Burnt-Out Life
A burnt-out life does not collapse all at once. It erodes quietly. Days
blur together, motivation fades, and even rest feels ineffective. Life
continues, but without texture or color, like a photograph left too long in
the sun.
Burnout is often misunderstood as weakness or lack of discipline. In
reality, it is the consequence of endurance without renewal. It grows when
effort is constant but control is scarce, when expectations pile up faster
than meaning can keep pace. People living burnt-out lives are rarely
careless; they are usually the ones who tried the hardest for the longest.
What makes burnout especially painful is its distortion of joy.
Things that once mattered begin to feel heavy. Goals lose their pull. Not
because they were wrong, but because the cost of reaching them became too
high. Over time, the self learns to protect itself by numbing desire.
Yet burnout is not emptiness—it is depletion. The capacity to care is
still there, just exhausted. Seen this way, burnout is not an ending but a
warning signal. It asks for a change in rhythm, not a total reinvention of
the self.
A life healed from burnout is not one filled with constant passion or
productivity. It is one where rest is allowed, limits are respected, and
worth is no longer tied entirely to output. Meaning returns slowly, not
through pressure, but through patience.
To acknowledge burnout is not to give up on life. It is to
insist that life be lived in a way that can actually last. Hence life is
burnt out as in nature and naturally life is diminishing vitally. Bhaja
Govindham speaks thus:
Bhaja Govindham
yāvatpavano nivasati dehe
tāvatpṛcchati kuśalaṁ gehe |
gatavati vāyau dehāpāye
bhāryā bibhyati tasminkāye || 6
As long as there is breath in the body, so long people in the household ask
about one's welfare. Once the breath leaves, on the destruction of the
body, the dependents dread that very same body.
बालस्तावत्क्रीडासक्तः
तरुणस्तावत्तरुणीसक्तः ।
वृद्धस्तावच्चिन्तासक्तः
परमे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्तः ॥ ७॥
bālastāvatkrīḍāsaktaḥ
taruṇastāvattaruṇīsaktaḥ |
vṛddhastāvaccintāsaktaḥ
pare brahmaṇi ko'pi na saktaḥ || 7
When a boy, one is attached to sport; when a youth, one is attached to as
young woman; when old. one is attached to anxiety; to the supreme Brahman,
no one, alas, is attached!
का ते कान्ता कस्ते पुत्रः
संसारोऽयमतीव विचित्रः ।
कस्य त्वं कः कुत आयात-
स्तत्त्वं चिन्तय तदिह भ्रातः ॥ ८॥
kāte kāntā kaste putraḥ
saṁsāro'yamatīva vicitraḥ |
kasya tvaṁ kaḥ kuta āyātaḥ
tattvaṁ cintaya tadiha bhrātaḥ || 8
Who is your wife? Who is your son? Exceedingly wonderful, indeed, is this
empirical process! Of whom are you? Who are you? Whence have you come? O
brother, think of that truth here.
सत्सङ्गत्वे निस्सङ्गत्वं
निस्सङ्गत्वे निर्मोहत्वम् ।
निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्त्वं
निश्चलतत्त्वे जीवन्मुक्तिः ॥ ९॥
satsaṇgatve nissṇgatvaṁ
nissaṇgatve nirmohatvam |
nirmohatve niścalatattvaṁ
niścalatattve jīvanmuktiḥ || 9
Through the company of the good, there arises non-attachment; through
non-attachment, there arises freedom from delution; through
delusionless-ness, there arises steadfastness; through steadfastness, there
arises liberation in life.
वयसि गते कः कामविकारः
शुष्के नीरे कः कासारः ।
क्षीणे वित्ते कः परिवारः
ज्ञाते तत्त्वे कः संसारः ॥ १०॥
vayasigate kaḥ kāmavikāraḥ
śuṣke nīre kaḥ kāsāraḥ |
kśīṇevitte kaḥ parivāraḥ
jñāte tattve kaḥ saṁsāraḥ || 10
When youth is spent, what lustful play is there?
When the water has evaporated, what lake is there?
When the money is gone, what dependents are there?
When the truth is known, what empirical process is there?
