Tantra, the mystical science of meditation techniques, says that to know the truth one needs only one condition, intensity. Be total in what you are, what you do. Live intensely in the moment and taste the real life. Otherwise, you are not living. You are just waiting for death.

When you eat, intensely eat. Let your whole attention and energy be on the food. Do not divert your attention and thoughts to what you need to get done at work tomorrow or where you want to go for your next vacation. Enjoy the food with all your senses. Taste the food in your mouth, enjoy the feast in front of your eyes, touch the food with love, and smell the aroma of the food. When you eat this way totally, you will enjoy every morsel and you will actually feed into your system the living energy the food is meant to give. If you are drinking water, drink it intensely. Become the thirst. Feel the coolness of the water going into your mouth, throat and down your food pipe. Let each drop of water that goes into your mouth give you the feeling of fulfillment.

The Tamil classic, Periya Puranam, describes the stories of the Nayanmars, the ardent devotees of lord Shiva. There are so many instances of the devotees realizing the Ultimate by simple activities like making garlands for the Lord.

An example is Gananaatha Nayanaar, a devotee of Shiva, engaged in simple services like plucking flowers for worship, making garlands for the Lord, sweeping and washing the floor of the temple and keeping the lamps in the temple burning. Just this simple life led him to reaching the Ultimate and brought him his name ‘Gananaatha’ meaning the chief of the ganas (attendants) of lord Shiva.

When you pray, be real and spontaneous. Whatever you feel, feel totally and offer it to the Divine. Don’t cheat yourself and be hypocritical by not admitting what you feel. You cannot hide anything from the Divine. He knows you better than you know yourself. Your intensity is the only thing that decides when your object of seeking will happen. If the intensity is total, it will happen that moment. If the intensity is not integrated and total, it will take more time because the intensity has to gain strength in that time.

A beautiful story:

The Sufi mystic Junaid, was taking a walk one morning when a man came up to him asking, ‘I need to reach the capital of this kingdom. How long will it take?’

Junaid just looked at the man and continued walking. The man was going in the same direction. He followed Junaid  thinking maybe he did not hear him properly.

So, he asked Junaid again, ‘Can you please tell me how much time it will take me to reach the capital of the kingdom?’

Junaid continued walking.

The man gave up trying to ask further. After some distance, Junaid said, ‘You will have to walk at least ten hours.’

The man was surprised and exclaimed, ‘You could have said that before!’ Junaid replied, ‘How can I say before? I needed to watch your speed first. Then only I could tell you how long it will take to reach the capital.’

In the same way, the time it takes to realize also depends on your intensity. If you are intense enough, it does not need time to reach the Ultimate. Where you are, who are you is irrelevant. You can reach here and now.

source: Living Enlightenment