7-27-14 Lucifer |
|||||
Heavenletters™, bringing
Earth closer to Heaven. One thing you may be learning is to leave well enough
alone. This is a good thing to learn. Channeled by Brenda Hoffman for http://www. Dear Ones, Let us begin with what you have been
pining for for eons - the love and joy of new earth. Yet, you continue to forget or ignore the basic new earth
building block - loving yourself. Of course, you believe you love yourself - and perhaps
you do to a certain extent. But do you love your body, your emotions, your very being? Or is that love saturated with, "I'm
not smart enough. I'm not thin enough. I'm not healthy enough." or any other phrase that tells you and others your love is
limited to what your culture defines as perfect? Your self-limitation talk is based
on what you learned and accepted in your former 3D world and has little to do with who you are now. Such is so for a reason only you know...or at least knew. You are you for reasons you perhaps cannot yet
understand - but you will. And you will be amazed once you learn how aptly you designed your being. Perhaps you are tired of reading or hearing phrases such as, "Love yourself." But please know that until
you truly do - not merely voice that you do, but truly love yourself - you cannot and will not fully assume your new earth
role. Most of your concerns about defining your new earth role are more
about your ego than your true self. Perhaps you beg to differ. You wish to save the world
or help the world move into new earth. A wish no different than any care taking role. It is just on a larger scale. You cannot save a drowning swimmer if you do not know how to swim. In a similar fashion, you cannot fully
play your new earth role if you do not understand and/or accept yourself. Perhaps if you wish hard
enough, you will lose weight, win money or find a mate. All wishes that tell you that you are not complete in yourself. This indeed is the time to start fulfilling your dreams. But those dreams need to be clarified. Are they
of your 3D ego or of your heart? So it is that you must fully understand yourself before your accept those dreams. Perhaps such a thought makes you angry. Why must you do anything to accept your dreams/joy? Such is true.
But if you accept dreams in your 3D self-contempt being, those dreams will soon not mean anything to you or new earth. It is time to truly love you - warts and all. You created your being with all the difficulties that have
been part of your 3D life for a reason. Allow yourself to accept that. And then allow yourself to accept that you will understand
why in the not-too-distant future. But for now, focus on loving yourself and the rest
will fall into place. Perhaps you do not know how to better love yourself. You
have tried nurturing yourself. You have stopped care taking those who always seem to require care taking, yet you find yourself
disliking your body, intelligence level, lack of like-minded friends and on and on. All
indicators that parts of you are not complete or right in your current view. Stop and ask your inner-being
for assistance. Even though you understand the concept of self-love, you have difficulties
practicing it. Ask for assistance from your wise inner-being. Perhaps you wish to use the 'what' and 'why' concept, "What
is it about myself I do not love and why?" Perhaps you merely wish to ask for assistance and allow that assistance to
redirect you. Just know that it is time for gifts from the Universes for your new
being - a being that cannot be fully developed until you love yourself. Now there are those who
contend that such a promise is yet another carrot in your new earth life. Such is not true. You
will receive the gifts whether you love yourself more completely than is true now. The difference is that those gifts will
be ego instead of self-love based. You do not need to live in a cardboard shack to prove
you are worthy of love. Instead, claim your mansion if that is who you are in your new being. For you have denied yourself
your true dreams for eons by claiming those things and people your culture decided were right for you. It is finally time to claim those gifts that are right for you - the gifts you declared important before
you entered earth in this lifetime. And only you what those gifts are. So be it. Amen
By Introduction We speak of the necessity of
an awakened awareness. We speak of the necessity of a higher awareness which alone will make our life genuine and authentic.
Until that awareness becomes firmly established in our heart, our life is still counterfeit, our life is still, if you want
to put it more charitably, apurna, inadequate. It is not fully the
life we are supposed to live; it is not a spiritual life. A spiritual life is based upon spiritual consciousness. A spiritual life is based upon spiritual thinking;
it is based upon a spiritual approach to all things. It is based upon a spiritual vision of the universe in which we live;
it is based upon a spiritual awareness of oneself, a divine awareness of oneself. It is a transcendence of one’s present,
limited body-mind-bound and time-space-oriented human personality. It is a going beyond this present earth consciousness,
this psychophysical human consciousness, which by its very nature is temporary, changeful and inadequate. For, in every cycle
of 24 hours, this human consciousness is extinguished. It is simply not there. It has a recurring death every day during deep
sleep, and this is not philosophy or metaphysics or speculation. It is the fact of experience of all, be he king or beggar,
donkey or dog. That being the case, when this human consciousness appears and disappears every 24 hours, how can it be called
truly real? Therefore,
spiritual life begins from this central point, this subjective starting point: How do you know yourself? What is your awareness
of yourself? From morning till night, what is the awareness of yourself that pervades your consciousness, that dominates your
heart, that fills your mind and that directs the manner in which your intellect functions? If spiritual life is to be authentic, genuine, true, and,
therefore, go on yielding spiritual results, it is this which is the very key. You are what your inner awareness is. Hence
the great prayer to the effulgent Light of lights beyond all darkness, Narayana, shining as this Light of lights: "dhiyo
yo nah prachodayat—May my inner being—mind, intellect,
thought, emotion, sentiment—all become characterised by an effulgence, by a certain radiance, a certain brightness.