मा कुरु धनजनयौवनगर्वं
हरति निमेषात्कालः सर्वम् ।
मायामयमिदमखिलं हित्वा
ब्रह्मपदं त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा ॥ ११॥
mā kuru dhana jana yauvana garvaṁ
harati nimeṣātkālaḥ sarvam |
māyāmayamidamakhilaṁ hitvā
brahmapadaṁ tvaṁ praviśa viditvā || 11
Do not be proud of wealth, kindred, and youth; Time takes away all these in
a moment. Leaving aside this entire (world) which is of the nature of an
illusion, and knowing the state of Brahman, enter into it.
दिनयामिन्यौ सायं प्रातः
शिशिरवसन्तौ पुनरायातः ।
कालः क्रीडति गच्छत्यायु-
स्तदपि न मुञ्चत्याशावायुः ॥ १२॥
dinayāminyau sāyaṁ prātaḥ
śiśiravasantau punarāyātaḥ |
kālaḥ krīḍati gacchatyāyuḥ
tadapi na muñcatyāśāvāyuḥ || 12
Day and night, dusk and dawn, winter and spring come repeatedly; Time
sports, life is fleeting; yet one does not leave the winds of desire.
का ते कान्ता धनगतचिन्ता
वातुल किं तव नास्ति नियन्ता ।
त्रिजगति सज्जनसङ्गतिरेका
भवति भवार्णवतरणे नौका ॥ १३॥
kāte kāntā dhana gatacintā
vātula kiṁ tava nāsti niyantā |
trijagati sajjanasaṁ gatiraikā
bhavati bhavārṇavataraṇe naukā || 13
Why worry about wife, wealth, etc., O crazy one; is there not for you the
one who ordains? In the three worlds, it is only the association with good
people that can serve as the boat that can carry one across the sea of
birth.
जटिलो मुण्डी लुञ्छितकेशः
काषायाम्बरबहुकृतवेषः ।
पश्यन्नपि च न पश्यति मूढो
ह्युदरनिमित्तं बहुकृतवेषः ॥ १४॥
jaṭilo muṇḍī luñchitakeśaḥ
kāṣāyāmbarabahukṛtaveṣaḥ |
paśyannapi cana paśyati mūḍhaḥ
udaranimittaṁ bahukṛtaveṣaḥ || 14
The ascetic with matted lock, the one with his head shaven, the one with
hairs pulled out one by one, the one who disguises himself variously with
the ochre-coloured robes - such a one is a fool who, though seeing, does
not see. Indeed, this varied disguise is for the sake of the belly.
अङ्गं गलितं पलितं मुण्डं
दशनविहीनं जातं तुण्डम् ।
वृद्धो याति गृहीत्वा दण्डं
तदपि न मुञ्चत्याशापिण्डम् ॥ १५॥
aṇgaṁ galitaṁ palitaṁ muṇḍaṁ
daśanavihīnaṁ jataṁ tuṇḍam |
vṛiddho yāti gṛihītvā daṇḍaṁ
tadapi na muñcatyāśāpiṇḍam || 15
The body has become decrepit; the head has turned grey; the mouth has been
rendered toothless; grasping a stick, the old man moves about. Even then,
the mass of desires does not go.
अग्रे वह्निः पृष्ठे भानुः
रात्रौ चुबुकसमर्पितजानुः ।
करतलभिक्षस्तरुतलवास-
स्तदपि न मुञ्चत्याशापाशः ॥ १६॥
agre vahniḥ pṛṣṭhebhānuḥ
rātrau cubukasamarpitajānuḥ |
karatalabhikśastarutalavāsaḥ
tadapi na muñcatyāśāpāśaḥ || 16
In front, there is fire; at the back, there is the sin; in the night, (the
ascetic sits) with the knees stuck to the chin; he receives alms in his
palms, and lives under the trees; yet the bondage of desire does not leave
him.
कुरुते गङ्गासागरगमनं
व्रतपरिपालनमथवा दानम् ।
ज्ञानविहीनः सर्वमतेन
मुक्तिं न भजति जन्मशतेन ॥ १७॥
kurute gaṅgāsāgaragamanaṁ
vrataparipālanamathavā dānam |
jñānavihinaḥ sarvamatena
muktiṁ na bhajati janmaśatena || 17
One goes on pilgrimage to the place where the Gañgá joins the sea; or
observe the religious vows with care; or offers gifts. But if he be devoid
of knowledge, he does not gain release-according to all schools of
thought-even in a hundred lives.
