Guiding Thought

Today we decide to be aware of our Whole and Holy Self working within us, expressing through us. As we move through the affairs of our lives, with open minds and empty hands, we look first to our Whole and Holy Self for guidance. Our only decision today is to be aware of our Whole and Holy Self—all other decisions arise out of this, in conjunction with our Self.

Reflection

Remember, obstacles are part of change and change is the law of nature. If you react, then the obstacle becomes larger. If you observe, pure observation, then the obstacle passes, as quickly as it was created.

As for serious problems. Consider these problems as opportunities for growth. Change is not easy. The ego rejects change, yet change is the law, change is the real. Obstacles to the higher path are many. That is why few arrive. If obstacles are non-existent then the ego will create them. Understand? Your ego is creating obstacles. Maya creating maya.

~Haidakhan Baba

I’ve been falling apart the past couple of days. At least as far as the Journey is going–my deep introspection, and working out my stuff.

I’ve been thinking a lot about karma lately, because I have been experiencing stuff that does not have an immediate cause. It’s just kind of coming up. 

I’ve had a lot of really good reminders to keep me on track, though. First (obviously), the Guiding Thoughts. I’ve been pretty focused to day on my Whole/Holy Self, so that has been keeping my feet on the path, and preventing my mind from straying (my mind has done a lot of straying over the past 48 hours).

Second, a friend of mine was describing another friend, who has been on the path of the Higher Self for about 40 years (about 15 years longer than I have). This person, apparently is able to just shift out of an emotional pattern/habit in a second. She is, literally, able to simply drop whatever the pattern/habit is that comes up for her, and walk away from it. wow.

I often think about people who are “further along” than I am, and I admire what they are able to do, that I can’t yet do. I feel very inspired, because I know how far I’ve come in 25 years. Looking to them assures me that I will go even further in the next 25 years. This work compounds, after all. Once you have the momentum, just a tiny effort keeps that momentum, and you can use more energy to clearing away even more and more.

Clearing away. Oh, yeah! That’s the point I wanted to make about karma. Karma gets cleared away. It really does. There are actual things a person can do to evaporate karma. I’ve sort of known this for a while– doing bathing, breathing, fasting, praying, mantra…all that stuff does it. But finally, I think, I’ve gotten to a point where I’ve done so much (and added more) stuff that is clearing, that I can feel (and see) it moving out. This is still new, but it’s an actual experience, something I can watch as I am going through it and releasing it. And I gotta tell you, it’s really cool. Now I want to dive in to this as an experiment and see what more I can do to have tangible experiences of clearing karma. Stay tuned…

Third, the above quote by Haidakhan Baba was a wake-up reminder, especially the last line: Your ego is creating obstacles. Maya creating maya. I knew this at one point, it seems like a long, long time ago. I remember specifically having a conversation with my dear BuddhaBrad who said this exact thing to me, in Buddha terms. It was basically, “The mind does not like things to be easy. The mind likes to struggle. So, when things are going along smoothly, the mind says, ‘wait a minute…something’s wrong; this is too easy. I need to jump in here and perceive a problem somewhere just so I can be comfortable again'”.

This goes right along with the karma thing. While releasing some karma, we also create it. All action has a re-action. That is basically the law of karma. Being free of karma means No action. But as long as we have a body, and are not transcended beings, we are acting, and creating re-actions. This means mentally, emotionally, physically.

This is why it’s in our best interest a) to take “good”, “positive” actions, so that the re-action is “good”, “positive”. b) Do the best we can to observe actions as they happen, rather than re-acting. When we simply observe, we break the pattern. Think of actions as a ping-pong being hit back and forth across a table. We are the players, the ball, and the observer. If we become only the observer, and stop being at least one of the players, the ball stops going back and forth.