Sunday, June 23, 2013

Humility is all that counts - Surrender ...

The gods once imagined that they were able to get victory over the demons because of their own prowess. When they were celebrating the victory, a deity appeared before them and cast a blade of grass on the ground. It asked Agni (God of fire) to burn it; but he could not. It challenged Vayu (God of Air) to lift it, but he could not. It provoked Varuna (God of Water) to wet it, but, in spite of his best efforts, he could not. Then when their pride had been pricked, the deity taught them the Brahma Vidya (science of Brahman), which reveals the inner source of all strength.
This is no ordinary story; Agni is the presiding deity of vaak (speech) and so it tells us that speech has to be humble, that it derives its power only from the basic Universal Principle. Vaayu is prana (the vital air). Humility in behaviour and practice are all that count, especially in Sadhana.
Baba (thought for the day)
 
This is the basic reality we have to realize in our life, the real power behind, he is the knower and it is not I and I guess that is the difficulty of the know how.
If even the gods thought that they were able to get victory over the demons because of their own prowess..., how about us?
We don't even know that we imagine that we can do it, we just do it and what we find afterwards is that it didn't work, but we go on repeating the same mistake over and over. We should think that we learn by experience, but it is not like that.
Most people go on searching for happiness on the wrong level or they are that distracted in their mind and focus on ephemeral things that they never get aware that it is a dead end and that it leads nowhere, because it is an illusion.
What is an illusion? And what is the science of Brahman, Brahma Vidya? How can we know the source of all strength it reveals to us if we don't know what we are talking about?
 
Agni is the power (or god) of fire and it controls our speech. It has to be humble to derive the power from the basic universal principle. Do you realize what we are talking about?
Maybe one day we will know..., maybe and because we don't know enough about the science of Brahman we maybe will never know... and Vayu is vital air, it is in our breath and it is about life force.
Practice is all that counts, do you know how to practice?
But we know is Sadhana means spiritual practice and therefore, meditation.
The knowledge of Brahman is about meditation. If we meditate, we practice. We have to discriminate, that is the first step.
But it helps to meditate, because during meditation we learn to distinguish between all that what is just passing by and therefore, it is not real and we find the real self, that which is not changing and permanent values. We have to find the source, the reality of our own being.
Discrimination is developed by meditation and that is the principle of the science of Brahman, Brahman is that non-changing part in us, truth, the core of our being which is divine and that has to be realized.
But this thought for the day is about the gods thinking they could get victory over demons because of their own prowess.
 
The gods once imagined that they were able to get victory over the demons because of their own prowess. When they were celebrating the victory, a deity appeared before them and cast a blade of grass on the ground. It asked Agni (God of fire) to burn it; but he could not. It challenged Vayu (God of Air) to lift it, but he could not. It provoked Varuna (God of Water) to wet it, but, in spite of his best efforts, he could not. Then when their pride had been pricked, the deity taught them the Brahma Vidya (science of Brahman), which reveals the inner source of all strength.
 
The reason Baba talks about it is not because of the gods, but because we do the same as well. We think we can get victory by our own prowess and what he tells us in that metaphor is that it is not possible and that therefore the science of Vidya was taught.
If you know Brahma Vidya it is okay, but if you don't know, how shall we know what this is all about?
And already the slightest doubt and the feeling that we don't know makes feel uncomfortable and unsure and not okay.
Baba talks to everybody including the people who studied that Brahma Vidya ...
The inner source of strength is our own self and it is that oneness with the divine we have to realize.
Atman reacts, reflects and resounds. It cannot be burnt, it cannot be lifted up, we cannot wet it, but nevertheless, it is the inner source of all strength and to know that is Brahman.
 
This is no ordinary story; Agni is the presiding deity of vaak (speech) and so it tells us that speech has to be humble, that it derives its power only from the basic Universal Principle. Vaayu is prana (the vital air). Humility in behavior and practice are all that count, especially in Sadhana.
 
And finally it is about humility in behavior and practice.
Meditation, if it is part of our daily routine, it is something we do, because we think about how to go beyond the mind, how to transcend and how to be able to stay in touch with our higher self.
It helps to discriminate and to be aware of the difference between the real and the unreal, between truth and illusion.
It is possible to get it with meditation.
Brahma vidya tells us how to put it into practice, meditate or do whatever we have to do, whatever the game, we have to play it to be in touch with our own self, Brahman.
It is also called pure consciousness or the divine, the inner strength or our unlimited potential, we can develop it if we go beyond the mind. We can call it a level of perfect orderliness and organizing power, that is all part of the science of Brahman.
But the main thing is not only to do it, but to realize unity in diversity.
 
Humility in behavior and practice are all that count, especially in Sadhana.
 
The gods were proud, they thought they could get victory by their own prowess. It means we think that we can get victory, we think we are the doer. The first thing is to realize the difference between what is real and unreal. If we think we are the doer, we get the result and the Karma.
Our real strength is in realizing that he is the doer. Whatever the game, we have to play it, but there is a way to play it. If we know the power of humility, we can get aware of 'I am that', it is cognition and self-realization.  

I went on the path of self-realization looking for truth, because I felt it was present as feeling, I was at that time a teenager and was living in the parent's house, but afterwards it was gone.
Something felt not quite right and that was reason enough to search for truth, as the feeling of self-realization was no more present.
Years ago only by inner view and Baba dreams I got aware of it that it had to do with my mother and the family and suddenly all strength felt like gone.
It could be that it had to do with the fact that it was the mother and that I was all my life looking for it and I couldn't understand it or find it. Baba made it clear in the inner view when he said in the dream that my family let me down. It felt that heavy, it took all strength away, a while it seemed even impossible to wake up.
It makes therefore sense to find another source of strength somewhere beyond our relative life structure.
The mother is kind of in the center of our being, and being let down because of pride and attachment, that was also as insight in the dream, was kind of that heavy, it is the mind level and finding faults with others what made it that heavy and whatever reason that made her go into such an attitude of mind, mostly business directed, it was kind of that heavy, it seems real difficult to recover and get the strength back.
I cannot imagine a life without meditation, it lets me go on, not despair and not be lost in negativity, even if it seems impossible on the mind level, but the negativity is still there.
We have to feel it, own it and let it go into the light. But I guess it is that difficult to get aware of it and looking for it in vain all life, getting aware of it after her death.
That is somehow that level, reflected in my own life, the reality Baba mentions in that thought for the day.

The gods once imagined that they were able to get victory over the demons because of their own prowess. When they were celebrating the victory, a deity appeared before them and cast a blade of grass on the ground. It asked Agni (God of fire) to burn it; but he could not. It challenged Vayu (God of Air) to lift it, but he could not. It provoked Varuna (God of Water) to wet it, but, in spite of his best efforts, he could not.

Whatever the game, we have to play it - and an oracle in Oregon said once, 'even if you don't like, you wanted it like that'.
It means we are now in that game of life, because we have just to learn that lesson, if we like it or not. It is not a question of liking it, it goes beyond the mind, but it is definitely still a question of finding that inner strength.

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