Learn to steal time for meditation

A householder used to pay visit to the Saint once in a while. Every time the Saint used to ask him about his progress in Saadhna. The pious soul always had some excuse or other. One day, when the Saint asked him about the same, he said, “Dear Sir, for you it is easy to make time for saadhna (seeking) as you don’t have family or any such responsibilities. But for us worldly beings, it is very difficult to take time out for Yoga, Pranayama and meditation. But sure, once I retire, I will begin practicing all these methods of seeking.”

The Saint told him a brief story, “During the days of British rule in India, a Britisher was travelling on the horse through a farm. After a while, the Britisher started seeking water for his thirsty horse. He saw from a distance that a villager is taking water out using Aarat – old way of digging water from well wherein the bull is made to revolve around the well and water keeps pouring out from the well. However, it creates a lot of noise. When the Britisher brought his horse closer to the Aarat, the horse jumped back scared with the laud sound. The Britisher told the villager to stop moving the bulls, but ironically the water also stopped. So the villager told the Britisher, “Sir, your horse has to learn to drink water while this pulley is moving with its own sound. If you try to stop the noise of the Aarat pulley, then your horse has to remain thirsty.”

After a moment of silence, the Saint continued, “Dear son, similarly you have to learn to drink the nectar of inner peace and inner happiness amidst this noise of the world. You should not wait for ideal moments for beginning your seeking. You should learn to steal time for seeking, for Yoga, for Pranayaam and for meditation.  

Once a seeker taste the blissful nectar of inner peace and happiness even for as short as three minutes, then he or she can’t live without the meditative moment of silence, peace and blissfulness. After certain practice, meditation begins to happen on its own. He don’t have to wait to finish the daily chores or for making time for seeking the inner Truth. Such a seeker learns to steal time while conducting in the outer world.