Be in the World but Not of It

[AiR]

Being in the world but not of it is the biggest challenge for one who seeks liberation, because when we are in this world, we are surrounded by the mind, the senses and all the attractions and distractions that the world offers.

So, how can we be in this world, but not of it? We generally tend to get carried away and we sink in this world, but it’s a big challenge to be like a boat that is on the river, but does not sink in the river. It is a big challenge to be like the lotus that’s in the pond, but stays above the dirty waters, bright and shining. We have to learn to be like the lotus and the boat, and not sink in the waters of this world. There is no way to escape being in the world. Anybody who is alive has to wake up, has to do something, has to do his duty or his karma. The challenge is - while we are alive and while we are doing things - not to sink in this maya, this illusion, this mythya of the world or samsara, this is the biggest challenge for us. Many people try to escape the world; they try to run away from the world, go into a forest, a silent retreat. Can they escape the world? Eventually, they have to wake up. Then have to wake up and face the world and then they will feel defeated because they have no experience of facing the world.

For instance – imagine we are in a jungle and right in front of us, a tiger appears. Does it make any sense to close our eyes?, The tiger will be there regardless; we have to face it. So also we have to face samsaar, we have to face the world and not shut our eyes to it, but we have to overcome it, not suppress our feelings, but sublimate our feelings; we must be in this world, but not be of the world.

AiR

[surreptitious57]

One cannot be in the world but not of it in any absolute sense but one can be free to some degree. The best way to achieve it is to avoid
other human beings as much as possible. That is easy to do if like me you have no wife or children or friends and do not work or socialise
and live alone and fully intend to be like that till the day you die. Many would apparently go mad if they had to live like that but I do not
know how true that is. Though I know it works for me and one of the consequences of it is that it makes me relatively detached from life
beyond my own existence. And I also have no fear of death and so am just biding my time till I die so this further reinforces the notion of
detachment. I cannot recommend this life however. As how others choose to live theirs is a matter for them not me. Though it definitely
works for me for I am very much at peace with myself. This to me is positive nihilism rather than the stereotypical negative one which is
usually portrayed. So I am not denying life. Merely the fact that it has an objective meaning or purpose to it. Which it does not of course

[Pluto]

This is something I was thinking about. Our system is one which constantly brainwashes those who are in it, to it. This could be the same for all systems. If you are in the system you are of it, in that you have become it. You are a product (living, breathing, walking, talking) of the system. How not to be of it is not easy. First you must highlight the force that promotes the system: mass media. Then you must understand the way in which they brainwash everyone. Then once you have understood how they are doing it, you must be in the world the change.

I have said this about my art, that they were about the world but not of it. They don't reflect the system, promote it or copy its habits of being and doing. That the works would open up a space not like the system. Who ever steps into the space is now not of the system.