Celebrating Christmas

 “Thou needst not seek Him here or there, He is no further off than at the door of thy heart; there He stands lingering, awaiting whoever is ready to open and let Him in. Thou needst not call to Him afar, He waits much more impatiently than thou for thee to open to Him. He longs for thee a thousandfold more urgently than thou for Him: one point the opening and the entering.” (Meister Eckhart, Sermon 4)

Today we celebrate the birth of the Lord of Light, the compassionate one who dispels the darkness and brings true comfort and joy.

He told us that we are made in God’s image and the kingdom of Heaven is always within us. He asked us to love all living beings and live a life of humility, faith and charity. He spoke of the purity of innocence, the mystery of grace, the magic of forgiveness and the power of living in the present. He proclaimed the truth for all to hear, but those who listened and understood were very few.

“I have one power in my soul fully sensible of God. I am as certain as I live that nothing is so close to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to my own self; my life depends upon God’s being near me, present in me.” (Meister Eckhart, Sermon 69) 

If you would honour Him, seek Him in the depths of your own being. This is His kingdom; your innermost soul is His throne, where He shines brighter than a thousand suns. Go there. 

Throw yourself at His feet in unconditional surrrender and love Him with all your heart.

“Since I began to love, love has never forsaken me. It has ever grown to its own fullness within my innermost heart.” St. Catherine of Genoa, Life and Doctrine, 1551

 If you would know perfection, let yourself melt in that pure love and dissolve like salt in the ocean of His peace.

I wish you a blessed Christmas…may all your days be filled with His light!

“Those whose eyes are open do not need to go to a church and look at a picture or statue of the Lord. In the eyes of every infant, in the smile of every human being, they receive the blessing of Christ. If the eyes and ears are open, the leaves of the trees become as pages of the Bible. If the heart is alive, the whole of life becomes one single vision of His sublime beauty, speaking to us at every moment.” Hazrat Inayat Khan

Perfect Ripeness

 “The softest thing in the universe

Overcomes the hardest thing in the universe.

That without substance can enter where there is no room.

Hence I know the value of non-action.

Teaching without words and work without doing

Are understood by very few.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Empty your heart of  desire and fill it with gratitude.

Why beg for grace, when nothing but grace exists?

True prayer’s a gamble where you gladly offer your own head 

To the executioner’s sword.

Ah! Who can describe the wonder of that victory?

Let the illusion of selfhood drop off like a discarded cloak.

Once merged with the ocean, does the river still yearn for the sea?

Does the flute know anything of the sequence of  notes

When the divine musician plays His infinite melody?

Maturity means the end of all knowing and doing.

When all is one, all suffering will cease.

Clothed in infinite space, the sage stands firm as a mountain –

Perfect ripeness shines in unshakable peace.

“The Maharshi was an embodiment of Peace and Silence. The ocean’s surface dances in waves, laughs in sparkling foam, roars as its thunderous waves clap and clash! And yet, deep in its inner vaults, it rests in eternal Silence and Peace. Without such a divine and spiritual depth, the work and activities of this universe would become worthless and aimless. Work should be undertaken and pursued to take us ultimately to the workless abode of divine Silence and endless Peace. This is the secret doctrine of all our Vedas and ancient scriptures.” Swami Tapovanam, on Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

This Last

 Now  I am old and grey and breathless -

when I sing, I just can’t hit the high notes anymore;

Been a long time since I was the life and soul of the party

But wait! I still have some ways to go.

 

I learn to delight in solitude and silence;

In stillness,  I seek the source of ‘I’.

Letting everything go in devotion and surrender,

With one-pointed mind, I  die before I die.

The inner space leads to states beyond description.

Deep diving mind disappears in the heart of me .

Breaking all moorings, this ship is adrift on the void.

Grace-winds  blow it across a thought-free sea.

The Guru’s glance is sure and certain deliverance

-the coming of dawn will end the longest night. 

Perfect bliss heralds the end of all suffering;

darkness cannot exist in the presence of light!

Death disappears and fear dissolves like mist-

at last this last shows me how to truly be:

Awake, alert and joyous, just here, just now;

Wherever I look, the sacred is all I see.

Om Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan ! Jai Bhagavan!

The Way and the Wayfarer

 

“There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy.It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility.” Thomas Merton.

There is a secret at the heart of things, a gentle power, invisible yet undeniable, that is omnipotent, unchanging, eternal. There is an underlying, intelligent pattern that is responsible for the miraculous elegance and perfection of this natural universe.

Filled with compassionate wisdom, this divine energy is the source and the substance of all that exists. Call it Self or Brahman, Buddha-Nature or Consciousness, God or Tao or Great Spirit, intellect cannot fathom it nor language describe it. This is the Way.

Throughout human history, the true mystics and sages of all cultures and creeds have recognised the sacred in Nature and venerated this power, seeking through stillness and deep introspection to merge harmoniously with this vital ocean that is the substratum of everything.

“That which is consciousness alone, which is all-pervading, which is eternal, which is all-full, which is of the form of bliss and which is indestructible, is the only true Brahman.” Varaha Upanishad

At the core of every living being, a sacred flame burns incessantly – this is the Self, the divine truth that pervades all creation. This is the great mystery, the microcosm that contains the macrocosm, the source of all love and joy, the fountain of immortality. Any human can discover this infinite treasure within, this wellspring of unalloyed bliss and perfect peace. This is why a human birth is so precious! 

The true purpose of human existence is to directly experience this perennial truth; no greater purpose exists. 

