Let Life Flow

by Ramesh S. Balsekar

Change, unceasing change which is the very basis of life and living, is what Let Life Flow is all about. Ramesh says that life is like a deep river, flowing incessantly, whereas the day-to-day living for most people is a preference for the security and stagnancy of the little pools beside the river.

What happens in life is that the challenge is always new, but our response is old because it is formed on the past, which is memory. Experiencing with memory is one state, but experiencing without memory is altogether different. A new thought, an inspiration can happen only when the mind is not caught in the net of memory. It is only when the mind is still, tranquil, not seeking any solution, any answer, neither resisting nor avoiding, that it is capable of receiving what is true, that which is eternal, timeless, immeasurable. You cannot go to it, it comes to you; what liberates is the truth, not your effort to be free.
Ramesh uses the river as an apt metaphor for his concept that no one is a doer but, rather, all actions are happenings ordained by the One Source, who some refer to as God. To perceive ourselves as the doers is like the river thinking that it is pushing itself onwards to the sea, or the sea thinking that the tides are its own doing – totally oblivious of the fact that is the gravitational force of the moon that is responsible for their ebb and flow.

To let life flow, in general terms, means that we should go about our daily routine with a relaxed attitude, based on the total basic understanding that nothing at all can happen unless it is supposed to happen according to one’s destiny, according to the Cosmic Law.

Genres: Spirituality

122 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2009

About the author

Ramesh S. Balsekar was a disciple of the late Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, a renowned Advaita master. From early childhood, Balsekar was drawn to Advaita, a nondual teaching, particularly the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Wei Wu Wei. He wrote more than 20 books, was president of the Bank of India, and received guests daily in his home in Mumbai until shortly before his death.

Balsekar taught from the tradition of Advaita Vedanta nondualism. His teaching begins with the idea of an ultimate Source, Brahman, from which creation arises. Once creation has arisen, the world and life operate mechanistically according to both Divine and natural laws. While people believe that they are actually doing things and making choices, free will is in fact an illusion. All that happens is caused by this one source, and the actual identity of this source is pure Consciousness, which is incapable of choosing or doing.

Reviews

[Aline · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my perspective, Let Life Flow is a minimalist guide (only 100 pages) to learn how to take a break from your mind. Nowadays, while we hear more and more talking about awareness and while so many books are written about how to achieve it, one could feel lost into this prolific literature and could therefore miss the point by thinking too much about it (we tend to overthink the concept of awareness which should exactly be about letting go...). By trying too much to conceptualise and think about the principles of consciousness and how to be more present to the moment, we precisely step aside from it.

Staring from this presupposition, the book gets you back on tracks and clarifies your mind. Indeed, awareness and consciousness are eventually just about letting life go and stay still and present from one moment to another. It should not cost one a lot of effort, it is already there. The author pleads then for a more intuitive and spontaneous way of living. The idea here is simple : it is urgent that we reconnect with our basic instinct in order to be able to live more spontaneously and stop the overthinking which develops nowadays. Our brain is a very sophisticated tool but which should allow us to live our life at the fullest without even thinking about it (like breathing) : this is what awareness is about, simply living our life in a very lively way, without needing to analyse and conceptualise every moment.

In clear : take a break from your mind! Allow yourself some peace of mind. This is at the end the best (and only) way to “be anchored in peace and harmony while facing life from moment to moment”.

This is the essential message I took out of the book. It is a very short essay, which goes straight to the point, very clear. The ideas developed in it are simple and abordable.

[Yazaid Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let life flow

A comforting book that reminds you that whatever happened to you was supposed to happen to you and whatever did not happen to you was not supposed to happen to you. The same applies to the future.

Surrender to the will of God and let life flow.

[Nandini Gajendrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book that can shape one's life perspective.

[Ravneet Arora]

left reading it...