Living in Love

To evolve towards the total and permanent joy of Sat-Chit-Ananda we all yearn for, we must work our way through the bonds of the thamasic and rajasic gunas until eventually, our entire character is sathwic.

How can we accomplish this?  And how can we achieve mental physical and spiritual strength?  By constant watchfulness: by loving, gentle but firm discipline.  Steady, constant discipline in gradually simplifying and beautifying our lives with the constant living of Swami's precepts with which, by His Grace, we have chosen to govern our lives.

First and foremost, we are exhorted to "Live in Love".  When someone irritates or annoys us, let us remember that we wouldn't even notice his behaviour if we didn't still have this possibility of the same behaviour within us.  Let us also remember that, if with his background, we are "in his shoes", we would behave exactly the same way.  Or worse.

We can't force the petals of a flower to open; the blooming will take place in God's time.  But we can help the flowering of others, even if we are unable to see it in our time or at our desired pace, by total forgiveness of so-called hurts from whomever we have received them.

The writer was once a volunteer attendant in a state hospital, a member of a service committee.  One day she was assigned the errand of picking up a patient and escorting her to the religious service of her chosen faith.  Unexpectedly, this assignment led her to pick up a patient from the violent ward.

While she was waiting for the patient to get ready, suddenly another patient came up to her and began describing in vile and vivid terms just how she was going to murder the volunteer.  The volunteer began o tremble with fear.  

Just then another patient came up to her and requested help with tying her belt.  As soon as the attendant's attention was withdrawn from the graphic, loud mouthed patient, there was a sudden silence.  The volunteer cast a surreptitious glance at the threatening patient.  It was found that the withdrawal of attention had caused the would be "killer" to shrink away and disappear.

So it is with our bad thoughts, including any unforgiving ones!  As soon as, by the Grace of Swami, we are helped to clean our hearts, we will find there is nothing to fear!

~ R.S. ~

(Sanathana Sarathi - 1987)