Are We "Special"?

When we enjoy good fortune, or even when we just feel good, there is a tendency for ego to rise up and proclaim that we are special because we have been singled out by the Universe for special blessings. We may feel that this is because we are "more spiritual" than others. This is an example of ego's constant effort to take command of the situation and shine the spotlight on itself. Ego conveniently forgets that we have suffered misfortune in the past and most likely will suffer it again in the future, leading to the inference that at those times we were not as "special" as we are now -- or at least, not special in a positive way.

To a great extent, the favors of the Universe are bestowed randomly because the Universe does not recognize distinctions among individuals. One person cannot be more meritorious than another because all persons are part of the singular Unity that the Universe is. The circumstances in which each of us find ourselves are transitory and meaningless from the Universal perspective. "Good" things may happen to "bad" people and vice versa, but only because we make it so -- it is we who attach the labels "good" and "bad" to people and events.

You really can't say you are "blessed" when things happen that fit into your concept of "good" unless you are willing to admit you are "cursed" when events fall outside that concept. But in truth, all events are neutral and should be accepted with equanimity. Because the Universe is Love, all beings are blessed all of the time. It just takes a long practice of meditation and mindfulness to become aware of that principle. When you are in the flow of that awareness, then your are constantly bathed in Love and joy no matter what seems to be happening around you. Moreover, there is nothing that you need to do but to Love. Love God and its manifestations in the physical Universe that you are experiencing at each moment. That is, to paraphrase Luke, the one and only Law.

It can be hard for us to accept that when we meditate, practice loving kindness, and strive to eliminate unloving behaviors, we are not entitled to a reward.  The world of reward and punishment is ego's world, not God's. To love God and its manifestations is its own reward. It is the be-all and end-all of our human existence. It is this that we incarnated to learn, and to practice until we have it perfected. Once we have learned perfect forgiveness and through it perfect love, our task is complete. There is no other task that has meaning.

Nothing but Love

You don't have to be taught to love your neighbor, or even your enemy. That love is already in you. What is needed is to break free of the ego that insists you must compete, you must fight, you must seize all you can; and that whispers in your ear that others - all others - are conspiring to take what you already have and trample you in the dust. Simply quieting the mind and listening for the Voice that comes from beyond mind and the small self is enough. You will know that Voice because it is untainted by selfishness or hatred. 

The calm, reassuring Voice of God comes in stillness to counsel that all are One; that peace is strength; that Love is the only Power in the Universe. Then all the concerns that trouble ego are revealed as emptiness, nothingness. The image of evil fades and dissolves in the knowledge that God is all and God is only Love. You rest in the awareness that God is in you and you are in God, inviolate and eternal. With nothing to fear, there can be nothing in you but Love.

Sleeping and Waking

A period of meditation at bedtime can be useful in clearing your mind of the cares of the day and preparing for restful sleep. It is a natural way to set aside the mind's agenda and to make room for the voice of Spirit. Some people follow the routine of counting their blessings before sleep. This also is a beneficial practice as it invokes the "attitude of gratitude." Anything that can help you enter your sleep period in a peaceful and receptive state is beneficial.

In sleep, your active consciousness is temporarily disabled. This allows other influences greater access to your passive  awareness. If you fall asleep worrying about life situations, those worries may continue to possess your awareness during sleep, leading to a greater likelihood of troubling dreams and restlessness. However, if you prepare yourself for sleep by setting aside worldly concerns and opening yourself to Spirit, then the Spirit within you that never sleeps may fill your awareness, allowing disturbing ideas no access. Sleep may then become the time during which you most fully experience the peace of Oneness.

The attitude that you carry into your sleep period is likely to remain with you when you wake up. Peaceful, restful sleep leads to peaceful awakening. However, your awareness is still vulnerable in the first moments of wakefulness and the ego may try to take advantage this by causing worldly cares to rush in and take possession. To avoid this, develop a practice of meditating immediately upon awakening. This will extend the period of complete receptiveness to Spirit so that it encompasses your entire sleep cycle, including the periods of entering into and emerging from sleep. Your higher consciousness or inner Spirit will be able to establish itself as the guide and protector of your awareness during the day to come, increasing your ability to meet everyday challenges with equanimity and a positive attitude.

