A Certain Kind of Selfishness

Life in modern times can be hectic. The world has become smaller and people more interconnected because of technology. So the pace of life is faster and more intense. There are likewise more of us sharing the planet’s resources, making the atmosphere around us more competitive. Most people have their attention fixed on working hard to stay afloat in this fast-paced, stressful environment.

Thus, living in today’s world poses a challenge as the pressures of daily life make coping with our spiritual duties a daily struggle. There are so many things to do, so many distractions, so many options to every facet of life. For many, it seems that everything on the schedule is far more important than meditation, as though there is all the time in the world to make up for the shortfall in meditation. Our jobs, household duties, family responsibilities, television shows, video games, and hobbies take up so much of our time.

We always try to give that time to the Father which is of no use to us at all. When we are rejected by society, by our children, by our friends, then we want to devote our time to the Father. But we have to give the best time of our life to the Father. Mostly our time is spent in growing up. Then we start getting education and training, and then we give ourselves to family life and the senses and pleasures of the world. And then we become old and everybody rejects us. Our senses don’t go along with us. Even our eyes refuse to cooperate, our ears refuse to cooperate, our limbs refuse to cooperate with us. Then we want to worship the Father. We lose the best opportunity, and the time which is of no use to anybody is what we want to devote to the Father. Then we want to be a lover of the Father. The main purpose of this human birth is to go back to the Father, so that should always be kept in view. Keeping that view, other things should fall in line.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

Will meditation ever be the primary item on our agenda when even on our rest days there is always one thing or another vying for our time? How do we develop the strength and discipline to make meditation our first priority?

We should definitely fulfil our worldly duties but Master must come first, and our commitment to meditate must never be compromised. We have to be selfish enough to want this for ourselves. We have to do our part so that the purpose of this human birth is realized and not wasted. We have to put in the effort to meditate so that we can achieve our goal – merging with the Father. Everything else can wait. We can find time to do these things after our meditation.

Nobody can live in this world without being selfish. Everybody is selfish. So we also should be selfish to find our goal in life. Why are we not selfish in that regard? We have so many considerations: family ties, relations, friends, fellow citizens. If we say otherwise, we are marked as selfish. But we should also have that instinct of being selfish to find our goal, yet we ignore that aspect. Being selfish means looking to your own personal interest. When this human birth is given to us to go back to the Father, and it is a rare opportunity which we don’t get so easily, we should also have that selfish instinct to realize that goal during this span of life.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. II}

So, we have to be selfish enough for ourselves; selfish enough with our time to be able to give time to meditation. We must think of our spiritual growth and take full advantage of all our blessings – the gift of the human form, meeting a Master, of Nam and the opportunity to attain true liberation.

We have to develop that sense of urgency, that discipline that allows us to do the right thing and prioritize our meditation. We should have the strength of will to say “no” to all distractions and attend to them only after we have fulfilled our spiritual duty.

However, we also need to fulfil our worldly responsibilities. We should bear in mind that Sant Mat path is a path of balance, where we patiently work towards our spiritual liberation while fulfilling the obligations of worldly life. No one is advised to live a life of seclusion in order to meditate. This defeats the purpose of facing one’s destiny and clearing one’s karmic account.

So what is required is a certain type of selfishness that will allow us to adjust our lifestyle to accommodate the four Sant Mat vows, especially the vow of meditation. If we can do this, then we will have achieved the goal of human life and consequently, the liberation of our soul.