Bible: (Paraphrased) "As you have tendered to the
needs of others, in this way you have honored Me!"
Bhagavad
Gita: (Paraphrased) "He who never loses sight of Me in all
things and people, I never lose sight of he."
The
week after Thanksgiving I had my annual week of seclusion. Seclusion is a
personal retreat: a retreat where one is alone with God in prayer and
meditation. This time I didn’t even go out for a walk or a run, though I did
more chores around the Hermitage house than I have in past years: cleaning,
mostly. [See Facebook: Camano Hermitage]
I eat
lightly, only had a few hot meals during the week, mostly because I’m a lazy
(and a lousy) cook. Accordingly, I consider a cup of coffee a hot meal.
It’s
humbling to attempt to sit for 5 to 6 days in meditation. Even if I don't do
this unbrokenly, it is the main activity of the entire day, interspersed with
chanting and the practice of kriya yoga and other techniques. I had a particular focus for this seclusion: to deepen and prolong periods of complete stillness beyond thoughts and mental images.
The
subconscious mind, however, can act like a donkey. Sometimes you can coax it
along with a little discipline, a bribe, or a certain amount of force, but
there can come a time when you have to ease off and give it a rest.
At
such times I did a little reading (all of it spiritual reading). Other times
and to engage the body so as not to get lazy, I'd do some chores (mopping the
floor, sweeping, etc.) But all together, it truly amounts to many, many hours
of meditation.
The
goal of meditation is, of course, to feel the presence of God: alive, vibrant,
intimate and cosmic—in whatever way and form God’s consciousness will appear;
in the form of Yogananda, Jesus, or one of the others. As deep inner peace;
transforming, ineffable love, or a contagious joy that one imagines will last
forever!
There
are about four chants that call for a repetition of the names of the masters
and these I find especially helpful. I take one of these chants, name by name, one by
one into silent visualizations which I then let dissipate into an expectation of their actual vibrational presence. I find this practice deeply rewarding. Thus, I alternate chanting with meditation.
Among
my yoga practices, having recently teamed up with Murali Venkatrao in the
Advanced Pranayam class at our local Ananda Center (Institute for Living Yoga)
for our level II (500 hour) Yoga Alliance students, I gave special emphasis to
some of the more aggressive pranayams to take me deeper into psychological equilibrium,
inclining toward breathlessness.
To
feel kinship with others in this world requires more than mere sentiment or dry
philosophy; for it to be real and sustainable -- even when one is under
personal attack -- it must descend from the perfect love of God.
When
in the New Testament Jesus gives the parable of the "King" who
explains to the "elect" that whenever they helped a person in need
they were serving Him, we see right away the obvious teaching that we should
help those in need. Only slightly less obvious, but I suspect not often pointed
out in orthodox Christian circles is the precept that God IS each person. Our charitable act should arise because God resides in that person, not only because his material need. This is the REASON to help others, because they are, "as
thyself," a child of God. ("Love thy neighbor AS thy Self.").
This famous parable offers "heavenly rewards" to those of a kind and generous nature but the parable makes it clear that the compassion of the "elect" was not expressed as an act of conscious devotion to God who resides in those whom they helped. Is it enough, spiritually speaking, to be a humanitarian, perhaps an agnostic, even an atheist? Yes--but only up to a point.
We can get good karma and the heavenly rewards of heart warming satisfaction from our good deeds. But to reunite our souls with God, our Creator, requires an act of conscious devotion (and not just one!) All of our good karma for our generosity might be used up by our response when we are attacked by others for it is an axiom that "no good deed goes unpunished" in this world of duality! Good karma can work off bad karma but until we begin to yearn to step out of duality all together and into transcendence (the oneness of God's eternal love and bliss), we just remain on the merry-go-round.
It is
not humanly possible to love every person we meet because not everyone we meet
is lovable in a merely human way. But when our hearts are full of the
unconditional love of (for) God, we are naturally loving. We are also naturally
wise in how we express that love!
Thus a loving parent may have to discipline a child
(but to do so does not require being angry); a policeman may have to apprehend
a criminal (but need not be cruel); a teacher, correct a student (without
dislike); and a supervisor, to lay off or let go an employee (without malice).
True love IS wisdom. We mustn't forget that.
Love
which results from a bleeding heart simply bleeds the heart into a dearth of feeling!
This, then, is the basis for the true Spirit of Christmas: that
divine love and God's presence rests at the heart of each heart, each creature, each
person, indeed, each atom of creation.
The
outer light of the sun may be absent from our northern hemisphere as we descend into winter, but it can remind us that the true "light of men" resides within us and can
be always found, or re-born, in the stillness of the quiet heart, especially
deep in meditation.
