July 28

The Whole of Life Is Show Business

Question: Is it possible to develop spiritually while working in a highly competitive and hectic field such as show business?

Sri Gurudev: We call it show business. Why? Do you think that show business is to show somebody else something? No. Show business is to show you something: yourself. It will teach you about the worth and the worthlessness of things in life. Yes. Show business means it’s all just made up. It’s all superficial. And when you learn that lesson, then you can use that same philosophy in your life.

The whole of life is show business. What am I doing here? I’m acting my part. What are you doing there? You’re acting your part. We’re having a show. There is no superior and inferior cast in this. We are all needed to make the show. You have taken a part, so play it well. We are all one in spirit, but I am playing the part of the teacher today. You are playing the part of being a little ignorant. Behave that way. Don’t get up and say, “I know more than you;” the show will collapse. When the curtain falls, we are all one and the same.

The whole world is superficial; it’s constantly, constantly changing. Our relationships change, our situations change, our positions change, our names change. I was a baby, then I became a young boy, then an adult, then an old man. Changes, changes, changes. So what is the reality? The spiritual truth. We are all essentially one. That never changes. Where can you learn this truth faster than in show business?