Today's Considerations
Maharaj said, “I talk to you from the perspective of the
universal consciousness.” So the question now is, “From what perspective do you
talk?” Maharaj said that no one meeting him outside the loft would ever assume
that he is different or that he is aware of something that most are not. If not
with a seeker, he spoke in a not-uncommon manner and conducted himself in a totally not-uncommon
manner fashion. He abided naturally, in an all-normal manner.
“Be neither master, nor slave'”
What about you? Are you talking in a way that sets you apart from others? Are you wearing garb and accouterments that are intended to distinguish you from the masses? Are you praying in public to show what a highly religious or ultra-spiritual being you are?
Most do not want to hear your philosophy or mine. Most could
care less about any esoteric and noumenal topics that you or I could discuss. In
fact, all that is a total turn-off for most persons. Do you feel you have to share some
"message" constantly, or can you merely witness objectively what is happening and abide naturally?
True, if he was dealing with one who was totally asleep, then Maharaj
could well talk to them in a manner that was intended to jar them out of their
sleep; otherwise, he assumed a position of neutrality with all persons he dealt with
outside the loft.
Maharaj: “I am detached and see the passing show as a
passing show, while you stick to things and move along with them.”
What about you?
Do you feel the need to use your talk to shock or jar or
shake people to try to awaken them? Many sages have noted that the last thing that people in a state
of deep sleep want is to be shaken and awakened by you or me or anyone.
Some might recall a poem shared in the past. Please consider
its message:
"If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again"
by Diane Loomans
If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self esteem first and the house later.
I'd fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.
I'd build self esteem first and the house later.
I'd fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.
What about you? Can you relate to someone who has been able to see clearly that a totally different approach from the one being used in the past is available? That would indeed require a different perspective in most cases, would it not? You are invited to review the pointers in the poem and then consider:
Can persons dealing with you expect finger pointing . . . or
kindness?
Maharaj: “To sit in judgment and allot marks is ridiculous.”
Can persons around you expect to be corrected . . . or understood?
Maharaj: “Understanding is freedom”
and
Might persons around you suffer a look marked by angry, narrowed, squinting
eyes . . . or might they enjoy the benefit of compassionate witnessing of how they feel?
Maharaj: “Just be understanding and compassionate, free of
all self seeking.”
Are persons around you likely to find one who takes everything far too
seriously . . . or someone who can relax and take it easy?
Maharaj: “You take it [life / “this world”] too seriously.
What is wrong with play?”
Are persons around you likely to see someone forever standing ready at his or her battle
station . . . or might they find someone who could not care less about having power and fighting for it?
Maharaj: “We are complex beings, at war within and without.”
Have you rid yourself of that kind of complexity by having found simplicity?
So what’s it really like being in a "relationship" with you?
If you are sharing a common roof with someone, what’s that like for a mate or
spouse? Is that place you come home to – or that others come home to and join
you there – a place that is considered a retreat by all . . . or is it a battleground
where a war for control is always under way?
Maharaj: “Stand without desire and fear, relinquishing all control
and all responsibility.”
When someone arrives at home at the end of a day’s work and
reaches for the doorknob to open the door and enter, are they wondering who
will be on the other side of the door? Are they asking themselves, “Will it be
Ms. Hug or Ms. Slug who greets me?” / “Will it be Mr. Hug or Mr. Slug who
greets me?”
Have you built, and are you now maintaining, a safe house or
a strafe house?
In college, I crossed paths with a kindred spirit - an independent
type who had also dealt with far too many abusive, authority figures in her home and church
and community. Having escaped those environments, she was for the first time ever beginning to grasp what it is
like to be truly free. As a result, I told her that I was going to nickname her
“Bird.” As the band Lynyrd Skynyrd sang: “I'm as free as a bird now / And this
bird you'll never change / And this bird you cannot change.”
Other than the awareness, nothing is as free as the
universal consciousness. It can manifest anywhere or it can manifest nowhere. Are you that
free? Are you free enough that you can accept others being that free as well?
Maharaj: “What is wrong in letting go the illusion of personal
control and personal responsibility? Both are in the mind only. Of course, as
long as you imagine yourself to be in control, you should also imagine yourself
to be responsible. One implies the other.”
And what a pain that is for anyone and for all those around that one.
To be able to see that and understand that does require a new and different perspective.
To be able to see that and understand that does require a new and different perspective.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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