In this Weekly Wisdom, Gurudev shares beautiful insights on going beyond your likes and dislikes to achieve centeredness, peace, and freedom.
In response to a question about likes and dislikes, Gurudev shared the following:
Our small minds get into likes and dislikes. But God is present everywhere. That means God has accepted all that you’re disliking. Our dislike keeps the boundary, the ego, very tight.
So, lessen the dislikes in life. The more dislikes you have, towards anything, know that’s what’s keeping you small.
And then, likes shouldn’t turn into cravings. They will become” love” instead. When the dislike goes, the liking is almost gone. Beyond likes and dislikes is bliss.
Universal being
How do we go from individual to universal being? First, through awareness, knowledge, and wisdom. Vibrancy, happiness, joy, everything wells up. That’s consciousness.
You’re at peace. You exude pure energy. But likes and dislikes are a shell around you. The thicker the shell is, the less it’s visible. And if it becomes thicker, people suffer.
Isn’t this liberating? It brings such freedom. Once the dislike goes, there’s no enemy. Without any enemy, there’s peace.
Dislikes take effort
If you try to force yourself to like what you dislike, you’ll get conflicted. You don’t need to do that. Let go of it. That’s good enough. You don’t need to like it.
The whole exercise is effortless, but it takes work to dislike something.
Since childhood, your likes and dislikes have been ingrained in you. You like something too much and then you start disliking it. First, get rid of the dislikes.
Overdoing the likes
Once, one lady asked me, “What do you like? Come on, you must have a favorite. Do you like these dhoklas?”
I said, “Yes.”
For the next two weeks, I got only dhoklas for every breakfast, dinner, and lunch. “I know you like it. You must eat!” people said.
Someone gave me Pringles and I nibbled them. They said, “Oh, you like Pringles.” Everywhere I went, next to my bed, I found Pringles boxes.
Then, in the 90s, I discovered marshmallows. I said “What is this?” It looked like cotton.
They said, “These are marshmallows that you can eat. Do you like them?”
I said, “Yeah, I like them.” From the east coast to west coast, there were marshmallows everywhere.
Being a witness
When dislikes and likes disappear, you flow with the whole existence. It’s like a movie, where all events happen blissfully. Nothing shakes you.
That’s what Lord Krishna said so beautifully. You can move into your sense organs as needed, knowing you’re not a part of it, but a witness. Knowing this, you’re uninvolved in craving or aversion.
It’s too easy to go both ways. Either you crave for something or you get averse and run in the other direction. It’s like swinging a pendulum. The more you’re averse, the more you’ll start craving. The more you’re craving, the more you’ll get averse. That’s no way to live. You have to be more centered.
It’s such a delicate and fine way to come out of duality. Without the path of yoga, you can't get this. Yoga and meditation bring you the balance of being a witness.
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Editor’s note:
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