"The flute of the Infinite is played without ceasing and its sound is love." ~ Kabir
There is a poignant scene in the Broadway play, RENT, in which a young man addresses the HIV/AIDS support group, of which he is a part, stating that he finds their reliance on positive affirmations "suspect", telling them that his t-cell count dropped that month, and that he is filled with regret about that. The moderator asks him how he is feeling right that moment, and the man responds that he "feels good... better than he has all year". The moderator then asks the young man why invest himself in so much fear then?
It seems to be part of the human condition to imagine ourselves like a small child, separated from our mother. Because so many of the religious narratives of the world speak of a personal god or goddess, which is separate and distinct from us, we develop a mistaken belief that we are separated from the Ground of Being.
As a result, we live our lives in a self-imposed exile -- a state of chaos and disharmony. This way of living gives rise to our becoming caught up in a fragmented, dualistic and delusional existence. The Sanskrit word for this cyclic and deluded existence is samsara.
The great teachers all understood the error of such a belief system, and while their teaching was often lost on their intended students, we are fortunate that oral tradition and later written transcription of these oral traditions have preserved enough of the original messages for us to glean their essential truth.
Buddha Sakyamuni understood that there was no distinction of the self from the Self... no separation between the soul and the Soul. Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) prayed that his disciples "might be one, even as he and the Source were one." And the great poet and mystic, Kabir, best captured this Truth, when he wrote:
"The ocean and its waves are one surf;
where is the difference between the river and its waves?
When the wave rises, it is the water;
and when it falls,
it is again the same water.
...where is the distinction?
Because it has been names as wave,
shall it no longer be considered as water?"
In the book, A Course in Miracles, and in my book, The Dharma of Compassion, we talk about developing an awareness that "whatever is not love is fear." At first, this might be somewhat confusing to the student of dharma, who perceives this approach to be somewhat dualistic. Yet we begin to understand that, at a deeper level, the word "fear" is simply an expression used to describe any phenomena that are not consistent with our true nature (love). Just as darkness is used to describe the apparent absence of light, we use fear to describe the apparent absence of love.
Notice that I said "apparent absence," because in the case of darkness, there can still be imperceptible light present. Similarly, while we may not perceive the presence of love in a situation, we can be certain that since it is the only impermanent truth, it pervades and penetrates every moment, every condition, every phenomenon.
Physical pain challenges almost every waking moment of my day. And the combination of physical pain and the resultant manifestations of neurological dis-ease have impacted many other areas of my experience -- from financial implications to emotional and practical implications. But these experiences don't invalidate the truth of my nature -- that I am love and light, expressing itself in and through the cloud of causation that we call "phenomena." And because I am conscious of that, the experience of "suffering" never enters the equation.
When I had the fortune of living in the monastic enclosure, I volunteered to tend to the large gardens in both monastic compounds. For me, the act of mindfully tending a garden is analogous to our spiritual practice itself. A gardener must vigilantly protect the garden from being overtaken by bugs, weeds, and other pests. The ground must be constantly "worked" to keep the soil aerated, and water, nutrients and proper exposure to the sunlight must be maintained. Similarly, unless we are constantly mindful of our thoughts, actions and "nurturing," the fertile soil of our minds, in which the dharma can take root, will be overtaken by the bugs of uncontrolled passions, the weeds of negativity, and the clouds that obscure the light of wisdom, leaving a dry, parched environment, scorched and devoid of anything of value.
"Spend five minutes complaining," my guru once said, "and you have just wasted five minutes. If you continue to complain, it won't be long until they haul you out to a desert, and there let you choke on the dust of your own regret."
When we stop complaining, running from pain, worrying about what might happen, we find the stillness and silence in which we begin to hear the sound of the Infinite flute.
Namasté!
Internationally respected, life coach and teacher, Lama Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato, O.C., M.Sc.) is a Buddhist and Franciscan contemplative, and author of the popular book, "The Dharma of Compassion - One Monk's Reflections on the Teachings of the Enlightened and Anointed Ones". He is best known for his on-going contributions to helping people unlock the power of their own minds -- teaching them how to apply that power to create strong, loving relationships, make more money, and live more meaningful, prosperous, health and satisfying lives.
You can join his primary social network and interact with him directly by visiting:
http://www.betternetworker.com/referral/7777cb42
Copyright ©2008, Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato, All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission.
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