One method of meditation both at bedtime and in the morning is to practice body awareness. After going to bed, perform a relaxation exercise by focusing your awareness on one part of your body at a time, becoming aware of any stress or tension that has become embedded in your nerves or muscles and encouraging your body to let go and relax. Try to sense the underlying energy of Spirit that actuates your body, maintaining its physical manifestation. You may sense this as a vibration or tingling in each body part as it becomes the object of your awareness. Allow this sensation to become a generalized feeling of well being as your awareness of it spreads to encompass your entire body.  Keep your focus on quiet restfulness and relaxation as you do this, because this exercise also has the capability to fill your body with active energy and make sleep more difficult to achieve.

In fact, a recommended morning practice is almost identical. Immediately on awakening, begin with a moment of total  surrender and receptiveness to Spirit. Then become aware of each part of your body as it emerges from the sleeping state. Allow the universal actuating positive energy to fill each part in turn until your entire being is vibrating harmoniously. Open your awareness again to the healing message of Spirit as it fills your consciousness with affirmative attitudes for the coming day. You will enter into your period of wakefulness and activity well prepared for a day filled with peace, love, and successful endeavor.

Everything Is All Right

Compassion is both a way to connect with the indwelling Spirit, and a manifestation of that connection. A sense of compassionate connection with other beings reinforces the awareness of Oneness that is otherwise too often inwardly-directed. 

I have had a sense of peace and security about my life situation more and more lately as I learn to relax into Love and to surrender to Spirit. My meditations focus on acceptance of the higher Self as my true being, and on giving up the complaints and demands of the egoic self. In many situations that I would formerly have found stressful or threatening my reaction is now not panic or fear, but a gentle awareness that everything is all right. This awareness is not limited to spiritual themes but extends into everyday living. At home, at work, and anywhere else I may find myself, I am learning to accept that nothing can be wrong in Spirit and that, sometimes despite appearances, everything is all right. I am becoming increasingly aware that as I allow Spirit to manifest in my being, so it manifests in my life situations as well.

Recently when I have felt a compassionate connection with another being, I find that it expresses itself in a way that I feel as cherishing. I look at the other with my eyes or with my mind, and the affirmation “I cherish you in Spirit” arises seemingly of its own accord in my consciousness. There is feeling of safety and acceptance that comes along with this phenomenon; acceptance of my being, and of the other, as if we were both cradled in the same pair of loving arms. I can only describe this as the loving power of Spirit flowing through me, and the other, and filling us both with the fundamental loving energy of the Universe. Any anxiety or concern I may have had for the other’s well-being is lifted from me as I become aware that everything is all right.

I am excited at the realization that this profound sense of well-being does not stop at the limits of my  physical body. I feel that not only I, but also those whose life situations attract my compassion, are sheltered in the protective embrace of Spirit. They may not immediately feel the same  sense of security that I do, because they have not cultivated their connection with Spirit. Nor may they be able to see beyond the immediate crisis to the safe harbor beyond. But I hope that my own tranquil awareness that everything is all right may be communicated to them and that they may come to that realization sooner themselves. Their realization in turn should enhance the manifestation of Spirit in their life situations so that, in the end, it will be evident to all that indeed, everything is all right.

Ramana Maharshi on the Householder's Dilemma

 

This Q&A addresses the question I believe every secular mystic must confront: How to live spiritually while dealing with the demands of everyday life.

 

Q:  How can cessation of activity (nivritti) and peace of mind be attained in the midst of household duties which are of the nature of constant activity?

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

As the activities of the wise man exist only in the eyes of others and not in his own, although he may be accomplishing immense tasks, he really does nothing. Therefore his activities do not stand in the way of inaction and peace of mind. For he knows the truth that all activities take place in his mere presence and that he does nothing. Hence he will remain as the silent witness of all the activities taking place.

