Picture: Arjuna is granted the universal vision in which he sees all, both edifying and terrifying, as expressions of the One perfect God.
Health Update: Today we received the results from the PET scan done last week. Good news, the scans were clean; no sign of tumors. Thank you for all of your loving support and prayers; it makes the difference. The news brings great joy. We discussed options with the oncologist for treatment going forward. A viable option is to begin a series of immunotherapy infusions. There will be more consultations as we go forward–for today, we feel pleased with the results.
The joy that I feel has led me to reflect on the role that being either pleased or disappointed plays in our lives. For pleasure ever alternates with painful situations that occur in life as well. Going back and forth between joy and sorrow is the plight of the human condition. In the Gita Krishna points out that this alternation binds us in ignorance. Why is this ignorance? Because we identify with the body through our attachment to the attraction to joy and repulsion to sorrow which is never-ending and breeds the delusion that “I am happy or sad” based on momentary situations.
Attachment works in both directions. We can be equally attached to joy and pleasure, as well as sorrow and pain. It is one of the great mysteries as to how or why we would be attached to pain, but many are. In fact, you can tell by what people talk about and what they emphasize as to what their attachments may be. For many it is the misery in life that captures and keeps their attention. However, you cannot have sorrow without joy, nor can you have pleasure without pain. Great attraction for one side and being repulsed by the other is the source of our attachment.
Applying the principle of detachment to my current situation is a great field-test. This latest scan has vital implications for the health of this body, so approaching the test and waiting for the results have kept it all in my mind. But what has been even more prominent during this time is the work I have been doing on the diary that Mother’s husband, Ralph, kept when they travelled around the United States in 1954. As I typed out the handwritten notes it felt as if I were travelling with them. It was during this trip that Mother worked to shore up the SRF Centers around the country after Master’s passing. It was also on this journey that she entered into Nirvikalpa Samadhi for eleven days, receiving revelations while in this rare and exalted state. Ralph’s diary is interesting on a human level as well as the hints to the spiritual glory Mother was experiencing at the time. So, even though I had to keep track of appointment dates for my tests, my mind was taken up with the spiritual life of my Guru.
When we practice detachment, does that mean we live a life empty of pleasure and pain? This cannot be, for this world of duality cannot exist without them. The news that brings us smiles will one day turn into news that is displeasing. We ride the wave of happiness only to get crushed in the swell of sorrow.
How do you get out of this endless cycle of highs and lows? Only by attaching yourself to something superior, higher and more enlightened can you free yourself from lowly passions and attachments. First, you learn to discern what is higher from what is lower. By letting go of lower passions and striving for what is uplifting you enter into an inner stillness. It is this stillness that connects you to pure Divine Consciousness—and through identification with God-consciousness you transcend life’s highs and lows. This realm of pure Being brings about peace and an inner knowing that you are more than the body, emotions and thoughts—you are no longer ruled by them.
You continue to live life, you feel the waves of joy in accomplishment, you may feel sorrow at a loss, but being anchored in the Divine you never lose connection with who and what you truly are. You experience yourself to be the vast ocean of consciousness underneath the ever-changing waves—the alternations of being happy and sad only play on the surface, never touching your deeper Self. For the aspirant who has purified his mind, this is salvation. By knowing your true Self you cast off delusion’s net and free yourself from the endless cycle of gain and loss. Now you know yourself as the ever blissful ocean of God-consciousness.
While waiting for the results of this latest scan I was busy with God’s Work, feeling His Bliss and Power pouring through this little human frame. And with a focus on today, I take joy in the freedom of having a clean scan, and I am happy to share that wave of joy with you.