May Your light of inner spiritual vision bring a flood of light into my intellect." Hence, again and again, this prayer is
offered. Thus, it is
true that the essence of spiritual life is an awakened and alert awareness, an unfolded inner consciousness of yourself upon
a higher dimension, upon a higher plane. It is true. But then, what relevance, what meaning, what significance, what relationship,
what place, do processes such as japa, kirtan, formal
worship, study, pilgrimage, Ganges bath, mantra writing
have? What do these various sadhanas, various
aspects of practical spiritual life, have to do with this awareness? Are they irrelevant? Are they meaningless? Are they a superstition? Are they
an unnecessary burden we are carrying—unscientific, irrational, illogical, outmoded? Or, do they have a role to play
in our spiritual life? Do they have some practical value? Do they even have a central, important place in our spiritual life
and sadhana? One way of
answering this and understanding it is very direct. It is supra-logical, direct. Had they no importance, if they did not have
any real, vital link, some relationship, some connection, with this inner awareness, some definite role to play, some very
indispensable function, then great souls like Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji would never have endorsed them, supported them or
made provision for them, would never have built a temple, a Bhajan Hall, instituted akhanda
nama sankirtan or written books calledJapa Yoga and Philosophy of Idol Worship. All
these Swami Sivanandaji would not have done unless they had some great significance and value. So this is enough answer. Had
these things not a relevance, a purpose and a value, he would not have endorsed them. And no one in his senses would say that
Swami Sivananda was a superstitious person. Similarly, a great spiritual phenomenon like Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma would not have endorsed japa,
kirtan, havans and various other worships. Neither would Papa Ramdas by
bell, book and candle have proclaimed the supremacy, the supreme efficacy of the Name: OM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM. And
mind you, none of these people were orthodox in the conservative sense of the term. They were modern people, of our own times,
who were aware of all the new trends of thought. And yet they meticulously followed certain outer forms. That is enough answer. But then, if you want a different
answer, more along the modern line of thinking, it is that such an awakened awareness, such an unfolded spiritual awareness,
an active divine awareness, needs a certain medium, a certain field through which and in which to manifest, wherein to abide,
just as any force needs some medium to manifest itself in and through. And the point lies here: this subtle, alert, awakened
awareness, divine awareness, is an extremely subtle state of consciousness that can manifest only in a refined inner instrument,
in a purified mind. Such
a very subtle state of mind and intellect is conspicuous by its absence in the vast majority of present day global mankind.
They are steeped in rajas and tamas. For them, this gross
world of names and forms alone is real, and they live to satisfy sense appetites and to fulfil desires. They are firmly bound
down to a lesser, grosser level of being, of thinking, feeling and acting. In such beings, the mind-stuff, the chitta, is gross; it vibrates in a very rajasic and tamasic way.
It may be able to make scientific discoveries and inventions, but it is ego-bound. It is bound to dehatma
Buddhi—"I am the body" awareness. Even the slightest concept of the abstruse, the purely abstract principle as Spirit,
is not there at all. They will mouth certain words; it may be part of their vocabulary, but it is not part of their thought
frame; it is not part of their inner content. This being the case, an awakened awareness, an alert awareness upon a spiritual level, is well nigh impossible
to them. The utmost that one could say is that through intelligence and study, some of them may come to have a relatively
or comparatively awakened awareness. Psychologically, they may be able to understand some of their moods and emotions, their
neuroses and their inner complexes. So, having an intellect, they may be able to have some psychological awareness, which
does make them different from the vast majority of their fellow beings in whom even this is absent. But then, psychological
awareness is one thing, spiritual awareness is totally another thing. Spiritual awakening and awareness require chitta
suddhi (a pure mind). They require an abundance of sattva. They require a purified intellect. They require purity of heart, a total inner
purity. Then alone the mind becomes an adequate and a suitable instrument for this heightened spiritual consciousness to manifest
itself in, to dwell in and to be supported by. And herein it is that the relevance of japa, meditation, nishkama paropakara
seva (selfless service), study, pilgrimage etc., becomes clear. It is
through such processes alone that the interior is purified and uplifted, made subtle, becomes an instrument par
excellence as it were—very suitable, very appropriate, very fitting—to
harbour and retain and invoke this higher state of consciousness, this radiant inner spiritual awareness. Thus the role of
all the various observances, the various items of sadhana, as
we know them, is to bring about in your being a totally purified interior; it is to bring godliness into your feeling about
yourself. When this is achieved then all talk of an awakened awareness, spiritual awareness, becomes meaningful. To elaborate further: Not any
mind can meditate. Not any mind can enter into higher awareness. Not any mind can become a fit framework for God-consciousness,
Divine-awareness. The gross mind, the mind filled with tamas, the
mind filled with rajas, is
unfit. It cannot hold this consciousness; it cannot help in bringing about this awareness. In the classical Vedantic sense,
such a mind is impure even if it is pure in an ordinary sense. Because, according to classical Vedantic terminology, impurity
constitutes not only ordinary impurity such as impure desires, anger, avarice and greed, infatuated attachment, arrogance