सुरमंदिरतरुमूलनिवासः
शय्या भूतलमजिनं वासः ।
सर्वपरिग्रहभोगत्यागः
कस्य सुखं न करोति विरागः ॥ १८॥
sura mandira taru mūla nivāsaḥ
śayyā bhūtala majinaṁ vāsaḥ |
sarva parigraha bhoga tyāgaḥ
kasya sukhaṁ na karoti virāgaḥ || 18
Living in temples or at the foot of trees, sleeping on the ground, wearing
deer-skin, renouncing all possessions and their enjoyment - to whom will
not dispassion bring happiness?
योगरतो वा भोगरतो वा
सङ्गरतो वा सङ्गविहीनः ।
यस्य ब्रह्मणि रमते चित्तं
नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव ॥ १९॥
yogarato vābhogaratovā
saṇgarato vā saṇgavīhinaḥ |
yasya brahmaṇi ramate cittaṁ
nandati nandati nandatyeva || 20
Let one practice concentration; or let one indulge in sense-enjoyment. Let
one find pleasure in company; or in solitude. He alone is happy, happy,
verily happy, whose mind revels in Brahman.
भगवद्गीता किञ्चिदधीता
गङ्गाजललवकणिका पीता ।
सकृदपि येन मुरारिसमर्चा
क्रियते तस्य यमेन न चर्चा ॥ २०॥
bhagavad gītā kiñcidadhītā
gaṇgā jalalava kaṇikāpītā |
sakṛdapi yena murāri samarcā
kriyate tasya yamena na carcā || 20
For him, who has studied the Bhagavadgitá even a little, who has drunk a
drop of the Gañgá-water, and who has performed the worship of the Destroyer
of the demon Mura at least once, there is no tiff with Yama (the lord of
death).
K R IRS 251225
On Fri, 26 Dec 2025 at 06:31, Markendeya Yeddanapudi <
[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> --
> *Mar*
>
> Burnout
>
>
>
> Just like electricity creating magnetism and magnetism creating
> electricity, belief creates ability and ability creates belief. If you
> agree that electromagnetism creates consciousness, then the basic contour
> of consciousness is the Belief-ability bonding. As a result the belief
> creates reality and reality creates belief.
>
> These are the basic features of the free and healthy nature, where there
> is no human tampering. Thanks to the continuous poisoning and maiming of
> nature, where the very emotional structure of the Biosphere is destroyed,
> the basic symbiosis lost, we today confront the spectacle of burnout. In
> the polluted and poisoned nature, nature fails to enliven and rejuvenate.
>
> If a finger of yours is very tightly tied, arresting the blood flow into
> it, the finger gets numb, cut away from the blood circulation and internal
> hormonal communication. The cells in the finger get cut away from the other
> cells in the body. Thanks to industrialization, urbanization, pollution and
> poisoning of the air, water and land, we along with the other life forms
> are leading numbed lives. We are as a result depending on machines.
> Technology has taken over our whole being. Every limb is getting burnt out.
> When nature’s symbiosis is cut away from you, it is like making your numbed
> finger do the work. We ignore the basic fact that we are anatomically part
> of nature, making us a limb of nature. The air and water are like the blood
> circulation system in your body. The smells and sounds of nature are the
> hormonal communication of nature into you. In the free and healthy nature
> the sounds of nature become the pleasant musical sounds. But in the
> industrialized, urbanized, polluted and poisoned places, the smells become
> poisonous and sounds become sound pollutions. The flows of music from
> nature gets lost.We are living like fish in the polluted and poisoned water.
>
> Burnout actually is the removal of the art aspect, and the humor aspect of
> life. Literature is the general heading we give to diverse arts. The number
> and variety of arts in the literature of life expand in variety and
> diversity as every organism contributes via smell and sound communications.
>
> Economics has created burnout in nature itself. Today we cannot even
> imagine and conceptualize the life in the economics-free, untampered and
> free nature. We have to realize that there is no technological fix as the
> solution for the problems nature is facing.
>
> Today the Universities have hijacked education. And every University is
> under the frenzy of mechanization. And the courses are economics oriented
> creating new and new corps of destroyers of nature. We are living in the
> era of educational suffocation, the poisoned education that is blocking
> access to nature to give us real education, which is participation in the
> symbiosis of nature. In the free, healthy and symbiotic nature, we get
> continuous rejuvenation, converting the life into lust for life. Today we
> are living burnt out life.
>
> We desperately need the free and healthy nature where there is no
> technology and economic tampering. Every University must start a ‘Free
> Nature Park’ without human tampering so that the universities become places
> of real education. Today there is education poisoning.
>
> YM Sarma
>
>
>
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