 

Bhagavan is reminding us here that the Sage exists as the silent observer, entirely apart from his body/mind. The activities of body/mind are not his activities. He is free from attachments, and his serenity is not disturbed by the constant stream of thinking, acting, and relating taking place around him. Of course "he" is not "he" but the I am.

 

The value of the quotation lies in the reassurance it gives us that renunciation of attachments does not require the abandonment of everyday relationships and responsibilities. We need this assurance in order that we do not give up on the Path out of concern that it will lead us to abandon those who depend upon us. This is  separate from the pain that ego anticipates from the loss of attachments.

 

Until we attain full realization of the Self, we may believe that complete renunciation of worldly affairs is necessary. We may find this impossible out of love for family and friends, the sense of responsibility we feel, and the compassion for ourselves and others that pushes us to strengthen, rather than loosen, the bonds between us and them.

 

This dilemma is not limited to any particular school of philosophy. Followers of Buddhist and Vedantic traditions are faced with it, but so are Christians. Jesus taught his disciples to leave behind their livelihoods and their closest personal relationships in order to follow him. Taking this literally, as mind/body is wont to do, must have caused many to despair of ever walking in his footsteps.

 

Joel Goldsmith paints a stark picture in "A Parenthesis In Eternity":

 

"Few people realize the price that has to be paid for engaging in spiritual work. ... As a rule it means the loss of one's family, and it always means the loss of one's friends because in spiritual work no one has the leisure necessary to enjoy friendships or for time-consuming social dilly-dallying."

 

Although Ramana himself left his family and lived as an ascetic, in the quotation he is pointing out that the real renunciation is internal rather than external. Because his Self realization occurred at such a young age, he never acquired the kind of family and social responsibilities that many of us bear. Because he attained Self realization almost instantaneously, he may not have fully appreciated the difficulty of allowing the I am to emerge as the true Self while simultaneously giving attention to the concerns of the smaller self. Yet his message here is the infallible Voice of a fully realized being, and it is that the body/mind can continue to discharge its responsibilities after Self realization. Surely it must also be true that we can continue to fulfill our daily duties while on the Path. In the words of the Zen proverb, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

 

In a later passage, Goldsmith also seems to acknowledge the possibility of maintaining relationships on a foundation independent of ego:

"Illumination brings freedom from dependence on persons and things, and the only perfect human relationship there can ever be is one in which we do not look to anyone for anything. ... Then we have normal, happy relationships because we are free to share without thinking of any return."

 

Here he seems to recognize that it is not the external relationship, but the internal attachment to that relationship and its rewards that is renounced.

 

The Ramana quotation also reminds me that Self realization consists of bringing into conscious awareness a reality that already exists. I am is the core of every being and rests eternally as the silent Presence in each of us. The tranquil Observer already sits apart from the body/mind and witnesses its frantic comings and goings. Self realization is like removing the blindfold that hides this Presence from us. 

 

The purpose of meditation and mindfulness practice is to unify this core consciousness with the mind/body consciousness so as to escape the world of karma and unite with the Universal Self. As Goldsmith describes it in the chapter entitled "The Mystical Marriage": 

"That which is human and that which is divine meet: the human element is dissolved, and all that is left is the divine. The two become one."

 

 

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The Q&A above is from the Ramana Maharshi Facebook page. There are many other related discussions to be found there.

Spiritual Surrender

Our human existence can be characterized as a series of challenges. Life presents us with one situation after another in which we must choose among many possible courses of action, one of which is not to act at all. Behind those choices is another very important choice, which is whether to be guided by ego or by Spirit. 

Ego almost never chooses inaction. Ego's modus operandi is to stir the pot, to find threats in every situation. Because it is convinced that the Universe is hostile, ego reacts either defensively or aggressively, whatever it believes will best serve its own perceived needs without regard to the needs of others. Ego scorns inaction as passive surrender to the omnipresent enemy.

Spirit, on the other hand, inhabits a cooperative Universe in which love and acceptance are the moving forces. It does not feel threatened because it knows that it is immortal and unchanging. As manifested in us as individuals, Spirit counsels us to act for the benefit of all. In many cases, this means allowing events to play out rather than intervening in order to direct them toward an outcome that favors us at the expense of others. Almost always, it means taking time to assess the situation and to formulate a thoughtful response. Ego contemptuously labels this measured approach as weakness.

