Chapter X
Be ever joyful and sweet
“For this spiritual
discipline, you must cultivate the quality of always being joyful, with a smile
on your face; this will give you good distinction. People will also like you
more. So, the Lord will also have joy upon seeing you. Therefore, observe meditation
with innocence, purity, and humility.
Then, without fail, you
can attain whatever you strive for. Do not lose your temper in any situation;
do not lose courage in any contingency. Respect everyone, whatever their
status. Then the quality of universal love (prema)
will develop in you. As a result, meditation will progress without disturbance.
For the cure of illness
without resort to drugs, meditation is the only remedy. Even the capacity to
discriminate and analyse will increase, and by means of that, illness, however
serious, can be overcome.”
Introspection
Bro Sanjay Mahalingam’s sharing in one of
the sessions is worth a recap here, in the context of what Swami has written
above.
Sanjay recalls atleast few occasions when
he as well as other few students have asked, “ Swami, tell us, please, what do
you want from us, in what way we can be a worthy instrument in your mission,
How you want us to be”
In all such situations, Swami’s one
answer was, “BE HAPPY”.
That is what our dear lord wants from us
and that is the purpose, that is the search of every human being, from his
birth till the moment he realizes SELF, in one, few, many, numerous births, and
it is “Search for happiness”
And, when you are able to be joyful all
the times, Swami gives a huge assurance when he says “So, the Lord will also
have joy upon seeing you”!!
Swami writes,
“In every word uttered,
there are two kinds of senses: the obvious and the innate, the native and the
qualitative. The Upanishads take up the second kind and elaborate, clarify, and
make the Brahman known. One important thing to be remembered is that it is
possible and desirable to utilize the full power of words through softness and
sweetness.
If one is anxious to see
God in every object, the sweetness of the word will be of immense help. Sir,
Master, Lord: in these words, lie the secret of much affection and regard.
Through these and such words, how happy you can make others, and how light your
minds will become by the practice of softness of expression! When meditation is
carried on in that happy atmosphere, how quickly concentration can be attained!
Instead, if in
conversation you use words that blame others and despise them, in turn you
become the target of blame, and your mind gets agitated by the effect of both;
then the object of meditation is not realized because the atmosphere turns
impure. Therefore, if you really wish to be happy through meditation, as a
preliminary to the process, you must be engaged either in joyful conversation
or in happy thoughts or memories. Sweet and soft conversation helps meditation
a great deal.
You must cultivate such
a character, for character outlasts the body. Virtues are your strength and
glory. Character is power. So train the mind and use it to attain the visualization
of the Lord (sakshatkara);
hold fast to that goal.
Introspection
Swami Krishnananda writes,
“You require nothing in
order to bring you peace of mind. You require only yourself. You are the master
of yourself, and you have to know how to tune yourself to the requirement of
existence as a whole. The tuning of your personality, your existence, to the
existence that is total is peace of mind; that is peace of consciousness; that
is harmony of existence; that is blessedness; that is happiness; that is bliss,
you may say.
Here is the characteristic of a saint or
a sage. Nothing is outside the saint and, therefore, he needs nothing from
outside. One should not want anything from outside, because the outside thing
does not exist apart from you and you do not exist outside that thing which you
consider as outside.
The saints and the sages ask not
anything. They do not require anything because they have got everything by
being united with that which you regard as outside you. The thing which you
want is inside you in the sense that it is connected with your body, your
personality, your consciousness. The moment you think, the universe acts,
provided that your mind is united with the cosmic mind.
Satisfaction is not in you or in somebody
else. It is in consciousness itself. Satisfaction is uninterrupted performance
of consciousness. A larger satisfaction flashes forth when the unit of
consciousness that you are operates as a set adjustment with the consciousness
of other such units or centers. Who feels happiness? Who feels peace? Consciousness
feels peace. It gets disturbed when there is no peace. Who disturbs it? It is
disturbed by the wrong notion that it is outside the thing to which it really
belongs.
This little 'me' is organically related
to the cosmic being – which means to say, I am a cosmic being. And the others I
seem to see outside are not outside me, just as I am not outside the cosmic
being." Go on asserting this with faith, with the power of will.
"If I cannot stand outside the universe, I am the universe itself." Who
will disturb your mind, then? Tell me frankly: who is there to disturb your
mind? Nobody can disturb your mind. There is no such thing as 'your'
mind.
Find fault with yourself only. Do not
find fault with anybody else, because the world is a whole, and wholeness cannot
have imperfections.
Love.
