Question : Sir, according to me, ‘success’ has no true definition, it varies from person to person. For a kid, riding a bicycle can be a form of success and for an adult getting a good job can denote success.
So, can we ever say that success has a concrete meaning? What according to you is ‘success’?
Speaker : Firstly, it is a wonderful thing that you have not fallen prey to the notion that success does have a particular definition. Most of us believe that success really has a fixed definition. And what is that definition we subscribe to? What do we say? We say I am successful if…
Listener 1 : I have money.
Speaker : Right. What else?
Listener 2 : We say, ‘ I am successful if I have reputation.’
Speaker : Good! What else?
Listener 3 : We say, ‘I am successful if I am living a luxurious life.’
Speaker : Good. What else?
Listener 4 : We say, ‘I am successful if I have power.’
Speaker : I am successful if…
Listener 5 : I am happy, I have a particular pleasure.
Speaker : I am successful if…
Listener 6 : People respect me.
Speaker : So, most of us live within readymade definitions of success. We follow rigid definitions of success. And we keep chasing those images of success only.
(Paragraph inserted) We say: “I must have money, I must have reputation, I must have good grades, I must have a particular kind of body, I must have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.” That is what success isto us.
It would be wonderful if someone could come up and say: “What is this? You can cry about this success and that success, but success depends upon where I am.”
So you are right. If I am a kid, then riding a bicycle may be success for me. And if you are sitting here, right now, what is success for you? Sitting here right now, at this moment, what is success for you then?
Listener 1 : Asking the doubts.
Speaker : And how can you ask a doubt? Only if you listen; only if you are completely present here.
*So, success just depends upon living a moment in its fullness. There is no other success. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, if you are completely into it,* *that is success, you are already successful then* .
Now it does not matter if you get a certificate for it or not. Success is not a certificate given by somebody else. Success is not a grade sheet. Success is not how many marks somebody gives you. Success is not what your friends call you. Success is not a particular number in your bank account or a particular number upon your report card.
Success is the joy of living.
If I find no joy in living, what success am I talking about? I am a complete failure. All the time, I am tensed and bothered about my results. If I am all the time worried about what will happen after two months, I am surely a big failure.
Success is just the joy of living.
And when do we live? We live right now. We do not live in memories or in hopes. We are living right now, and that is success. If you are playing, play fully. If you are talking to somebody, then be with that person fully. If you are sitting in a lecture, listen clearly.
If you are reading a particular book, read it as if there is nothing else. And enjoy the moment, that is success. Success is not about that results that you will get after reading that book. Success is your immersion in that book, in that moment.
I repeat, success is the joy of living in the moment.
Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.
