Two Habits We Keep, and Why

Those of us working at K4M2A have two small habits. When we meet, we say: “Life is awesome. How is it for you today?” And when we introduce ourselves, we say: I am not enlightened. Neither started out quite this way, and the story of how they changed is below.

Both habits are reminders. Both can also go wrong. So we looked at them critically, the way we try to look at everything here, and changed how we use them.

This may sound like a group with its own slogans. That is exactly the risk we want to name, which is why this note ends with where these habits might be wrong.

“Life is awesome”

By “life” we don’t mean our circumstances, which are often far from awesome. We mean what Madhyasth Darshan calls जीवन: the self, the conscious part of each of us that hopes, thinks, decides and understands.

The darshan describes the greatness of that self (जीवन महिमा) as inexhaustible strength and capacity: an endless ability to hope, think, want, decide and understand. So “Life is awesome” is not a report on our mood. It is a reminder of what a human being is, said on good days and hard days alike.

What we changed. A greeting that only makes a statement leaves no room for the other person. “How are you?” is often empty, but at least it asks. And said to someone who is grieving or struggling, “Life is awesome” on its own can sound like being told not to feel what they feel.

So now we say it as a greeting and a question together: “Life is awesome. How is it for you today?” The first half reminds us what is true of every person. The second half asks where this person actually is, and then listens.

“I am not enlightened”

This is how we describe ourselves, and it is meant plainly. None of us is a guru. Nobody here has finished understanding. Anyone who presents themselves as the one who knows makes it harder for everyone else to ask honest questions.

What we changed. We used to say this title would stay until we were enlightened. We have dropped that last part, for three reasons.

First, a finish line creates the very rank the phrase was meant to reject. If the title lasts until someone is enlightened, then one day someone will be the first to drop it, and who would decide that?

Second, it conflicts with how we say understanding is verified: in how a person lives, with others, over years. Nobody can announce that they have arrived.

Third, Madhyasth Darshan doesn’t speak of a moment of enlightenment. It speaks of awakening (जागृति) as something that unfolds over time (जागृति क्रम), and that shows in behaviour, not in a title.

So “I am not enlightened” is now simply a description of the present. There is no finish line in it. It says: still learning, still being verified.

“Life is awesome. How is it for you today?”

Why share this at all

Habits shape a group more than its stated beliefs do. If you visit, or call, or come on the podcast, you will probably hear both of these. We would rather you know what we mean by them, and what we have already changed, than wonder. You don’t have to use either of them with us.

Limitations

• Any greeting repeated every day can become automatic. If “Life is awesome” stops being followed by a real question, it has become a slogan.
• “Awesome” is a casual English word, and it can sound light next to what Madhyasth Darshan means by the greatness of the self. We have not found a better one yet.
• “I am not enlightened” can still be heard as false modesty, however plainly it is meant.

References

1. Madhyasth Darshan Paribhasha Sanhita, जीवन (life, the self), p. 77
2. Madhyasth Darshan Paribhasha Sanhita, जीवन महिमा (the greatness of life), p. 79
3. Madhyasth Darshan Paribhasha Sanhita, जागृति and जागृति क्रम (awakening, and its progression), p. 75