Channels for the Light

Archive for the ‘Wisdom’ Category

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” — Baba Ram Dass

The quieter you become, the more you can hear what is really important. The quieter you become, the more you can tune in to the peace of Being which lies behind and beyond thought. The quieter you become, the better you get to know the Self. The riches of Being knows no limits. When you and I cease striving for the riches of the material world for a while and look inward, we discover that we already have from birth all of the riches we will ever need — spiritual riches beyond measure which have always been and always will be for all of eternity.

As the Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Be still, and know that you already possess everything that you really have need of.

Namaste!

One of the things in my own personal life that I am really trying to focus on right now is awareness — awareness of each moment, awareness of what is happening in each moment, and awareness of my reactions to events of the moment. Those who teach mindfulness meditation refer to being consciousness or unconsciousness. If you are conscious in the moment, then you have the ability to be fully aware in the moment and you have the ability to consciously choose how to respond to events as they happen. If you are conscious in the moment, then you can watch your thoughts and watch your reactions to your thoughts, and change them if you wish to.

One thing that I see as vital to our happiness and fulfillment in life is awareness of our thoughts. We must become consciously aware of our thoughts, and we must learn how to control our thoughts. As Buddha pointed out:

The mind is everything, what you think, you become.

Or, as the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs:

⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

“ Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:7, New King James Version)

Or, as Earl Nightingale put it:

You become what you think about.

Of course, this timeless truth has been stated in much the same way by other well-known historical figures as well.

What I would like to encourage you to do is to work toward becoming conscious — conscious of each moment, conscious of your thoughts in each moment, and conscious of how you can change your thoughts to react in a healthier, happier way to events of the moment.

If you have an interest in learning more about mindfulness meditation, I can wholeheartedly recommend the following two books:

What you think, you become. So think your best thoughts today!

Be Blessed!

Namaste!

Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate. — Huang Po

This is where a lot of people miss it, and where I did too for a long time. Intellect will get you a long way if you want to have a scientific understanding of the world and the universe and how it all works. Science, and the scientific method, are fantastically useful for learning about the outer, physical world. But they are fairly useless if you want to address the inner, spiritual, non-physical world and learn about it and how it all works — in other words, spiritual truth.

There is no greater knowledge to be gained than knowledge of the Self. As the ancients in India knew thousands of years ago:

“When you hear about the Self, meditate upon the Self, and finally realize the Self…you come to understand everything in life.” –Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5

And as Socrates said:

Know thyself.

And… to know yourself, think for yourself.

And as Jesus said:

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
(Luke 17:20-21, New King James Version)

People look for truth and fulfillment in all sorts of ways — in science, in organized religions, in material wealth, and the list goes on and on. But the truth isn’t somewhere “out there”. The truth actually is found exactly where the sages of old have always been telling us. The truth is to be found WITHIN US. When we look within ourselves and still our minds and discover the joy of just Being, then we come to know the Self, and we begin to understand everything in life.

Be Blessed today!

Namaste!

Better than the one who knows what is right is he who loves what is right. — Confucius

Not much to add to this, is there? It is possible to know what is right and choose not to do it. It is also possible to love what is right and choose not to do it. St. Paul knew this struggle well and expressed it in a well-known passage in Romans 7:

   
⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.   
¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:7-25, New King James Version)

Paul looked to God as he understood him for help. We can do the same today. Whether looking to God as you understand him is your path or not, I want to encourage you to not just love what is right today, but to make a conscious choice to do it — and in the process make the world a better place!

Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit. — Taisen Deshimaru

What this quote makes me think of is our hearts. We have a choice to make each day — each moment — about the condition of our hearts. We can choose each moment whether to keep our hearts open and passionately live and experience life, or to close our hearts and experience the grit of life. You and I are human and sometimes we will feel the grit, but I encourage you to choose to rise above it and live each moment with passion!

If we keep our hearts open, we are freely able to experience the love, the joy, and the wonder of life. We keep our heart channels open to experiencing the love and compassion of God, and we have the joy of spreading God’s love and compassion to those around us. When we keep our hearts opened, we live to the fullest our highest and best calling and life. I believe one of the most fulfilling ways we can keep our hearts open is to live in the moment. You and I should consciously embrace every single moment in our lives and live in the NOW. Accept every moment for what it is. Honor everything it brings. Embrace each moment fully and extract everything good you can from it, for the present moment is really all you have. The past is gone and cannot be changed (though your perception of it can be), and the future isn’t actually real because it hasn’t arrived yet — and it never will. The future is an illusion, only a construct of our minds. The only moment you can actually live in is NOW, so enjoy the NOW to the fullest! Savor it. Love it. Live it!

Keep your hands — your hearts — open!