ARANI SERIES
Friday, December 30, 2016
Spark 28
Stay Connected
A certain spiritual practice (sādhanā), let’s say, appeals to you the most. Why waste time in a hundred other things? Stay put in that sādhanāof your choice.
In these days of mobile telephony or Internet, there are times when we find the signal level to be good at some corners in a campus and we stay there to do our work, don’t we? If we move away, our work suffers. Likewise, let’s “stay connected” to the Divine by remaining in the area of our sādhanā, as much as possible, and avoid going away to activities and engagements where we lose our connection to the Divine.
“One must stay firm, united with Me,” says1 Lord Krishna while cautioning us about the stormy senses that derail our life’s journey. “Why do you move away from the cool shade of the tree, when it is unbearably hot everywhere else?” asks Sri Ramana Maharshi, urging us to remain devoted to self-inquiry. “When one hand of yours is at work, hold God with the other; when the work is over, hold God with both your hands,” exhorts Sri Ramakrishna.
No matter what path suits us, do we have the capacity to put our heart and soul into the practice? Or are we like someone who climbed up four floors to his room’s entrance and then found that he had carelessly dropped the key to the room somewhere downstairs?
After some study, satsanga (spiritual associations) and discussion with wise people, we gain a good degree of clarity in the matter of what we must do – to bring our life back in order. Why do we permit a big gap between ‘what we think we must do’ and ‘what we actually do’? These gaps between any two among the three – thought, word and deed – are a major factor contributing to an unhappy life. We must work towards bridging these gaps by taking sometimes small but bold steps. For example, a friend decided to sleep before 10 pm every night, and she was able to exercise daily morning as a result, which led to a whole lot of improvement in her way of living. “Small victories lead to big victories,” observed Eknath Easwaran.
As the New Year arrives, can we give high priority to living rightly? Can we make a few important changes in our lifestyle, which can help us “stay connected” to our chosen form of sādhanā? Can we give up our fickleness or our addictions? Can we listen more to our own inner voice and live a more conscientious life?
We have wonderful tools with us; we have not been using them. We are blessed with great guidance but we have failed in our homework. Let us get earnest and put our house in order, without further delay.
WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017, WHERE YOU’RE BETTER CONNECTED WITH YOUR TRUE CALLING!
Swami Chidananda
Notes:
1 yukta āseeta mat-parah – Geeta 2.61
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