On Energy “burn-out”

Thoughts on the text “The City of Eleven Gates” from the book “Essence of the Upanishads” by Eknath Easwaran.

Every day we are overwhelmed by dozens of stimuli. The external environment constitutes the “paradise” of our senses. It has sight, smell, sound, taste and texture. And as it constantly changes, each of these elements, that characterize the countless objects and beings existing therein, is transformed every time into something different. The rocks in the sea, depending on the weather, bear a different appearance and colors every day. But we, as parts of the enormous, constantly changing diversity of our world, do not always act in the same way through the senses. The flower today doesn’t have the same intense smell as yesterday, nor do we, who smell it, have the same good sense of smell.

The energy or prana, as the ancient Indian sages called it, that runs through the universe, is produced, refined and recreated with a rhythm that one could only describe as miraculous. We live in the beauty of the small and large “miracles” that take place every moment outside and inside us. How do we, then, manage to put ourselves out of our energy paradise? Why do we talk today about energy exhaustion, the so-called burn-out?

Inevitably, we should ask ourselves how we manage our energy, how much energy we consume and how much we spend for what, how much of the energy we produce we ultimately eliminate and what kind of energy it is. Many times, the food, physical and mental, that we choose is not the right one in either quality or quantity. The food, thoughts, emotions and ideas that we consume are either rich in extremely quickly dissipating energy, or they contain more or less energy than that we really need. The endless hours we spend on our couch after a tiring day, shopping in dozens of online stores or looking at the various posts of our friends on Instagram overfill the plate that we put in front of us on the table.

Without realizing it, we consume and spend energy excessively. Our table ends up filled with only empty plates. The exhaustion we feel doesn’t even allow us to clear the plates from the table. And so, we end up being consumers of our own exhaustion and the bad mood that follows. In the climate of growing dissatisfaction and nervousness that we have created ourselves, we unwittingly expel even the few drops of beneficial, positive energy that we have left. Our vitality wanes and unfortunately, we do our best to make sure that happens.

The story of Nachiketas that Katha Upanishad tells us about, is of a boy who, although still in adolescence, possess the wisdom to discern how deep is the exhaustion that brings the total surrender to the senses. It is not that he renounces the senses. He simply avoids limiting himself exclusively to them. By setting the goal of finding the answer to the question of what follows after death, he opens his gaze beyond and above the field to which the common human eye reaches.

“Don’t be like everybody else. Set a goal towards which your vitality will never wane. Your fire (prana) will never go out,” is telling us through his stubborn refusal to accept all the tempting offers of money, property and long life that the god of Death, Yama, makes to him.

The book “Essence of the Upanishads”, where Eknath Easwaran expresses his thoughts on the above story, states characteristically about this: “Fire is a perfect symbol for prana, because where prana is abundant, there is enthusiasm, vitality, drive, determination, the ability to see something without being distracted from the goal…” And he continues, saying:

Some people are like dry tinder. You can set them on fire easily, but their fire is over almost as soon as it starts… a few people are like big logs. You strike match after match and for the longest time everything just fizzles out. But once they do catch fire, they blaze as bright as any sun and they do not burn out…

 

Managing your energy, Nachiketas will tell us through his example, start with what your goals are. They don’t have to be as ambitious as his. Nor does it matter which ones seem easy or difficult to you. Goals that we easily choose, such as looking through the “keyhole” of social media at the lives of others, are often the most exhausting. They drain all the productive energy we have, leaving us behind harsh self-criticisms that are based on our comparisons with others.

The aim is to discern which of your goals, no matter how demanding they are, add brightness to your life, make you feel strong, alive, shiny, and which ones take it away. However, apart from the type of goals, it is good to choose wisely the speed you will develop, how fast or slow it should be, so that you don’t completely “go out” energetically in your effort to achieve them. Become the sun, which although it is not the same bright or warm at all hours of the day, constantly shines and doesn’t go out. And in the end, you are this sun, Nachiketas will learn at the end of his story.