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machart
USA
342 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 1:46:29 PM
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I have recently gotten back into motorcycling and am very proud of my new red 2008 Ninja 250 I've had for 5 monthes. So when my wife of almost 25 years knocked it over in the driveway today at lunch backing out I immediately saw "red" and got angry thinking woe is me my baby is not a virgin anymore.
Initially I was very upset but then I realized that this was a test that I had failed since I had yelled at my wife to pay more attention to her driving, nothing too mean like I might have done before starting on the spiritual path, but still harsh.
After a few minutes I realized that all the spritual work I have been doing recently failed me since I had lost my temper momentarily. Fortunately, I realized this before things got ugly and found out she was more upset about it than I was. I immediately back pedaled and tried to joke a bit to ease the tension and suggested that for her penance she give me a massage tonight....she agreed...now all is good again. The few scratches that left a scar on my bike will remind me of this moment of grace.
Being still in meditation is hard....being still in the real world is really really hard. |
Edited by - machart on Aug 18 2008 8:32:56 PM |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 3:00:58 PM
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Hi Machart - my heart really goes out to you. Not b'c of the Ninja mishap, but b'c it's discouraging when we have these less-than-holy moments when we lose whatever ground we think we've gained through meditation. But like you, I've noticed that when I fall into my old patterns, I recover faster than I used to. For one thing, being conscious of falling is a tremendous asset; at least you were AWARE that you were acting badly, and were able to recover before it got ugly. That's huge. And another big difference I've noticed is that the recovery time is significantly reduced. Instead of beating myself silly for weeks, I can generally get the job done in a day or 2. :) It also helps a lot to ask some questions about the offensive event and participants:
Is it really as bad as I'm making it out to be? In a few weeks, am I going to even remember this incident?
Am I (is she/he) really 100% to blame for this situation? Could it be that someone else is also responsible?
Is it true that this situation is completely bad? Can I find anything good in it?
And so on. The "is it true?" line of questioning has the effect of totally disarming me and forcing me out of self-flagellation mode.
quote:
Originally posted by machart
After a few minutes I realized that all the spritual work I have been doing recently failed me since I had lost my temper momentarily.
Is this true? Doesn't sound true.
quote:
Being still in meditation is hard....being still in the real world is really really hard.
Definitely true. 
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machart
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 3:38:45 PM
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Meg,
What you say is very true.
What is so funny about this situation is that just this morning I just happened to be reading the parables of Jesus...this one in particular struck a note...
3. Parable of the Unclean Spirit
The evil spirit leaves the house. It wanders through waterless regions. It finds no rest
anywhere. It return to the house again. In the meantime, the house had been swept clean! But, what
does the evil spirit do? It goes out and brings seven other kindred spirits with it, to dwell in the
house. Imagine the state of the house then! Is it not worse than it was before? Even so:
The evil nature of man temporarily leaves him some times. It is starved out; association with
the wise, precepts of sages, etc., prevent the evil from manifesting itself. These forces of the divine
sweep the house (the heart of man) clean of all dirt and impurity. This does not last long, however!
The evil nature returns. And, how? Often, sevenfold.
O man, beware! Be eternally vigilant. Look out for the signs of the return of old evil nature.
Nip it in the bud. You will then be safe.
I need to be a little faster at nipping it in the bud.
I'm a huge fan of CJ Jung's concept of synchronicity!
Thanks for your insight! |
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brother neil
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 4:10:04 PM
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did you feel guilty about failing that test?
I wonder if those 7 spirits are the 7 deadly sins?
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Edited by - brother neil on Aug 18 2008 4:26:35 PM |
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machart
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 5:00:38 PM
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Tubeseeker, I don't feel guilty for not being perfect .... You eventually have to accept your actions and hopefully learn from them. This moment of grace has taught me a lot. I do wish I had a do over button so I could just come running out of the house smiling and say "Oh Sweetie! Thank you for running over my motorcycle. Now I can buy a bigger, better,new one!"
As for the 7 spirits...I dunno...I'm definitely not a biblical scholar...but my take away is that many more tests will be coming so keep practicing! |
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machart
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2008 : 2:09:44 PM
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This extract from the Sivanandaonline.org site was very instructive to me so I thought I would share.
