Namaste All, and Aloha from Hawaii:
I thought to write a general message to help orient, or reorient, all SRV practitioners and friends who are presently seeing this fresh health challenge loom before them. The new kid on the block of potential doubt, fear, and suffering is this little germ that seems to have caught everyone off guard, and started the already way-too-vociferous tongues of the media a- flappin’ all the more.
Primarily, nothing has changed: certainly not with Divine Reality, certainly not with Ishvara who oversees all the worlds in time and space, and certainly not with our Ishtams of Holy Mother, Sri Ramakrishna, and Swami Vivekananda. And guess what? The Truth of Vedanta and truths of the Dharma, as well, have not changed in the least. Are not these the most important elements of our lives, of true Life itself?
What has changed, yet again, is the human mind and its stunted ways of thinking. It projects, postures, and poses the world, this earth. Then it reacts to what it presents to itself, the ego. Then, unbalanced and restless, it disports itself in ignoble ways, its conduct unbecoming of the ideals it once held at the time that there is no challenge present on the world scene.
Reaction is not the Vedantic way, thus not our way. Steadiness is our way. Nonreactivity (asamvedana) is also our way. If we cannot hold ourselves steady in the press of the recurring catastrophes of life in the world, then we eventually render ourselves helpless and make ourselves worthless. We enjoy and act in cavalier fashion when life is fun and good, then weep and wail whenever the inevitable lashes of pain coming from the constantly changing world of relativity head our way. As the saying goes about such beings, “Now, what can be done with you?”
Stoic heroism is also our way. It is when tests appear in our lives that we get more of an opportunity to be of help to others. When loved ones, friends, and family — even all human beings — get sick, do we run away from them, or do we try to nurture them back to health?
Three things form dharmic rules here for the stalwart soul:
First, death is predestined; if one is meant to contract and expire from said disease, then no type of isolation will ever prevent it. On the other hand, if one is destined to die from other causes (all set up by the individual soul in its past lifetime, by the way), then even drinking from an infected person’s used cup or dirty glass will not matter at all.
Second, the frame of mind one is in either helps prevent illness from taking hold, or invites it into the body for incubation. That is, if one holds the fearful idea that he or she can contract an illness from another person nearby, then it is much more likely that it will occur. On the other hand, again, if one holds the firm mental stance that no sickness can enter, or if it does, it will not take hold, then that will be the welcome case.
Third, and as well, if one contracts a germ and falls ill, the mind’s nonreactivity to the body succumbing to it based upon the Soul’s imperviousness to all diseases will reduce the amount of time spent in an unhealthy condition. This is called using the Fire of Yoga to remain healthy all the time, and to reduce, even reverse, the effects of illness when the body is sick.
So let’s all practice Vedanta and Dharma during these times……
Additionally, be practical and practice care as well as concern. If a man somehow comes to know that he will never die by being hit by a bus, that does not make him so careless as to not look both ways before crossing the highway.
In closing, practice your Witness Consciousness at this time more than ever. This depends upon your Detachment, vairagya. How do the Four Treasures and Six Jewels (discrimination, detachment, inner peace, self-control, forbearance, etc.) look in action during a pandemic? Show yourself the answer to this, and prove it. Why walk around with all your defenses down due to unreal doubt, unreasoning fear, and inadvertent attachments.
During this rather forced isolation at home during this period, SRV invites you to join into our live-streaming classes and satsangs, and to reach out through email to have questions answered and perspectives strengthened. Thankfully, the corona virus is not a (google)chroma virus; we all have the ethers to repair to for support. Remember, as well, the real inner ethers, meaning your meditations in the akashas. And do not think about earthly matters while in meditation; only about God.
I, myself, stand ready to field calls, messages, and questions. I am hoping that our Windwood Retreat in May in the Northwest will see all of us going and growing as usual, studying authentic Yoga together, healthy and inherently happy, contented, and peaceful.
Peace x 3,
Babaji
