Dear Assistant Moderator, I just want to thank you for your
insightful and in-depth account on this subject. I greatly admire
you and feel you embody a lot of clarity of mind and wisdom.
During the middle of the meditation courses, I was looking for
inspiration on the web one day and I unfortunately landed on some
kooky sites. I remember how they completely brought me down, made me
very depressed and sad, and brought up all kinds of negative
emotions in me like doubt, anger and despair. I guess they are like
a concentrated form of poison, which can be fatal for the weak. And
surely, at the time I felt this must be the end of my spiritual
search.
But, luckily my soul and God's grace were not going to give up on
me. And here I am!!! Very soon after becoming a student I felt that
this (becoming a student) was the greatest thing that had ever
happened in my life, and I slowly got more confident that a
spiritual path was not only the best thing for me, but the only
thing for me. Still, I guess it took a while for the effects of the
poison to fade, or be transformed.
However, every experience we have we can turn into something
positive, as Sri Chinmoy teaches. For one thing I'm sure the truth
applies that "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." And in a
sense I feel it must be a miracle that kept me from steering off
into the wrong direction after that fatal incident, because I can't
remember ever feeling so week, vulnerable, confused and helpless as
I felt then. So I can be really, really grateful I survived!!!
I guess, it's all very simple actually: in essence I'm sure
something negative and destructive will ultimately bring about a
negative reaction, whereas something positive and helpful will
ultimately bring about a positive reaction. ...Of course it all
depends on where one's consciousness is: I guess if one is in a
negative state of mind and vital, one may get joy from negativeness,
and be perturbed by things that don't conform to that negativeness.
Hmm...
Anyway, all this just stresses more and more the importance of
living in a pure heart. On the strength of the experiences of my
heart, what I then understood as an unfortunate, though possible,
alternate truth, now pales into insignificance as empty weeds. And I
feel I've developed a little wisdom, too. However, reaching this
wisdom by means of a positive way would have been safer, quicker and
I'm sure a joyful experience. I remember Sri Chinmoy saying
somewhere that one can reach the truth through ignorance, for at its
core there is also a little light - but that this is taking the
negative path, which is slow and dangerous, because you can get
caught in it yourself and drown. (I'm sure that this is what
happened to the character Saruman (from Lord of the Rings), and to
many of the other great bad-guys of yore :0)).
>From Sri Chinmoy I'm learning what to concentrate on to make the
fastest and surest progress. In our society we concentrate so much
on understanding evil, sickness and wrongdoing, which is clearly
exemplified by the course literature we had in my high school for
our mother tongue Swedish: all 15 books were about human suffering,
evil, sickness etc... At least that is how we analysed them. To me
it seems pretty comical now. One student asked why all of the books
had be so tough and whether a book has to be tragic to be regarded
as deep. The teacher couldn't answer that so she gave a sigh and a
smile. Yes, I guess the trend has been to bring ignorance to the
fore so it can be illumined. But, if we consciously dig in this
ignorance to illumine it by ourselves we may not be strong enough,
and as a result be caught by the very thing we try to illumine. But,
if we surrender this responsiblity to God, while concentrating on
the positive, he will never present us with more than we can handle.
(Ah, this is my understanding, but I think I am using words very
similar to Sri Chinmoy's to describe it :0)). On a more subtle plane
I guess this corresponds with not seeking for our imperfections and
dwelling upon them, but merely being grateful and happy when they
come to the fore - "Aha! So I have this problem! Great! Now hold
still so I can conquer you with my lion's roar! I'm so happy I've
been given the chance to illumine and perfect my nature!" - Oh boy!
How I wish this would constantly be my attitude, when problems
strike!!!
In the end good always wins. That's one of the basic cosmic laws,
isn't it? Which reminds me...Today is Finland's independance day!
Hurray!
Dear Assistant Moderator, I just want to thank you for your
insightful and in-depth account on this subject. I greatly admire
you and feel you embody a lot of clarity of mind and wisdom.
During the middle of the meditation courses, I was looking for
inspiration on the web one day and I unfortunately landed on some
kooky sites. I remember how they completely brought me down, made me
very depressed and sad, and brought up all kinds of negative
emotions in me like doubt, anger and despair. I guess they are like
a concentrated form of poison, which can be fatal for the weak. And
surely, at the time I felt this must be the end of my spiritual
search.
But, luckily my soul and God's grace were not going to give up on
me. And here I am!!! Very soon after becoming a student I felt that
this (becoming a student) was the greatest thing that had ever
happened in my life, and I slowly got more confident that a
spiritual path was not only the best thing for me, but the only
thing for me. Still, I guess it took a while for the effects of the
poison to fade, or be transformed.
However, every experience we have we can turn into something
positive, as Sri Chinmoy teaches. For one thing I'm sure the truth
applies that "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." And in a
sense I feel it must be a miracle that kept me from steering off
into the wrong direction after that fatal incident, because I can't
remember ever feeling so week, vulnerable, confused and helpless as
I felt then. So I can be really, really grateful I survived!!!
I guess, it's all very simple actually: in essence I'm sure
something negative and destructive will ultimately bring about a
negative reaction, whereas something positive and helpful will
ultimately bring about a positive reaction. ...Of course it all
depends on where one's consciousness is: I guess if one is in a
negative state of mind and vital, one may get joy from negativeness,
and be perturbed by things that don't conform to that negativeness.
Hmm...
Anyway, all this just stresses more and more the importance of
living in a pure heart. On the strength of the experiences of my
heart, what I then understood as an unfortunate, though possible,
alternate truth, now pales into insignificance as empty weeds. And I
feel I've developed a little wisdom, too. However, reaching this
wisdom by means of a positive way would have been safer, quicker and
I'm sure a joyful experience. I remember Sri Chinmoy saying
somewhere that one can reach the truth through ignorance, for at its
core there is also a little light - but that this is taking the
negative path, which is slow and dangerous, because you can get
caught in it yourself and drown. (I'm sure that this is what
happened to the character Saruman (from Lord of the Rings), and to
many of the other great bad-guys of yore :0)).
>From Sri Chinmoy I'm learning what to concentrate on to make the
fastest and surest progress. In our society we concentrate so much
on understanding evil, sickness and wrongdoing, which is clearly
exemplified by the course literature we had in my high school for
our mother tongue Swedish: all 15 books were about human suffering,
evil, sickness etc... At least that is how we analysed them. To me
it seems pretty comical now. One student asked why all of the books
had be so tough and whether a book has to be tragic to be regarded
as deep. The teacher couldn't answer that so she gave a sigh and a
smile. Yes, I guess the trend has been to bring ignorance to the
fore so it can be illumined. But, if we consciously dig in this
ignorance to illumine it by ourselves we may not be strong enough,
and as a result be caught by the very thing we try to illumine. But,
if we surrender this responsiblity to God, while concentrating on
the positive, he will never present us with more than we can handle.
(Ah, this is my understanding, but I think I am using words very
similar to Sri Chinmoy's to describe it :0)). On a more subtle plane
I guess this corresponds with not seeking for our imperfections and
dwelling upon them, but merely being grateful and happy when they
come to the fore - "Aha! So I have this problem! Great! Now hold
still so I can conquer you with my lion's roar! I'm so happy I've
been given the chance to illumine and perfect my nature!" - Oh boy!
How I wish this would constantly be my attitude, when problems
strike!!!
In the end good always wins. That's one of the basic cosmic laws,
isn't it? Which reminds me...Today is Finland's independance day!
Hurray!
Good tidings to you all!
Jan :0)