The topic is "Are you becoming a better person?"
Spiritual perfection follows ethical perfection. Where there is dharma (righteousness) there is adhyatma (spirituality), and where there is adhyatma there is bound to be true dharma. If there is adhyatma, but true dharma is lacking, then the adhyatma is imperfect and incomplete. These truths must be very clearly understood and grasped. They should be made the basis of our spiritual life. Dharma is the foundation, sadhana is the structure, adhyatma is the completion. Even if the structure is complete but no roof has been put on it, no one can live in it. Adhyatma then is that which completes, but both the structure of sadhana as well as the completing roof of adhyatma can only be raised upon the foundation of dharma.
No one is perfect in this created phenomenal world, but all have the potential for perfection. Life is a means for rising beyond imperfection into a state of perfection. That is why life has been given. Sadhana is the scientific system for attaining that perfection. An unripe fruit in a garden is imperfect; it is neither sweet nor satisfying. One cannot enjoy it because it is imperfect. An unripe fruit has to utilise all of nature around it in order to gradually rise above its state of imperfection and become a juicy, ripe fruit that gives joy to all. So, the whole process is a gradual transformation from imperfection to perfection, from incompleteness to completeness, from a defective human nature into a beautiful, all perfect and divine nature. The potential for this transformation is within each human individual. God dwells in all beings, but all beings cannot become aware of His indwelling divinity. It is only given to man who can think, reason and expand his understanding of himself. To this unique being alone is open the ability to recognise his mission and engage in purposeful endeavour to become perfect.
One of the unfailing touchstones of a truly spiritual life is, "What is my sadhana doing to me?" Quite apart from its connection with God or our eternal Reality, spiritual life has also to be tested upon the basis of your relationship to God's creation. As you proceed in your spiritual life, are you becoming more and more compassionate towards God's creatures? Are you becoming a more truthful person in your dealings, are you becoming more a person of sublime and pure thoughts and actions; is this taking place? Is the unripeness of an imperfect human nature gradually giving place to maturity, to a ripeness of spiritual nature? Is it ultimately moving towards perfection in a divine manner? Day by day one should test oneself: "What is my sadhana doing to me? What process is taking place within me, within my mind, heart and in my approach to life?"
This is the touchstone: are you becoming a better neighbour to your neighbour; are you becoming a better disciple to your guru, a better seeker to other fellow seekers? Are you becoming a positive, creative factor of inspiration and adoration in your contemporary human society? It is very important that you keep a tab on what is happening to you, because they say that sadhana is a sort of alchemy where base metal is turned to gold. That alchemy must take place within your personality; any authentic sadhana must inevitably bring about this inner transformation. In spiritual life, this inner process of becoming transformed must invariably follow all sadhana that is rightly engaged in, that is correctly oriented, that is being done with an in-depth understanding of what it is supposed to do to one's life and personality. This here-and-now inner transformation is as equally important as the ultimate goal of God-realisation. I want to say that it is even more important. If it is not taking place, you will have to wait long, because there is something blocking the needed inner transformation.
Sadhana makes a person a good person-a truthful, tolerant, compassionate person. Sadhana creates a person of noble character, pure conduct and holy life. Thus it becomes the gradual process of the ascent of the spirit towards God-consciousness. Imperfection is not to be kept forever. Though we may be born imperfect, it is not to be tolerated or maintained. That is the meaning of life, the value of life.
I think AYP has great potential to make us all better people
---enjoy thinking about this and THAT---
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harryramirez
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Oct 10 2008 : 01:23:47 AM
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| I feel that one should never get depressed or should never get upset by the adverse situations. The adverse conditions must be fought bravely. One must strongly believe in success.It always necessary for a person to have a spiritual impact in his life to get successful.Spiritualism is the act by which an individual becomes more and more confident and gets the hints on how to stay a happy life. Your post reminds me of one another post i have seen at http://www.succcess.org/2008/09/01/...ry/#comments which was also depicting the success in life. |
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real life tests ....(I failed this one)