etc., but also a lack of subtlety, a non-refined state of mind containing certain defects. The outgoing nature of the mind is an impurity. It is
an inveterate bad habit; it is an impurity of which the mind should be cleansed. Worldly thinking, jagat
chintana, is an impurity. Gluttony is an impurity. The inability to trust others, always doubting, always suspecting,
is an impurity. Pettiness is an impurity. Drowsiness is an impurity. And, egotism and selfishness are the greatest dirt, the
most impure of all impurities of the mind. Therefore the interior has to be transformed to make it fit for the higher awareness. There is need for
what is known as an inner alchemy. Gross metal has to be transmuted into pure gold. This is spiritual life. This is spiritual sadhana. This is everything
about yoga. And this is brought about by the various yoga practices, each working upon some scientific base, invoking some
scientific principle. For example, a devotee will
worship God every day. He may use an image of his ishta devata (chosen
Deity) and worship It. He may sit before It for an half an hour or an hour. He bathes It, clothes It, ornaments It, puts sandal
paste and kumkum on
It, offers incense and waves lights, sings hymns and chants Its Name, prays to It and prostrates himself before It. All the
time, his eye is fixed upon the divine form. All the time, his mind is thinking about his ishta
devata and Its divinity. All the time, his heart is directed towards It
in a stream of devotion, in pious holy thought. So, the constant dwelling upon a thing, day after day, in a regular way, gradually brings about a transference
into the worshipper of whatever is sublime, noble and divine in that thing; the worshipper becomes like the object worshipped
or the ideal worshipped. This is a definite law, a specific law. That is the way in which a worshipper gradually becomes holy,
pure and divine. It
is the same when you repeat the Name, do japa. The
holy Name is a mass of Divinity. The Name is a repository of the infinite power of God. The constant repetition of the Name
penetrates into the deepest recesses of our being. It even changes samskarasand vasanas (subtle tendencies
and desires) from asubha into subha (inauspicious into
auspicious) and brings in an abundant influx of sattva guna (the
quality of purity). Because the Name is pure sattva, one
hundred per cent suddha sattva. We
can even call it super sattva because
it fills you with sattva, overcoming rajas and tamas. That is how japa brings
about a transformation. They
say: "As a man thinketh, so he becometh." Therefore, constant intake of sublime, life-transforming, thrilling, inspiring ideas,
constantly putting them inside, also gradually brings about a complete transformation in the fabric of the antahkarana (inner being). That is why the great scientific sage, Maharshi Patanjali, included svadhyaya (spiritual study)
as a specific item in his graduated, systematised yoga science. Similarly, unbroken remembrance of God has been advocated
everywhere, in all scriptures. From one point of view these practices are dispensable. If you attain Self-realisation they are dispensable. And
these practices must be done with the awareness that their purpose is to bring about an inner transformation. If done for
this purpose and with the right perspective, then they are not superstition. There may be superstition in the Hindu religion.
There may be superstition in Hindu customs and practices, but there is no superstition in Hindu spirituality. There is no
superstition in Hindu yoga science no matter what a thousand critics may say. But if these practices are done mechanically, as a dull routine, just because
someone has said they should be done, or if they are done with some lesser objective, like getting a desire fulfilled or attaining
some petty earthly end, then they deserve to be criticised. If people make their entire religion a process of petty bargaining
with God through worship, fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, bathing etc., then it becomes a puerile and mundane affair. They bring
religion into a lower level, a lesser level. However, it must be admitted that religion starts at this lesser level for everyone. Because no one is
suddenly endowed with higher understanding. One gradually graduates from lesser understanding, erroneous understanding to
better understanding, correct understanding, the right perspective. This is also a process, an evolutionary process. Therefore, everything has a
place. When properly understood and properly practised with the right attitude and right approach, everything will help. However,
don’t get stuck in any process. Know that this is also a stage that one has to pass through, transcend. But don’t
take it for granted or presume that you have already transcended it, passed beyond it. That may land you in error. Know that
all these sadhanas are
meant to bring about this total transmutation of the human nature, so that the human instrument, the mind, intellect and heart
become fit channels for the Divine. That is our task. That is why we have come here. If we are seriously engaged in this task, our life will move towards
our own highest good, towards supreme blessedness. If we deviate, not only is the Goal lost, but one lands up in a mess which
can result induhkha, great sorrow. So this is how it is. Take what you will. We have to evoke
these scientific principles and in an understanding manner engage in these various processes of yoga and bring about this
inner alchemy, a total transmutation. Divinity can enter into Divinity. A godly individual can enter into God-consciousness,
into God. We have to become like that which we are trying to attain. Sometimes we may fail, but if we persist, success is
sure to be ours. If you persist it must yield results, because that is the great law. Perseverance always pays. Therefore, one who perseveres
and practises yoga in an understanding way, in a wise way, will reap a golden harvest of bliss, peace, divine perfection and
liberation. May God’s grace and Gurudev’s choicest blessings enable you to see this clearly and enable you to
live a life of heightened awareness and spiritual consciousness! God bless you all!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||