Page 30 - All India Magazine Jan-2025

nity for progress. So what progress am I going to make today? The
class I am going to now is on a subject that does not interest me.
But perhaps that is because something is lacking in me; perhaps,
in my brain, a certain number of cells are deficient and that is why
I cannot find any interest in the subject. If so, I shall try, I shall lis-
ten carefully, concentrate hard and above all drive out of my mind
this aimlessness, this superficial shallowness which makes me feel
bored when there is something I cannot grasp. I am bored because
I do not make an effort to understand, because I do not have this
will for progress." When one does not progress, one feels bored,
everyone, young or old; for we are here on earth to progress. How
tedious life would be without progress! Life is monotonous. Most
often it is not fun. It is far from being beautiful. But if you take it as
a field for progress, then everything changes, everything becomes
interesting and there is no longer any room for boredom. Next
time your teacher seems boring to you, instead of wasting your
time doing nothing, try to understand why he bores you. Then if
you have a capacity of observation and if you make an effort to
understand, you will soon see that a kind of miracle has occurred
and that you are no longer feeling bored at all.

Remedy for boredom
This remedy is good in almost every case. Sometimes, in cer-
tain circumstances, everything seems dull, boring, stupid; this
means that you are as boring as the circumstances and it clearly
shows that you are not in a state of progress. It is simply a passing
wave of boredom, and nothing is more contrary to the purpose
of existence. At such a moment you might make an effort and
ask yourself, "This boredom shows that I have something to learn,
some progress to make in myself, some inertia to conquer, some
weakness to overcome." Boredom is a dullness of the conscious-
ness; and if you seek the cure within yourself, you will see that it
immediately dissolves. Most people, when they feel bored, instead

30 All India Magazine, January 2025