Life 43 (May 22 - Aug 22)

[winston]

Close the Gap

Dharma practice is an ethical path that leads into that gap between aspiration and habit; pursuing the ethic of care will gradually close it.

- Winston Higgins, “Treading the Path with Care”

[winston]

How near or far is the Divine from us?

Look upon joy and grief as teachers of courage and balance. Grief is a friendly reminder, a good taskmaster and even a better teacher than joy.

The Divine grants both protection and punishment; for, how can He be the Divine if He does not insist on strict accounting and strict obedience?

You are as distant from Him as you think you are, as near Him as you feel you are.

The distance from the Divine to you is the same as the distance from you to Him, is it not? But, you complain that He's far, far from you, though you are approaching nearer and nearer.

That nearness is won by devotion, which cannot be steady except after getting rid of "I" and "Mine".

- Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1964.

Forgetting the Divine who is nearest and closest to them, people are trying to
seek an invisible Divine elsewhere.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Practice in Small Ways

Rather than constantly seeking to eliminate all small irritations from our lives, we can use them as a basis for developing more patience.

If you emphasize comfort over the practice of patience, your mind will get weaker and weaker.

- Dzigar Kongtrul, “The Path of Patience"

[winston]

What is the means to achieve inner peace?

Senses can do nothing by themselves; they are not independent.

If the mind is brought under control, the senses can also be controlled.

Some people undergo mere asceticism of senses to control the mind! They are ignorant of the real discipline that’s necessary.

Real discipline is the destruction of desire. However vigilant warders may be, a clever robber can still steal in through a hundred amazing ways.

So too, however skillfully you may try to control the senses, the mind will drag them to its side and execute its desires through them!

If only the outer door is closed and the inner door is left unbolted, calamity is certain! But if both exterior and interior doors are safely bolted, you can sleep peacefully, for no clever thief will find it easy to enter and do harm.

- Dhyana Vahini, Ch 13.

It is only when you have the body, the senses and the mind under your control,
that you will be master of yourself.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the essence of Indian culture that makes it special?

The special feature of Indian culture is that here, the dress and demeanour, the language and literature, the manner and mode of living, the ideals and institutions are all attuned to the spiritual progress of man, emphasising as they do the superiority of the spirit over the body, the subtle over the gross. Everything is subordinated to that supreme task.

The body should be fed and kept free from disease. Why? So that it may be fit for spiritual discipline.

Spiritual discipline for what? For the realisation of the truth about oneself.

The subtle is the basis for the gross; the Divine is the basis for the human.

Indian culture turns your eye to the basis, not to what is built upon it. This outlook was, for long, the natural outlook for every Indian; it was indeed automatic.

It was imbibed at the mother's lap, from the father in the field, the teacher at school, from neighbour, friends and relatives, from the old and the young, and from whatever was done or written or spoken by those around.

- Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1964.

You must make an effort to realise that the body is just an instrument given to you for a specific purpose, and you must understand that purpose.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Build Lasting Happiness

Trying to build happiness on a foundation of ego, is like trying to build a tower on quicksand.

- Pamela Gayle White, “A Slow, True Path”

[winston]

Deepen Your Love for the World

The deeper our love for the world gets, the more motivated we become to find solutions to address suffering.

- Radhule Weininger, “How to Follow the Bodhisattva Path Without Burning Out”

[winston]

Why do we struggle to meditate on the beautiful Form of the Divine at times?

The aspirant should establish mastery over the external senses. Then, the mind, immersed in the continuous succession of subject-object relationship, has to be controlled by means of peace (shanti) and renunciation.

When that is done, one can experience real spiritual bliss (ananda) and visualise the Atma (Inner-Self), in its real form.

“Those who aspire to have mastery over the senses must have full faith in the Divine.”

The senses are always extroverted in nature; they are greedy for external contacts. Therefore, they drag the ignorant perpetually toward external objects.

So the spiritual aspirant, endowed with discrimination and renunciation, must place obstacles in their outward path and suppress their outbursts, just like what the charioteer, wielding the whip and the reins, does to the raging steeds.

Uncontrolled senses cause great harm. People in their grip cannot engage themselves in meditation, even for a single second!

- Dhyana Vahini, Ch 13.

The senses are wayward by nature and it is difficult to control them. One should,
however, do one’s best to control them and put them to right use.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Our Shared Struggle

Know that in your struggle, you are with all beings because our true struggle is the same— to find our way to oneness, to nonseparation, in this fragile human form.

- Sallie Jiko Tisdale, “Alone on the Bodhisattva Path”

[winston]

How can one earn freedom in life and be liberated?

When a prisoner is taken from place to place, he’s accompanied by two constables, isn’t it?

When man, who is a prisoner in this jail, moves from one place to another, he too is accompanied by egoism and attachment.

When you move about without these two, you can be sure that you are free, liberated from prison.

You are all under sentence of imprisonment in this jail. There’s no use hoping for reward when you work in jail; you work because you are ordered to and you must work well too.

You can’t argue that rewards are not distributed justly and you are not entitled to desist from allotted tasks! If you do so, your sentence will be extended or you will be transferred to another jail.

On the other hand, if you quietly accept the sentence and go about your work without clamouring or murmuring, your term is reduced, and you are sent out with a certificate that ensures a happy life, unpestered!

- Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1964.

Remember, freedom is your birthright. Concentrate and practice the means of attaining it.

Source: radiosai.org