One
reason I think we instinctively honor children as part of Christmas is derived from the tender feelings that arise around devotion to the Christ child. (Did you know, however, that it was a thousand years after that event that the first nativity scene was created for the purpose of devotion? It was St. Francis of Assisi who did this for the first time in Christianity's history!)
But I think there's another reason, as well. For the fellow feeling of kindness and warmth which we call the Christmas spirit is reflected in the innocence, natural
love, and openness that children express. (This is also depicted in the "softly lowing" animals who share the humble stable where Jesus is said to be born.)
Paramhansa Yogananda often quoted these words of
Jesus, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the
kingdom of heaven."
"For
of such" is the warmth, the welcoming hospitality, graciousness, kindness
and generosity we see expressed at Christmas. The social aspect, in spite of its commercialization, remains a valid and wonderful part of Christmas. But it's sustainable source comes from within us from our experience of the living presence of God, the Christ
universal.
That
aspect of Christmas giving that extends generosity to the poor and homeless is affirmed in the parable given to us of Jesus (above). But giving to those in need goes beyond the gift's material benefit and value. Did not Jesus also say "The poor ye have always with
thee"?
Giving to those in need affirms our kinship even with those whose circumstances differ so greatly from our own, or whose outer
appearances do not attract us. We are all children of God and are equally deserving of the divine abundance of joy and self-respect.
We
must not be hypocrites like the friends of suffering Job in the Old Testament who taunted him
by assuming he must have sinned and thus deserved his troubles. We who might reject a teaching like Original Sin find ourselves, perhaps, all too easily
invoking the law of (bad) karma when we or our friends are burdened with illness or misfortune.
Whatever may be the roots of our present troubles, or those of others less fortunate seeming than us, each of us can turn the "sow's
ear" of difficulties into a "silk purse" of spiritual growth if we respond with
grace, faith, equanimity, and cheerfulness. Our tests exist to cleanse us and
awaken our strength, courage and faith.
Perhaps
you know this story:
A
king had a male servant who, under all circumstances always said to
him: “My king, do not be discouraged because everything God does is
perfect, and He makes no mistakes.”
One
day, they went hunting and a wild animal attacked the king. The servant
managed to kill the animal but couldn’t prevent his majesty from losing a finger.
Furious and
without showing any gratitude, the king said; “If God was good, I
would not have been attacked and lose one finger”.
The
servant replied: “Despite all these things, I can only tell you that God
is good and everything He does is perfect; He is never wrong.”
Outraged
by the response, the king ordered that the servant be imprisoned.
Later, the king left
for another hunt and was captured by savages who used human beings as
sacrifice. On the altar, the savages discovered that the king did not have
one finger in place, so they released
him because they considered him to “incomplete” to be
offered to their gods.
On returning
to his palace, the king authorized the release of his
servant and told his servant: “My friend, God was really good to me. I
was almost killed but for lack of a single finger, I was let go.”
“However,
I have a question,” the king added. “If God is so good, why did He allow
me to put you in prison?”
The
servant wisely replied: “My king, if I had gone with you, I would
have been sacrificed because I have no missing finger.”
While
giving to charitable organizations is surely a good thing, anytime of year,
consider also more personal acts of sharing. "Charity," my mother
used to say, "begins at home." Consider the needs of a friend, family
member, neighbor, or co-worker something he or she truly needs. Give, too,
anonymously when you can. Or give to express your caring or appreciation to
someone to whom you don't otherwise have an obligation or any other personal
motive to do so.
One
encounters beggars most everywhere in the world. Who can know if it is wise to
give to this one or that. If you choose to give, do so for the awakening of the
love of God in your own heart, not for any tangible need you imagine the
recipient may have.
Yogananda's
charity was more often in this way: more personal. So, too, Swami Kriyananda
(Ananda's founder and a direct disciple of Yogananda's).
We
recently had an opportunity to give (both personal and from Ananda here in
Seattle) a modest donation to a rural health clinic in northern Bangladesh. We
were invited to an annual fundraiser organized by local Imam Jamal Rahman and his
family for the benefit of a clinic in their ancestral village. We could see directly the
practical results of our gifts and it was satisfying and meaningful.
The message that Paramhansa Yogananda was
commissioned to bring to the West and to the world is that "Christ
lives!" The universal Christ (or Krishna, Buddha, etc.) consciousness,
which is the sole reflection within us of the Creator's bliss and consciousness, exists
in all creation, and in you and me. Meditation, and especially kriya yoga (an
advanced meditation technique) has come into the world and into increasing
popular use to help us discover this realization for ourselves.
Thus Christmas has taken on a new meaning: a
universal one and also a very practical one. It can and truly should be celebrated by everyone: of all faiths or none. It is not by legislation, reason,
or philosophy that we can overcome our differences and inbred prejudices but by
the Christ love of our hearts and souls.
A blessed and joyful Christmas season to all!
Nayaswami Hriman