RE: Need guidance - Another perspective

[Guest guest]

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

In Mother's speech to the U.N., She said, "Real change must happen within,

for only if we remove conflict and negativity from within, can we play a

truly constructive role in establishing peace." She also said, "To solve the

complex and controversial issues such as religious freedom, conversion, and

fanaticism, the religious leaders must come together in dialogue with open

hearts in order to arrive at mutually acceptable, practical solutions.

HOWEVER, FOR SUCH DISCUSSIONS TO BE FRUITFUL, WE MUST FIRST PLANT THE SEEDS

OF LOVE, PEACE AND PATIENCE WITHIN OURSELVES." (emphasis mine)

 

I delighted in these words and began to consider how they might be applied to

Chandrika's concern with the Catholic priest. Like Kenna, I think of this

situation as Mother's play or lila, not just for Chandrika, but for all of

Her children here on the net. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to look

within ourselves and to try to apply many of Mother's teachings to this

situation. Mother tells us, "Experiences, indeed, are the Guru for each

person." And "A real Guru desires only the spiritual growth of the disciple.

Tests and trials are given for the disciple's improvement and to remove his

weaknesses."

 

My first reaction after reading Chandrika's original e-mail was to have a

critical attitude toward the priest and also to feel a sense of hopelessness

about changing his mind. However, as I began to look within, I noticed my

ego at work. Whenever my ego pops up, as it so often does, one of the first

questions I ask myself is 'where is my attachment here'? In this case, I

seemed to have an attachment to two things, one was to changing the priest's

mind (i.e., to me being "right") and the second was an attachment to the

"fruits of my (i.e., Chandrika's) action's," in this case providing the

students with the "right" kind of religious perspective. At this point I

thought it might be a good idea to leave this situation in Amma's or God's

hands, and to seek guidance from Mother to help me with my ego.

 

I went through my collection of Amma's quotations that I have my computer,

and naturally She had a lot to say about this subject. Here are some of the

quotations that I found:

 

"Humility means self-surrender, surrendering our will to the Will of

God. Once that is done, one can only be humble because one sees that

whatever happens in his life, whether positive or negative, is His will. In

this state, all reactions disappear. There are no more reactions, only

acceptance. Therefore, humility can also be interpreted as total acceptance."

 

 

"Do not look at the world. Look within yourself and remove the

impurities from your mind. Practice seeing only the good in others."

 

"Reaction occurs because people are attached to their actions.

Attachment to the work and its fruit creates ego, which will destroy the

ability to respond. Detachment from the work and its fruit destroys ego,

which will help one to respond. Attachment fills the mind with more thoughts

and desires, which will only cause reactions. Detachment empties the mind of

all thoughts and desires, which allows response to take place."

 

"Learn to be thankful to everyone, to the entire creation even to your

enemy and also to those who insult you, because they all help you to grow."

 

"Imagine that every person who comes to you has been sent to you by God.

Then you will be pleasant and loving towards everyone."

 

"Only when we become aware of the burden of our own ego will we be able

to remove our faults. At present, we cannot bear someone else's ego or

mistakes, but ours are all right. 'My ego is beautiful, but his is ugly.'

This is our present attitude, and this attitude should go."

 

"Do not harbor anger and jealousy towards anyone. See good in everyone.

Never speak ill of others. See all as children of the same mother and love

them as sisters and brothers. Our lives should be filled with compassion. We

should be ready to help the poor. No one is above fault. Whenever you see any

faults in others, you should be ready to look within yourself. Then you will

understand that all those faults can be found within yourself."

 

"To live in peace, one must get rid of all mental conflicts and see only

the good in people. We become mentally weak when we look at the faults. We

raise our level when we see the goodness. Whoever it may be, when we say that

that person is bad, we have already become bad ourselves. Let ninety-nine

percent of another person be wrong, yet we should see the one single percent

of good in him. Then our own level will be raised."

 

"Compassion does not see the faults of others. It does not see the

weaknesses of people. It makes no distinction between good and bad people.

Compassion cannot draw a line between two countries, two faiths or two

religions. Compassion simply forgives and forgets. Compassion is love

expressed in all its fullness."

 

"One needs only a little stain remover to remove a small spot, but more

has to be applied if it is a bigger and denser spot. Likewise, a person who

is already spiritually inclined may not need much attention and care, but a

person who has spoiled his life without having any real principles to live by

needs greater attention and personal care in order to be re-educated and to

lead a worthwhile life. Light coffee needs only a little milk. Strong coffee

needs more milk. Mother is ready to take any number of births to help such

people. How can Mother abandon them? Who else would take care of them?"

 

 

Surely we can all be inspired by Mother's divine compassion. How blessed we

are to have such a Saint, such a Sadguru, such a great Mahatma to love, to

teach and to inspire us. It's no wonder that we want the whole world to

share in this blessing. May Mother grant us such deep faith that we might

surrender both our will and our fears to Her and that we might accept that

everything indeed happens according to the Divine Will.

 

A final quotation from Mother's U.N. speech: "Where love exists, there cannot

be conflict of any kind; peace alone will reign. May the light of love and

peace shine within our hearts. Let us all become messengers of universal

peace, illuminating the hearts of everyone, dispelling the darkness of hatred

and conflict that has overshadowed today's world."

 

 

With love,

Vaishnavi

 

 

Om Puurnamada Puurnamidam

Puurnaat Puurnamudaachyate

Puurnaasya Puurnamaadaaya

Puurnam eva Vashishyate

Om Santi Santi Santih

Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah Harih Om