surrender

By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds of thousands of times.
By remaining silent, inner silence is not obtained, even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within.
The hunger of the hungry is not appeased, even by piling up loads of worldly goods.
Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks, but not even one of them will go along with you in the end. So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?
O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.

-- from Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Japji Sahib (first page of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji)

Postings

Use the tree or the labels below to navigate this website. The website contains insights from various sources collected from Internet, books, lectures and other sources from July 2004 to December 2007.

gifts

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What You See Is What You Get

A friend of mine had an unpleasant experience with a mother of one his students who was about to be ordained a rabbi. This greatly upset and disturbed this woman who considered herself an enlightened intellectual and looked at organized religion as backward and fanatical. She was very nasty and cynical about her son's religious convictions. They were on the way to the ceremony when she turned to my friend and said, "Basically, I don't believe in G- d."

My friend replied, "O.K., fine! Don't believe in G-d." He was the first religious person who had responded to her that way, others tried to convince her. "What?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"You don't want to believe in G-d?" he said. "Fine, so live in a G-dless world."

That's essentially the choice we have. If we don't want to believe in G-d, then G-d won't be in our world. That doesn't mean G-d isn't real. G-d is real, but not for those who choose do deny that truth.

In other words, if I've never tasted papaya, then there's no flavor of papaya in my life. Whether it's real or not for others, it's not in my life. If I'm blind to the color red, then red will not be one of the colors in my life. Mammals do not see colors, so they live in a colorless world. If I'm not willing to see G-d, then my world is godless.

Once I was dating a woman, who I'll call Daphne, whom I loved very much. I wanted to marry Daphne. It took me a long time to realize that Daphne simply could not acknowledge my love. I did everything in my power to show her that I loved her. Daphne had such a poor image of herself, however, that she couldn't believe that anyone could love her. It didn't matter how much I professed my love to her, how many bouquets of flowers I sent her. She couldn't see my love. So, in a way, it wasn't there for her.

Everyone is thirsty for love, but how much love you can receive is dependent on how much you believe someone can love you. How much you believe is how much you receive. The more you acknowledge and believe in G-d the more you receive and see G-d in your life.

To the extent that we build our awareness, expand our consciousness, and acknowledge that G-d is the power directing the show, to that extent we see how G-d runs the show for us.

Each one of us has a choice. You can believe that this world is filled with the presence of G-d who cares about it and guides it. Or you can believe that this world is one big accident, a chaotic mess. The choice is yours. But remember what you believe is ultimately what you will see. What you believe creates the world you live in.

The Talmudic Sages taught: "Everything is in the hands of G-d except awe of G-d."

The Hebrew word for awe, yira, means both "awe" and "will see." Everything is in the hands of G-d, except for our acknowledging and seeing and being in awe of G-d. If we are in awe we will see G- d. If we are not in awe, if we are not open to seeing G-d, then G-d is not in our world. It's that simple and that serious.

Some people experience constant Divine presence, which means they see and feel G-d's care and guidance in their lives. They need $800 to pay for a car repair, and an unexpected check for $800 arrives in the mail. They miss a bus, so they get on the next bus, and the person they sit down next to turns out to be a friend from twenty years ago.

Why are such experiences not part of everyone's daily life? Because what you see is what you get.

-- Rabbi David Aaron

the upwising begins

fear

According to metaphysics fear is caused by the lack of light. Therefore the more light there is in the heart the more fearless the heart becomes. ... When a person is afraid of a dog, he gives the dog a tendency to bite him. This can be noticed so plainly in the lower creation, that every animal is afraid of another animal, and the expectation of harm makes it fear more than does the idea of the hugeness of the form or the bodily strength of another animal. Many things in life can be brought about, not only by wanting them and thinking about them, but also by fearing them, both objects and conditions. To clear one's mind of fear is like bringing light into a dark room, and as light is needed to illuminate a dark room so the light of the soul is necessary to clear away the thought of fear. ... When one fears, this world frightens one, but when one clears one's heart of all fear, the whole world of illusion turns into one single vision of the sublime immanence of God.

http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XIII/XIII_19.htm

There is a story of a Brahmin, a young man who was very much impressed by what his guru told him: that the whole of manifestation is the immanence of God and that, therefore, there is nothing to fear, nothing to distrust. This thought made the young man feel quite at home in the world, quite comfortable. Then one day a mad elephant came along the road on which the young man was walking. The men running before the elephant yelled, 'Away, away! The elephant is coming!' But the young man would not get out of the way. With palms joined he stood as fearlessly before the elephant as one stands before God, as his guru had told him. The consequence was that the elephant gave him a shove and he fell down. He was brought to the guru who asked him what had happened. The young man said, 'Guruji, you said that all is the immanence of God, and therefore, in all reverence, I stood before the elephant with joined hands.' The guru said, 'Did anyone tell you to get out of the way?' He replied, 'Yes.' 'Why then,' said the guru, 'did you not stand before that man with joined hands and listen to him?'

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/XI/XI_II_15.htm

vismaad

Shalok, First Mehl:
vismaad naad vismaad vayd.
Wonderful is the sound current of the Naad, wonderful is the knowledge of the Vedas.

vismaad jee-a vismaad bhayd.
Wonderful are the beings, wonderful are the species.

vismaad roop vismaad rang.
Wonderful are the forms, wonderful are the colors.

vismaad naagay fireh jant.
Wonderful are the beings who wander around naked.

vismaad pa-un vismaad paanee.
Wonderful is the wind, wonderful is the water.

vismaad agnee khaydeh vidaanee.
Wonderful is fire, which works wonders.

vismaad Dhartee vismaad khaanee.
Wonderful is the earth, wonderful the sources of creation.

vismaad saad lageh paraanee.
Wonderful are the tastes to which mortals are attached.

vismaad sanjog vismaad vijog.
Wonderful is union, and wonderful is separation.

vismaad bhukh vismaad bhog.
Wonderful is hunger, wonderful is satisfaction.

vismaad sifat vismaad saalaah.
Wonderful is His Praise, wonderful is His adoration.

vismaad ujharh vismaad raah.
Wonderful is the wilderness, wonderful is the path.

vismaad nayrhai vismaad door.
Wonderful is closeness, wonderful is distance.

vismaad daykhai haajraa hajoor.
How wonderful to behold the Lord, ever-present here.

vaykh vidaan rahi-aa vismaad.
Beholding His wonders, I am wonder-struck.

naanak bujhan poorai bhaag. ||1||
O Nanak, those who understand this are blessed with perfect destiny. ||1||

-- part of "Asa Di Var" by Guru Nanak Dev ji