Reflection, Reaction and Resound

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" Reflection, Reaction and Resound " . This is a phrase often used by Swami. What

does it mean? Let us examine.

 

Man is capable of being conscious of a world outside himself. In the world

outside all kinds of events happen, some of which affect the individual while

others do not. Whether or not there is an effect on the individual depends

entirely on the inner personality of the person concerned.

 

Let us say that A is harassing B. What really is happening is that B is paying

for his past misdeeds and that A is the agency or instrument employed for the

" settlement of Karmic debts " . Swami gives _ex-pression to this as follows:

 

God is not involved in either rewards or punishments. He only reflects, resounds

and re-acts! He is the Eternal, Unaffected Witness! You decide your own future.

Be good, do good and you get good in return; be bad, do bad and you reap bad

results. Do not thank or blame God. Thank yourself or blame yourself.

 

In the Gita, Krishna says pretty much the same thing.

 

In the example just considered, B thinks that A is being cruel to him. This

might seem to be true but only superficially. From an overall perspective,

however, the cruelty inflicted by A on B is merely a reflection of the cruelty

earlier visited by B on others. Thus what happens in the outside world is in

this example a reflection and a delayed reaction of some evil that was within

the person, i.e., B, to start with - the inside is reflected from the outside

(with a delay though), and appears as a reaction.

 

One might concede the concept of reflection, reaction and resound in cases like

the one cited above. But consider now an entirely different kind of case where

the person is not directly involved. A man sees a snake swallowing a frog; he is

upset and angry with the snake. Where is the question of reflection etc., in

this case? To understand that, let us suppose that this man is an astronomer and

discovers that one galaxy is swallowing another - galaxies are known to do this

occasionally.

 

This astronomer is happy that he has made a discovery and even publishes a paper

on it. In both instances, one entity is annihilating another but in one case the

man/observer is angry whereas in the other he is happy. Where did this anger and

happiness come from? Did, for example, the gobbling galaxy part with a bit of

its joy, (that is, if it did feel some joy)? In both cases, the person or the

observer was reacting based on what was within him. As Swami often says, As is

the thought, so is the feeling.

 

In the world of computers, there is a phrase: What you see is what you get -

WYSIWYG. In spirituality the rule is: " What you see is what you want to see! "

 

So Swami always emphasizes on cultivating good thoughts. He says,

 

For everything good and bad, it is your own thoughts that are responsible.

Therefore, we should entertain only truthful thoughts, then travel to the peace

that is beyond thought. As is the feeling so is the experience, for everything

is a reflection of the inner being. From whence do you get peace? It isnt got

from the external world. Peace originates from within. When a person is beyond

thought, he is at peace.

 

To start with, let's start with cultivating selfless thoughts and developing a

sense of compassion in us.

 

Jai Sai Ram.

From Heart to Heart

(Sharing With Sai Love) Ram.Chugani