(… continued)
“We feel we are tired
At every moment.
But alas,
We are never tired enough
To close our mind-door.”
– Sri Chinmoy
Tiredness, like age, is mostly a phenomenon of the mind. More often than not, we ‘feel tired’ because we imagine we are, or think we ought to be tired. We can all recall instances when we felt we were dog tired, then received a phone call, or saw, remembered or imagined something that instantly revived us, after which we continued with surging energy and enthusiasm. If tiredness can so utterly abandon us, we have to wonder: was it real in the first place?
Sri Chinmoy’s simple antidote to tiredness is to switch activities, and thus refresh our mindset.
The mind is naturally inclined towards order and fixity, with a tendency to become closed and stale, so our thoughts and feelings inevitably grow heavy and monotonous: tiredness ensues as a cry to escape from this tedium. To conquer or counter tiredness, we must challenge our mind’s very nature, re-train it to open always to newness, freshness and enthusiasm. Only the sincere practise of meditation over many years, can alter the mind so profoundly.
The irony of feeling “too tired to meditate” is that nothing tires us more than thoughts, and nothing clears away these unwanted, draining thoughts as effectively as meditation. We need to meditate in order to access the energy, clarity and inspiration we need to meditate! Not meditating when we feel tired is a false economy, for failing to meditate only guarantees we will remain tired for longer.
Meditation clears our mind, refreshes our emotions and opens us to all the uplifting qualities and energies of our heart. Meditation awakens us to our possibilities and inspires us dynamically to pursue our dreams.