The SELF-TRANSFORMATION MEDITATION GUIDES are arranged so that each day the Advaitan reader is offered (1) a quote from an Advaitan novel entitled The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, (2) a consideration dealing with the content of the quote, and (3) an invitation to consider the pointer(s) in the quiet. Over the next days, this site will offer a variety of selections from the SELF-TRANSFORMATION MEDITATION GUIDES, Volumes One and Two which have led many to realization. Today, entry #5 from Volume One will be posted:
#5
#5
‘Perfect’ means ‘whole’ or ‘complete,’ so that perfect freedom is just complete freedom, freedom from ALL dependencies—including dependency on celestial entities or mystical teachings or mythical holdovers from ignorant, superstitious times in the past. (p. 261, The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders)
Consideration: Suppose one has dependencies on things of this world or on things that could be labeled “other-worldly.” If you still do not feel “whole” or “complete” in spite of all those dependencies and in spite of all the months or years of depending on other things, you might be blaming yourself for “not working hard enough” or “not working the deal with enough faith.” Would you have the courage to consider that you have worked hard enough and that you have had enough faith and that there are actually some entirely different steps you could take? Would you have the courage to consider another alternative? When one man told me that he was convinced that God would not do for him what he could do for himself, I noted that my father also loved me enough that he wanted me to feel complete and whole and independent. He also encouraged me to go forth and use the skills I had and to become totally independent rather than develop a dependency on him. Are there some things or people that you have been depending on? Have you calculated the costs of dependency—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, or in other ways? What would your life look like to you if you did all the things for yourself that you could do…without dependency? Have you ever stopped to truly consider all of the amazing things you could do for yourself? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued 7 September 2005]
