Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands 
25th August 2017




The advice given to one and all is to be active in life and not to be lazy. The advice is given by parents, teachers and peers as well. Therefore, everyone tries to be active in life, because ‘be lazy’ is neither advised nor accepted by anyone.

Keep moving is the mantra in life, because to be active the fundamental requirement is moving. Nobody wishes or wants to be lazy or to be called lazy, because it is damaging to the character.

The medical establishment too advocates the mantra ‘be active’, meaning keep moving. Humans listen to the advice ‘be active’ and keep moving whenever they can as an exercise, such as walking, jogging and going to the gym.

Both the advice ‘be active’ and the mantra ‘keep moving’ need deep understanding. 

Firstly, a child is moving in the mother’s womb without the advice ‘be active’ or the mantra ‘keep moving’. After birth the new born child keeps moving without the mantra ‘keep moving’.

Secondly, the new born child begins to be active without the advice ‘be active’ or the mantra ‘keep moving’. This implies that as a child grows up to be an adult, the moving and being active evolves as it is meant to evolve.

This signifies that an adult merely believes that he does the moving or that he is active. The truth, however, is that he moves and is active the way evolution has evolved him to be.

Therefore, to be lazy is the way evolution has evolved moving and activities to be. Therefore, to call anyone lazy is superficial understanding of life and not deep understanding of life. 

Similarly, going to work or exercising is the way life has evolved moving and activities to be. To believe that we do activities to keep us moving is not the deep truth of life. The truth is we are not the doers of any activity or moving.

The enlightened have rightly declared that man is not the doer.

Similarly, advising people to be active and the mantra keep moving too have evolved, because talking has evolved and man does not talk. The enlightened have rightly proclaimed that talking happens to man and man does not make talking happen. Activity and moving is a mysterious gift to humans by the intelligence if life.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2017

Editor’s Note:
We all take pride in what we achieve in life and rightly so. The child and especially the child’s parents are so proud when it begins to walk without falling over. The old man is proud when he can walk upstairs without any help. Pride in achievement is a gift from the intelligence of life. Each one of us evolves as we are meant to. The activity in life evolves for each one of us, whether we like it or not, in the manner meant for each one of us.
Understanding this is the beginning of freedom from the bondage of doing.
Julian Capper, UK.

German Translator’s Note: 
Moving is the basic attribute of life itself. Life is permanent movement. And man’s body and mind are no exception. Therefore life „keeps moving“ all the time and „is active“ too. It is the wide range of movement in humans, from maximum in a professional sportsman or a soldier to minimum in a very ill person, which makes the mind believe that there is active and passive living. If there is no obvious reason such as illness for inactivity, the person who is not so active compared to the average is called lazy. Activity is attributed to the will and choice of the mind. A deeper understanding of life reveals that this is an illusion. Dr. Shankar’s article is for those who are relatively active and the inactive people alike to understand the singular movement and activity of life appearing as being active or inactive in animals and humans. 
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany. 

back to articles page