“Why does everyone like the Tao so much at first?
Isn't it because you find what you seek and are forgiven when you sin?
Therefore this is the greatest treasure of the universe.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

There is a primordial echo in the deepest layers of human consciousness, a knowing in cell and blood and bone, a remembrance of one’s true home and one’s innate divinity. This is what drives humans to seek ultimate wisdom, to penetrate into the innermost depths of consciousness in search of perfection, to find the Way inside, outside, everywhere. The ancient Chinese mystics called this “cultivating the Way.”

Throughout human history, many enlightened beings have borne witness to the Tao, the Way, the blessing of Grace, the essence of the sacred.

O wayfarer, if you would know heaven on earth, return to the Way!

 When the Way and the wayfarer are one, then all is whole, all is holy, all is well.

Quietude

 

“Higher than quietude there is no achievement; higher than quietude there is no effort; higher than quietude there is no tapas; higher than quietude there is no deathless life.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

My Guru told me : be quiet.

I get quieter and quieter.

I go deeper and deeper into the silence.

The deeper I go, the more I disappear.

What is left of me surrenders in humble devotion:

 A benediction of grace falls like a gentle rain.

In the tiny heart in the center of my chest, a lotus blossoms.

All the galaxies are but grains of dust in its vastness.

Perfect bliss reigns in that infinite ocean of peace.

“Except by the Lord’s grace, which begins to function when one surrenders oneself completely at His feet with sincere devotion, the truth cannot be cognised merely by the skill of the mind of the jiva- so subtle is the reality.

When the tricky senses are controlled, when mental conceptions are removed, and when one is unshakably established as Self in the Heart, then the knowledge which shines in that state of firm Self-abidance is the real God. Such a true seeing, which is devoid of illusion and deception, is the state in which one shines as the ocean of bliss. Only in the supreme silence, which is thus achieved in Self-abidance, will the soul never again have a downfall.”Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

The Perennial Wisdom

 

(Painting by Meena Subramaniam- acryllic on canvas)

“They alone see truly who see the Lord the same in every creature, who see the Deathless in the hearts of all that  die.” The Bhagavad Gita 13:27

"The eye wherein I see God is the same eye wherein God sees me; my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one vision, one knowing, one love.” Meister Eckhart

In plant and animal, fish and bug and reptile, in man and bird and tree, in mountain and meadow, in forest and sea, the miracle of life shines forth with a trillion faces, awesome in its glory. Can you not see? 

This is the true test of evolution, of spiritual wisdom, of enlightenment: do you look upon every living being with deep love and respect, seeing only the Divine shining in each one?

“ There is no joy in the finite -true joy can only be found in the infinite.” The Upanishads

The wise man soon learns that all the pleasures and objects of this world cannot bring him the true happiness that his heart yearns for. Embedded deep in his DNA is a memory of unlimited contentment and everlasting peace. Once he remembers this, nothing else can ever satisfy him.

So he dives into himself and seeks the source of his own existence. Stilling his tumultuous mind, he turns all his attention towards understanding his own true nature. With one-pointed faith and devotion, he surrenders to the divine within.

 Deep in consciousness, at the very core of being,  he discovers the gate-less gate, the doorway through the unknown into the unknowable.

“The Self that is subtler than the subtle and greater than the great is seated in the heart of every creature. One who is free from desire sees the glory of the Self through the tranquility of the mind and senses and becomes absolved from grief.”Katha Upanishad

Thus begins the journey of spiritual evolution, the quantum leap in consciousness that is the true purpose of life as a human being. At last he knows, beyond all shadow of doubt, that it is possible to obtain a permanent and joyous state of mind in which all fears are banished, all conflicts are resolved and all desires fulfilled.

“To the seer, all things have verily become the Self: what delusion, what sorrow, can there be for him who beholds that oneness?” – Isa Upanishad

 Now he dwells in splendour, in union with the vast and perfect whole, immeasurably blessed and at peace. Wherever he looks, all he sees is Light.

“ Hear , O children of immortal biss! You are born to be united with the Lord. Follow the path of the illumined ones and be forever united with the Lord of Life.” The Shvetashvatara Upanishad.

Supreme Virtue - the Art of the Warrior

 

Painting by Tarini Dhar Prabhu

“Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original Oneness? 

Can you let your body become supple as a new-born child's? 

Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the Light?”

Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will? 

Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? 

Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? 

Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, 

acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: 

this is the supreme virtue.” Lao Tsu, Tao te Ching.

Every baby is born enlightened.

But then, the process of thinking develops - the brainwashing begins.

As the personality grows, thick layers of mindstuff envelop you in a cocoon of ignorance.

Unnecessary thoughts flow faster and faster, like whitewater rapids in a river.

Increasingly, you dwell on the dead past or the unborn future, while completely missing out on the actual present moment.

The illusion of individuality fills you with the terror of being alone and helpless in an uncaring world.

The shadow of death looms over you like an executioner’s sword.

Soon you are lost and suffering in the desert of space-time and the delusion of separation.

This is the adventure and the nightmare of being mortal.

You can wake up and end the suffering if you discover your true immortal nature.

Learn to be still; turn all your attention inwards.

Return to the original thought-free innocence of pure being.

Know the magic of direct experience without the filter of mind.

Feel the infinite, perfect wholeness that pervades and underlies everything.

Claim your divine inheritance and enjoy the bliss of heaven on earth.

“The art of a warrior is to balance the terror of being human with the wonder of being human.” Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan