Prema Jyothi May 2024
Newsletter of the Sacred Earth Community
Non-Dual Wisdom
“From the smallest to the largest, the One exists. In fact, there is no small or large, for all is That, which is the only existence. What you perceive with the eyes of separation is the illusion. But even the illusion is not separate from the One – it only appears to be. How has this come about? It is a creation of the mind. Samsara is not manifestation. The manifestation is the One. Samsara is seeing the manifestation as separate. All the philosophies and scriptures take a stance. But who is there to take a stance? Can you stand outside of yourself?” Inner message from Sathya Sai Baba
Creation is often seen as illusory. However, if creation and the creator are One, how can manifestation be illusory? This is the greatest mystery that sages and scholars, theologians and philosophers have attempted to examine and explain for millennia. Rather than philosophising and attempting to use the intellect to solve the great puzzle of life, we can take a different approach. We have an opportunity to explore our own hearts, where this mystery can be experienced without mental convolution. Within the beingness that arises from the silence of our hearts, we can unravel the mystery.
Oneness arises from within the Heart. Where is the heart and what is it? The true answer is that the Heart is everywhere and everything. Can there be anything outside of the Heart? - no. But the conundrum arises when we attempt to experience the Heart through the mind, through pondering the mystery of creation within the fixed bounds of our understanding. If we can let go of the conceptual framework(s) that have ruled our existence as a separate entity and shaped our lives around the ahamkara (ego), we will find an expansive sense, a universal vision. Often, despite experiences of unity, we still search for a path, a method, a philosophy that we can cling to, that will take us back to that experience. However, all methods and paths fall short of providing the answers or experience of unity.
Many years ago, Sai called me for a one to one ‘interview’. I was finding great difficulty in meditating, and the mind felt very confused and overwhelmed. He lovingly put His arms around me and looked directly into my eyes. He told me that my sadhana (spiritual practice) was all over the place – “this way, that way.” His eyes became the centre of My being, and I found my separate self disappearing into them, when He simply stated, “There is only One Way – Love”. My individuality melted into His Love. I was in that moment, and nothing else existed. It was a most extraordinary unity between His Love and mine, between Him and me, the most profound lesson in Oneness that I have ever experienced.
- Satyavan
We are the Sparkling Bubble.
“Meditate on the truth, and you will find that you are but a sparkling bubble upon the ocean - born on the ocean, living for a brief moment on the ocean, and dying upon its breast, merging in it.” - Sathya Sai Baba
In 1976, whilst wandering around Sai Baba’s ashram, my heart in wonder at His Grace for having brought me there, I came across this saying on a stone plaque that was placed along the pathway. I read the words and was suddenly struck with what Swami was saying. What was significant to me was that He didn’t just say we are a ‘bubble on the ocean’, but that ‘we are a sparkling bubble on the ocean’. We are all special in the eyes of the One.
What is a bubble but a layer of water surrounding air. Bubbles rise and fall, but they are of the nature of the ocean. When they ‘think’ themselves to be separate, they are filled with air, just as when we think ourselves to be separate, we are filled with ego. When the bubble merges back into the ocean, it becomes the ocean itself. Not part of the ocean, but the actual ocean. It disappears as a bubble. It lets go of its false identity with being a bubble and becomes the ocean. Then the bubble realises that it was always the ocean. - Satyavan
Facets of Self-Realisation
Spiritual Unity as a Seva (service) to Creation
As we progress in spiritual awakening increasing unity is experienced in oneself. This does not impact the ability to function in relative reality. The absolute becomes something very intimate. It is incredible to realise this in a very personal, yet universal experience.
As we more deeply engage God/Goddess consciousness, we realise that we are a personal expression of the absolute. Our job is to step into God/Goddess manifestation in our daily life. To live from God/Goddess energy is to raise the vibration in our lives and in this way, albeit almost unintentionally, we make the world a better place just by being that.
Our biggest contribution to the world is the level of our being, before any contribution that may come from doing.
Self-Realisation as a progressive process
“Self-realisation occurs in some individuals in a moment such as Ramana Maharshi and Buddha. But for many it is a staged process.
First the sadhana evokes glimpses, memories and insights that come and go. The mind holds sway, then there is a doorway, an opening into the heart. This closes after a while and ordinary consciousness holds sway. But, with time the Self is realised in the heart fully and continuously. But this is not the end for the Self for the Self in the heart begins to be realised in the body. The realisation is not simply confines to the heart but spreads into each cell, each part of the body. Thus the body itself, realises its true nature as an emanation from the heart.
The last stage is where we as the Self are everything. We lose all identification with the one we think we are and become the ALL.” - - Sundareshwara
Are we there yet?
There comes a time when the people we meet are no longer ‘them’, no longer separate. It is all just us. There is no distance between us and anyone else. We realise that we are always in a state of unity, wherever we are - continually in this awareness of unity.
It is often stated that we are on a ‘spiritual journey’. In fact, we are going nowhere because there is nowhere to go! The journey in the outer world triggers experiences in the inner world. Both worlds exist simultaneously. It is only a matter of which one we tune into. Inward is the mystery of the Self and we can also watch the drama of life unfolding, the beautiful expression of the Self as life.
Savitri
Let the Heart Sing its Song of Unity
Advaita-non-dualism is not a dry and lonely path. It is a path full of joy. We cannot separate Jnana Marg (wisdom path, often associated with advaita), Bhakti Marg (devotional path) and Karma Marg (selfless service). They are all entwined and merge in the heart. Call it Hridaya Yoga if you like, but labels are meaningless. Only love is essential.
In the silence of the Heart let us awaken the Love that we are. Let it flourish under our calm and steady resolve. Let it be a natural flowering that blossoms of its own accord. Let us not force-feed that flower, it will not flourish. It may show a burst but that soon dies. A calm and gentle nourishment of the love in our hearts will allow the flower to bloom steadily and for always.
We must clearly see the beauty of the Heart. There is no other to match that Oneness that arises and falls in the heart. All our efforts and will fade before such a wonder. – Satyavan
Oneness in Nature
Many of us have seen videos and photos of starlings in Europe flying in beautiful patterns, all perfectly in unison with each other, or shoals of fish swirling through the water as one. How is this possible? We consider these phenomena mysterious and awe inspiring (and they are) but, if we consider that consciousness is only One, then these manifestations of that unity should not surprise us.
It is also useful to consider how trees grow. It is rare to see trees of the same species in a forest growing alone. Usually, they grow in groves of similar trees, perhaps they long for unity. But this is not the only example of oneness involving trees. It is well known that trees communicate with each other through their entangled roots. Microbes and fungi help in this communication. A forest of trees is a living metaphor for the oneness of creation, with its roots in consciousness pervading all and the source of all. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna, talks of knowing the universe as an Ashvatta tree (the Bo Tree – Ficus religiosa), with its roots in heaven and its branches on earth.
Whatever way we might conceive consciousness, nature is teaching us to take a broader view of the underlying principles that have been held for centuries about the universe and its character. The often (but perhaps not generally) held perspective is that the material universe is all there is. However, this has posed questions about the limits of our knowledge and understanding of the fundamental nature of the creation.
Much of science postulates that most of the universe is insentient matter, an assumption that it being challenged by developments in physics and concepts of the nature of consciousness. In the 20th century, quantum mechanics emerged to challenge all our held beliefs about the makeup of the universe. Most physicists subscribe to the idea that the universe arose from a state known as the singularity. If this were the case, then this argument points to the oneness of all creation.
Whether there is a belief in a deity or not, the idea of a unifying principle underlying, and indeed being the totality of all that is, makes rational sense. In fact, this idea has long been held, somewhat intuitively, to be true. The Vedic teachings, propounded by the Rishis, used this singularity, or non-dual, concept as the basis of their philosophy.
Quantum physicists have made observations of universe and, in most cases, postulated a unitary nature. Whilst there are arguments as to how this came about and the way in which the ‘unifying field’ operates, the fundamentals are largely accepted. Many religions as well as indigenous peoples’ beliefs, although diverging as to the mechanisms that brought about such a universe, agree that creation emerged from a unified source (call it God, spirit, or some other entity).
These beliefs and understandings arise from observing nature. Therefore, we can be assured that ‘nature is the best teacher’. Nature reflects its origin. It may be diverse, but there are so many signs that the underlying unity is the single and most fundamental principle in nature.
“These days, man thinks he is very advanced and civilized. Advanced he might be in terms of science and technology; he is less civilised than the ancients. I can see you are looking rather surprised. Well, look around and see what man is doing. He is not merely cutting trees but wiping out entire forests. He is not merely killing animals for food but wiping out so many species like the tiger, the lion, elephants, and so on. He is polluting the air, the rivers and so on. Now look at the ancients. They did cut trees, but only to a minimum; other than that, they worshipped trees. In fact, they worshipped everything - plants, animals, even snakes, land, mountains, rivers, air, sky... you name it. Why? Because they saw God in everything. Modern man laughs at ancients and calls them barbaric. Who is barbaric and uncivilised? The ancients? Or the modern man who disrespects, tramples down upon, pollutes and even destroys Nature on such a massive scale? Modern man has no time even for his aged parents, whereas ancients revered their parents and took care of them in their old age? And after all this, modern man gives himself a medal for being civilised and laughs at ancients, describing them as barbaric. Now tell me, who is more civilised, modern man or ancients?” - Sathya Sai Baba
