Swami Sukhabodhananda
2 January 2003, 12:00am IST
Where there are waves of love, bliss and beauty — prema, ananda and saundarya lahiri — a divine presence opens up. These waves are the wings of God. The new year will come alive if infused with the energy of these waves.
A Chinese carpenter who created many masterpieces of art was asked what the secret of his success was. He replied: "I approach a tree with deep love and joy and then ask if it is willing to be felled. Only when my intuition says 'yes' to a particular tree, I cut that tree with a prayer in my heart." In this manner, he was able to create masterpieces.
We are like the caterpillar who is unaware of its ability to become a butterfly. We are unaware that we can become a Buddha, an enlightened being.
It is difficult to love when we are surrounded by hate. Hate emanates from the lower self, where reside tamas and rajas, the lower qualities. When you operate from love, you are coming from a higher self, where resides the sattva guna, the higher quality.Every incident of hatred should invite you to be above hatred. Treat life like a game. Have fun with problems and challenges.
Can we live life in the presence of a feeling of divinity? Can our energies be one of love, bliss and beauty? We can — and if we do, then, the new year for us will have a beauty and depth that words cannot express — it can only be experienced by our very being. Without such a presence, we feel the world is imperfect, like the foolish man who said that snakes were imperfect creatures as they had no legs. With our wrong notions, we try to change the world.
We can make the new year a happy one by making the effort to reduce our problems. If you look at problems from the perspective of the jeevatma or the lower Self, they look like threats. Then you feel fearful and become unhappy.
Be like a tennis player who looks upon an approaching ball not as a threat but as an opportunity to play his best. The higher Self, the paramatma, will make you look at problems as an opportunity.
There are two types of creators in the world — one who works on the objects, like a poet, artist, painter, carpenter or engineer, and the other, a mystic who works on himself. We are like idols hidden in a rock. Removing a part of the rock reveals a beautiful figure.
Similarly, we have to look for the masterpiece hidden in our self. Like a sculptor who knows the potential hidden in a rock, we too should look for the hidden potential within us.
(http://www.swamisukhabodha-nanda.org. E-mail prasannatrust@vsnl.com)
2 January 2003, 12:00am IST
Where there are waves of love, bliss and beauty — prema, ananda and saundarya lahiri — a divine presence opens up. These waves are the wings of God. The new year will come alive if infused with the energy of these waves.
A true guru or master does not teach in words; he teaches through expression of His presence. A guru does not teach the Truth. It is a transmission that is beyond words and scriptures. Krishna taught Arjuna more by his presence.
How was it possible to teach Arjuna all that was contained in the Bhagavad Gita when the two armies were readying to fight? It would have taken hours for such a communication to take place — so, it was not in the realm of time or words. It was a communication between two hearts, far beyond words and time; it was effected through Krishna's presence.
A dream may last for about two minutes. But, it may take an hour to relate it in the waking state. The time-scale of the waking state is different from the time-scale of the dream state. So too, the communication between Krishna and Arjuna was in a different space.
Quieten your mind before approaching a master — let there be prema, ananda and saundarya. Life is the greatest master and scripture, so treat it with respect and love.
How was it possible to teach Arjuna all that was contained in the Bhagavad Gita when the two armies were readying to fight? It would have taken hours for such a communication to take place — so, it was not in the realm of time or words. It was a communication between two hearts, far beyond words and time; it was effected through Krishna's presence.
A dream may last for about two minutes. But, it may take an hour to relate it in the waking state. The time-scale of the waking state is different from the time-scale of the dream state. So too, the communication between Krishna and Arjuna was in a different space.
Quieten your mind before approaching a master — let there be prema, ananda and saundarya. Life is the greatest master and scripture, so treat it with respect and love.
A Chinese carpenter who created many masterpieces of art was asked what the secret of his success was. He replied: "I approach a tree with deep love and joy and then ask if it is willing to be felled. Only when my intuition says 'yes' to a particular tree, I cut that tree with a prayer in my heart." In this manner, he was able to create masterpieces.
We are like the caterpillar who is unaware of its ability to become a butterfly. We are unaware that we can become a Buddha, an enlightened being.
Can we live life in the presence of a feeling of divinity? Can our energies be one of love, bliss and beauty? We can — and if we do, then, the new year for us will have a beauty and depth that words cannot express — it can only be experienced by our very being. Without such a presence, we feel the world is imperfect, like the foolish man who said that snakes were imperfect creatures as they had no legs. With our wrong notions, we try to change the world.
We can make the new year a happy one by making the effort to reduce our problems. If you look at problems from the perspective of the jeevatma or the lower Self, they look like threats. Then you feel fearful and become unhappy.
Be like a tennis player who looks upon an approaching ball not as a threat but as an opportunity to play his best. The higher Self, the paramatma, will make you look at problems as an opportunity.
There are two types of creators in the world — one who works on the objects, like a poet, artist, painter, carpenter or engineer, and the other, a mystic who works on himself. We are like idols hidden in a rock. Removing a part of the rock reveals a beautiful figure.
Similarly, we have to look for the masterpiece hidden in our self. Like a sculptor who knows the potential hidden in a rock, we too should look for the hidden potential within us.
(http://www.swamisukhabodha-nanda.org. E-mail prasannatrust@vsnl.com)