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# 2023-11-24 - Contemplation of the Truth by Gurumayi | |
Gurumayi | |
Tokyo, December 18, 1985 | |
With great respect and love, I welcome you all with all my heart. | |
Swami Muktananda, our Guru, taught us to respect one another. He | |
taught it, and he lived what he taught. Many of us hear the teaching | |
"Respect one another," but we do not listen to it. Even if we listen | |
to it, we do not necessarily practice it. It is amazing that we all | |
know this great teaching, but somehow we do not know how to | |
incorporate it into our lives. We think we respect one another, but | |
this respect does not show in our actions. Why? | |
In the Bhagavad Gītā the Lord says: | |
> Let a person uplift himself by his own Self; | |
> Let him not lower himself. | |
> The Self alone is one's friend, | |
> And the Self alone is one's enemy. | |
Although Lord Krishna says "Uplift yourself," we are not able to do | |
that. We think we are unworthy, we think we are full of negativities | |
and doubts, and these weigh us down. Even if we imagine we respect | |
one another, what comes across is our low opinion of ourselves. It | |
does not matter if we are scholars, professionals, or great | |
businessmen; beneath our erudition and professional success we feel a | |
lack of worth, we feel we are not what we should be. | |
This feeling of unworthiness creates disrespect. If we do not feel | |
greatness or divinity in ourselves, if we do not experience the Truth | |
within, how can we recognize that greatness and that Truth in others? | |
This is the reason that, even though the great teachings teach us to | |
respect one another, we are not able to imbibe their teaching. | |
To make the Truth our own, we have to prepare the field of the body. | |
In order to make his field flower, a farmer must first weed it, plow | |
it, seed it, and irrigate it. But in order to ensure the flowering | |
of wisdom in the field of the body, we cannot use a tractor or a | |
shovel to dig it up; we must employ more subtle practices. And so we | |
chant, we contemplate, and we meditate. | |
When we contemplate "Who am I? Why was I born? What is the purpose | |
of this world?" even if we do not find the answers immediately, the | |
inquiry itself creates energy. Most of us live without ever trying | |
to find out the cause of our being here and the cause of the | |
universe. Of course, we study these things in school and in college, | |
and we learn the theories that others have come up with, but we do | |
not try to find the answers from within our own being. That is more | |
difficult, isn't it? | |
How can we chant, contemplate, and meditate so as to live the life we | |
must live? Although chanting is very sweet and beautiful, we cannot | |
always chant aloud when we are walking down the street. So when we | |
are together like this or when we are by ourselves, we chant to | |
ourselves constantly. As we practice chanting, our whole being | |
accepts the sound. Then, regardless of the situation in which we | |
find ourselves, we hear the sound, and it protects us. | |
We practice contemplation. Although we are not always comfortable | |
with what we are contemplating, we continue our inner inquiry. As we | |
contemplate more and more, the answer reveals itself to us. | |
For some, the answer reveals itself as supreme contentment. No | |
matter what their circumstances may be, such people are content. | |
Whether there is heat or cold, honor or dishonor, praise or blame, | |
they experience supreme contentment within. | |
For some, the answer comes as divine intoxication. Many people drink | |
to feel high and to block their emotions and anxieties. But when you | |
truly contemplate, the Truth reveals itself as divine intoxication. | |
No matter what is happening, you experience a high state. Someone | |
may be yelling at you, and you think, "Listen to that--the glory of | |
God!" In everything and everyone you experience only intoxication, | |
ecstasy. | |
Some people experience the answer as absolute enlightenment, complete | |
serenity. When the Truth reveals itself to you, no matter what form | |
it takes, it is the Truth. However, who has the patience to wait for | |
the Truth to reveal itself? Until that revelation comes, we spend | |
our time being jealous of other people, getting angry with them, and | |
thinking bad thoughts about them. In Vedanta this is called māyā, | |
illusion. In the beginning there was enlightenment, and at the end | |
there will be enlightenment, but in the middle there is a drama. We | |
do sādhanā, we do our practices, to avoid being totally involved in | |
the drama of maya. | |
In the Gitā the Lord says: | |
> With his mind completely harmonized by yoga, | |
> The yogi sees the inner Self abiding in all beings. | |
> He sees the same Truth everywhere, | |
> He sees the same God everywhere. | |
... We do not meditate to invoke spirits. We meditate to invoke the | |
