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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3696, Sunday, October 25, 2009, Editor: Mark
I never knew how tears could feel so good
until I opened my heart
and found they come from the same source
as boundless laughter
instead of blurring my vision
they bring beauty into focus
instead of burning my cheeks
they wash away dusty dryness I used to hide
behind
let sorrow have me now
for surrender has freed me to savor
the bittersweet nectar
that flows in measureless abundance
from within
- Nirmala, from Gifts with No Giver - a love affair with truth
On Joy and Sorrow
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was
oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you
can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned
in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that
was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find
it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you
joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall
see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your
delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater thar sorrow," and
others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your
board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your
joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his
silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
- Kahlil Gibran, from The Prophet
I wish to give a short talk on sorrow and joy. Sorrow is an inner
experience. From this experience we come to feel that life has no
meaning and no purpose, that we are travelling along a road that
has no goal.
Joy is also an inner experience. From this experience we come to
feel that life at every moment has some special meaning, that
life has joy as its goal right from the beginning. Early in the
morning the sun dawns. As soon as we look at the sun, we get joy.
Then we pray and meditate. From our prayer and meditation we also
get joy. Then the members of the family meet together and sit to
eat. Here they get joy from the union of the family. Then each
human being enters into his respective work. Work is nothing but
self giving, and self giving is the best kind of joy.
What does sorrow do? In the beginning sorrow breaks our heart;
then it strengthens our heart. In the beginning sorrow darkens
our mind; then it illumines our mind. In the beginning sorrow
takes away all the life energy from our vital; then it gives our
vital a new hope, a new promise and a new light. It strengthens
and inspires our vital with a new determination. Sorrow throws
our body into a sea of helplessness; then it lifts our body up
and teaches our body how to swim in the infinite sea of Light and
Delight.
Joy, in the beginning, gives our heart infinite peace. Then it
gives our heart continual confidence to do something higher,
better and more divine. Joy, in the beginning, expands our mind,
expands the vision of our mind. Then joy gives our mind the
capacity to hold the whole world inside it. Joy, in the
beginning, gives our vital the strength of a roaring lion. Then
it looks around and inspires everyone who wants to lead a better
life. Joy, in the beginning, gives our body the capacity to grow
into something beautiful, luminous and fruitful. Then it gives
our body the capacity to see, feel and talk to God inside itself.
We are living on this earth planet. The earth planet is full of
sorrow. There are many reasons why our earth planet is full of
sorrow. But the main reason is this: earth wants to realise the
highest, the absolute highest, but it feels that it is simply
impossible because there are millions and millions of people who
do not want to lead a spiritual life.
Like the earth consciousness, Heaven is also unhappy. Heaven
wants to manifest itself on earth. It wants to manifest God's
Peace, God's Light, God's Beauty on earth. But earth is not
receptive at all. Therefore, Heaven is also unhappy.
On very rare occasions, when earth sees even one person who wants
to lead a pure life, a life of aspiration and dedication, at that
time earth is happy. When one person wants to go up, when one of
her children is going up, earth feels extremely happy. Similarly,
on very rare occasions, when one person is receptive, Heaven
becomes very happy, because that person makes a pathway for
Heaven to descend and manifest something of God's Light.
God has two aspects. One aspect is His human aspect, the other
aspect is His divine aspect. God is inside each of us. When He
uses His human aspect He feels sad, because He feels it will take
man such a long time to reach his goal. When He uses His divine
aspect, He does not feel sad. At that time He is dealing with
eternal time.
Man also has two aspects. One aspect is his desiring self, the
other aspect is his aspiring self. When man lives the life of
desire, he finds only frustration; and frustration is the
harbinger of destruction. When man lives the life of aspiration,
he eventually gets everything that God has and is: infinite Light
and infinite Delight.
- Sri Chinmoy, June 9th, 1976, YMCA, Rome, Italy
Moving Water
When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section, the feeling
disappears. Don't let
others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures.
Reach for the rope
of God. And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness
people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.
The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment. Now
see the invisible. If you could leave your selfishness, you
would see how you've
been torturing your soul. We are born and live inside black water
in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is? Don't
insist on going where
you think you want to go. Ask the way to the spring. Your
living pieces will form
a harmony. There is a moving palace that floats in the air
with balconies and clear
water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained
under a single tent.
Rumi, version by Coleman Barks, from The Glance