The Good News

[Guest guest]

The Good News

By

 

Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda

http://www.dlshq.org/messages/goodnews.htm

 

On Christmas Eve, we read out passages from the Gospel according to

St. Matthew, the Gospel according to St. Luke and the Gospel

according to St. John. The one thing they all have in common is that

they are called gospels, which as we know means good news—the

good news according to St. Matthew, the good news according to St.

Luke, the good news according to St. John.

 

What was the essence of that good news? Perhaps it was best

summarised by the first words of Jesus: "Repent, the Kingdom of

Heaven is at hand." Repent means turn around. In other words, you

have been going in the wrong direction. Turn around, what you are

seeking is right at hand. In other places, Jesus said, "The Kingdom

of Heaven is amidst you and it's within you."

 

Why was this good news? Because for over a thousand years the Jews

had been trying to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven through their own

efforts. It was something that they were going to attain if they

followed all the correct rituals, all the correct behaviours. But,

just as the Upanishads declared, "That thou art," Jesus

declared, "You are looking in the wrong direction. Turn around.

It's right at hand."

 

After Lord Krishna had taught Arjuna the entire Gita, He asked

him, "Have you understood, Arjuna?" Arjuna replied, "I have recovered

my memory." The one principal discovery that all realized saints seem

to have in common is that "I have always been free. I simply

didn't recognise it or realise it." One time when Pujya Swami

Chidanandaji was giving instructions, he said, "Sit four or five

times a day and try to remember who you are." Realise means make

real. In other words, make real to your consciousness the truth of

what you always have been.

 

If the goal of the spiritual life is something new, something to be

attained, then perhaps it can never be attained or achieved, and as

Ramana Maharshi used to say, "Whatever is new will have to end

someday. What you want is what you have always had—the natural

state." The natural state according to Ramana Maharshi was found by

enquiring "Who am I?" First, we discover "I am not someone or

something. I am everything." And then the discovery is simply "I am."

And finally the discovery is something that cannot be described that

is prior to "I am." That is eternity, what we have always been. And

it is our natural state.

 

This is the real good news. If it were something new, it might be

frightening. We might question whether we want it or not. But to

say, "I have always been free," means, "this is natural, this is me.

I feel more myself than I have ever been. Previously I have been

distracted by likes and dislikes, fears and desires. My mind has been

full of turmoil. I haven't felt myself at all. Now I feel totally

myself. I am home. I am natural."

 

So the changes that are meant to be brought about are only onerous to

the ego, to that which doesn't want to change, doesn't want

to move. To us, to our real Self, the changes are all good news,

because we are getting rid of those things that bind us. As Swamiji

has said, "The spiritual life is for joy—the joy of the oneness of

our ownself."