In order to choose mindfully between courses of action, we must pause long enough between stimulus and response to become aware of what our choices are. Ego's reactions are often reflexive. They are based on prejudices or the preconceived notion that every interaction is an attack. Quelling the urge to react in a knee-jerk manner is the necessary predicate to adopting a spiritual rather than an egoic response.

Spiritual teachers may refer to this practice as surrender. Surrender in this sense, however, is not the passive acceptance of events and circumstances. Instead, it is the recognition that Spirit is the most dependable source of guidance in any situation. It represents the choice to be guided by the calm Voice that comes in stillness rather than by the shrill rantings of ego. 

In order to hear that Voice, it is necessary to cultivate the ability to establish a zone of internal peace even in the most tumultuous surroundings. This is accomplished by regular meditation practice, and by seeking to live every moment in the awareness of Spirit. If we put spiritual principles to work in the routine activities of our daily lives, their use will become a habit that will serve us well in times of crisis. 

In our calm center, we know that we are safe and that we already possess everything we need in order to be happy. We know that these things cannot be taken from us because they are the only eternal truths in the Universe. By surrendering to the Voice of Spirit not just daily, but from moment to moment, we bring serenity into our lives and, in some measure, into the lives of those around us. Spirit will never guide us into discord and pain, though it may guide us to confront controversy, rather than avoid it, in order that it may be resolved. At the very least, we can contribute peace and loving coexistence in every situation. Perhaps the most important action we can take, in the long run, is to demonstrate by example that actively choosing spiritual surrender is the surest path to happiness.

Thinking About Immortality

Death and dying are subjects that are so taboo in our society, that we often refuse even to think privately about them. The Google dictionary defines "morbid" as "Characterized by or appealing to an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, esp. death and disease." I suppose that interest in death and disease can be carried to such an extreme that it can be characterized as abnormal and unhealthy. The same is true of any other subject; the pathology then is related to obsession, rather than to the topics themselves. But we often behave as if any consideration of death and dying were a sign of mental illness, and as if any reference to the subject were extremely bad manners.

The very aversion that we demonstrate to the topic of death is an indication of the great importance we attach to it. I have alluded to the subject before. Physical death is inevitable. It seems very likely that ego, which is attached to the physical body, must die with it. It is ego that finds any discussion of the topic unbearable. It is insane to fear the inevitable, but ego is insane and does fear its own extinction. When we live from the ego, we are possessed, often paralyzed by that same fear. What is true for us is also, naturally, true for those to whom we are attached. The passing of a loved one is often even more painful to contemplate than our own. This reflects ego's conception of death as extinction, as well as egoic attachment.

New Age and New Thought adherents often refer to physical death as "transition." This implies a process of moving from one state of existence to another. It is comforting to speak of transition rather than termination, but we should not delude ourselves that "life after death" is just a continuation of our present existence, with no more effect than changing clothes. How much of your personality did you bring with you into this world, and how much did you acquire after your conception? That which was born with the body or acquired by it afterward will likely pass away with it. 

Nevertheless, the core of our being - whether considered as Awareness, Spirit, God, or the Higher Self - is immortal. The I am which observes and - in the spiritually aware person - governs the thoughts and behavior of the small self is a manifestation of the Presence that is the fundamental energy of the Universe. All of the experiences that constitute human existence occur within that matrix and, in that sense, are also immortal. But to cling to the notion that a particular set of experiences that we call "ours" must remain identified with a particular wrinkle in the fabric of the Universe simply represents an attempt to narrow the scope of the Infinite to fit within the limits of our present awareness.

The thread in that fabric that represents a single consciousness may pass through one or many transition events. But when time falls away and all is seen through the lens of Oneness, there are no individuals; there is neither life nor death; there is no past nor future. There is only Awareness, undifferentiated and immeasurable. Therein lies our immortality.

More thoughts on immortality can be found here:

Thoughts On the Passing Of a Friend