supreme Spirit, or God. | |
Baba Muktananda used to say that in the modern age people do not like | |
to use the word "God." They speak of "Consciousness," "your full | |
potential," "what you really are," or "the meditative energy." What | |
can we do? This is the world we live in. In these days people don't | |
seem able to take the Truth as it is. We have to change it in order | |
to like it. | |
People meditate for different reasons... But true meditation is | |
becoming absorbed in the Truth at all times, in all places, with all | |
people. | |
It is better not to place conditions on the results of meditation. | |
God has placed everything within all of us. Many people say, "When I | |
first started meditating, I had so many visions and so many kinds of | |
experiences. Now, five years later, there is nothing. I don't have | |
any visions and I don't experience anything. It must be a dry spell." | |
Even though you think your experience is dry, still a great deal is | |
happening. The power of meditation never stops. The fact that you | |
do not experience anything in a particular moment does not mean that | |
you should give up and do something else. | |
There was a farmer who wanted water, so he dug a well fifty feet | |
deep. He didn't find any water, so he dug another fifty-foot well. | |
Once again, no water. Three more times he dug to a depth of fifty | |
feet. Still no water. Finally, he was exhausted, and he went to a | |
wise sage. In the East people still go to a Master to ask about | |
personal problems. The farmer told the sage what had happened. | |
The sage said, "Why did you dig five wells? Why didn't you stick to | |
one and go deeper than fifty feet? You would have found water." | |
Keep going deeper and deeper. Do not limit the results of | |
meditation. | |
A great saint, John of the Cross, said: | |
> That you may have pleasure in everything, | |
> Seek pleasure in nothing. | |
> That you may possess all things, | |
> Possess nothing. | |
> That you may be everything, | |
> Seek to be nothing. | |
This is the true way of life. If you want true pleasure, then do not | |
go after pleasures. If you want to possess everything, do not go | |
after anything. If you want to become something, first become | |
nothing. That is true humility. Without true humility, it is very | |
difficult to recognize the experiences that we have. Beautiful | |
experiences are taking place within us, but we cannot see them if we | |
lack humility. True humility is nothing but love, and love is | |
nothing but respect. | |
A king asked his prime minister, "Tell me, what is the best thing in | |
this world, and what is the worst thing?" | |
The prime minister said, "The tongue is both the best and the worst." | |
The king was curious. "How so?" he asked. | |
The prime minister replied, "With this tongue a human being can | |
elevate the entire universe, and with this same tongue a human being | |
can send this universe to hell." | |
Sometimes even though we feel good, we need to train the tongue to | |
say good things. In Siddha Meditation, the way we train our tongue | |
is by chanting the name of God over and over again. As chanting | |
opens up the heart, it fills the entire being with great love. | |
... | |
While chanting, rather than analyze the meaning, learn to lose | |
yourself in the sound. Let it fill you completely. Make more room | |
inside so that the sound can expand. In meditation too, just lose | |
yourself. Do not worry about how well you are sitting or how bad | |
your posture is. Just lose yourself in it. Baba used to say, "Do | |
not be afraid of losing yourself. I will find you." The words of a | |
master are like a koan: they might sound simple, but they are full of | |
meaning. | |
Lose yourself and become ecstatic. Become humble, and you will be | |
filled with love. As you become filled with love, you will be able | |
to respect one another, and thereby the word "respect" will gain | |
great honor. | |
Bearing that in mind, with great love and great respect, I welcome | |
you all with all my heart. | |
* * * | |
True love is not based on outer attention. True love is an inner | |
treasure which grows and grows. To experience it, go deep inside. | |
If you do not get support from inside, no matter how much outer | |
support you get, it is never going to be enough. You will always be | |
flying from one flower to another, like a bee. | |
You have to know that the honey is inside, not just outside. But | |
when you do get love from outside, drink it. Don't push it away. | |
When we are given love, we say, "Perhaps I am not worthy of receiving | |
this love. When I am deserving enough, I will take it." When love | |
comes, experience it then and there. And when you think you are not | |
getting love from outside, take it from inside. There is so much | |
love within. | |
tags: article,inspiration,spirit | |
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