘pays’? Why are some people addicted to living dangerously? For them, its all about RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. Awareness is at its peak. Something of the unknown enters them. They feel it and rejoice in it.

Some even lose their life. But, it was worth every breath. Their life was fulfilled. There are no regrets. They died in passion. They died in trust. They died in Oneness and Allness. And at the end of the day, that is what matters. The ‘quality’ of your life. Are you satisfied as you are now? Or is there something missing. You have not let life enter into you. You are dull, and bored. Nearly every Sunday afternoon, wondering what to do. Go ahead, do something different. Take some risks, enjoy yourself. If living life is no fun, then its not life at all. Do different things, or do things differently. Whatever you feel like. BE SPONTANEOUS. And you will discover the key to life. ‘Tweak’ or ‘Twist’ your day with something different. Something that causes a ‘delta disturbance’. Life was never meant to be a ROUTINE. That’s why I say, if you can’t do different things, at least do things differently. You will be surprised as to how this small changes affect you. Your life will never be the same again ! So my mates, if you have a passion to live dangerously, just do it! Mr. Paulo Coelho has said, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.” And as I have told you, observe it when it comes, and you will have an opportunity to understand it. Don’t miss this opportunity. People go on missing. Contemplate on it, Meditate on it. Just remember, by living an unfulfilling life, you are already DEAD. “FEAR IS THE GREATEST DISEASE” – Mr. Gandhi. Most importantly, DO NOT VIOLATE FREEDOM OF CHOICE. For example, pulling stunts which may harm others. For others have their freedom to live and not be harmed. So, What now? You have read enough. The fact that you actually took effort to read this 4 pages tells you something, doesn’t it? In other words, One who accumulates knowledge is an impressive being, The other who applies knowledge is an expressive being. Why not, IMPRESS yourself, by EXPRESSING yourself? Then, you will be truly yourself.

Many of you will have different reactions to this article. The so called “author” can be contacted at: multipletruths at yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ How can I copyright anything that doesn’t come from me, but rather happens thru me. Thank God, He/She doesn’t adopt copyright privilege policies. Imagine the ‘sum’ humans have to pay him for copyright infringement? ☺ ________________________________________________________________________ If this document has helped you, feel free to distribute it! ________________________________________________________________________