Uradiance

Om apavitrah pavitro va, sarvavastham gato-pi va, yah smaret pundarikaksam, sa bahya-bhyantarah sucih "Whether pure or impure, whether full of purities or impurities, one who gazes on the lotus-eyed Lord gains inner and outer purity!" ~Vedic mantra Freedom is undivided breathing, undivided seeing. May we breathe in the chaos of the world, all that stresses us, all from which we would cleanse ourselves, all from which we would escape. And without the slightest resistance, welcome it into the core of our hearts. We often visualize breathing in a taintless transcendental light. We try to cleanse ourselves with holy white purity. Yet this very attempt to cleanse creates division between the pure and impure, darkness and light, God and matter. And the division is our conflict. The distinction causes the very stress we seek to dissolve. Can we relax our vision and see the seamless undivided whole? See the world's impurity as it truly is: a mirage in brilliant...

Here is an open secret: the people who insist on 24/7 happiness usually suffer, in their deepest core, from an unacknowledged sorrow. The greatest obstacle to spirituality is compulsory happiness. In the New Age, "happier than thou" has replaced "holier than thou." Meditation academies, Guru ashrams, and Evangelical churches often share the same relentless regimen of compulsive smiling and competitive joy. On a "spiritual" retreat, it is not unusual to have moments when you want to say, "Please, just let me be down for awhile." But anyone who feels weary, confused, doubtful or angry must go off to heal like a wounded animal alone in the woods. The blues are not permitted, for they represent a failure to celebrate the Master's teaching. A perpetual smiley-face is just a mask. And masks are stifling. It is healthier to welcome sadness when it arises. This is courage. Hug your anger, feel confusion, let lust pass through you honestly....

To let go of an attachment, let go of its opposite. So often we suffer an unwanted entanglement, yet we can't stop clinging to it. When this happens, consider that any emotional attachment is connected to its opposite, because all human qualities arise in polarity. This is a very gentle way of releasing attachment. First, I notice the emotional quality that I invest in what entangles me. Then, instead of contending with that , I simply become aware of its opposite. I notice what I invest with the opposite emotional resonance. For if I am attached to that , I am sure to be just as compulsive about this . The energy of these attachments may be positive or negative, consisting of craving or aversion. So we are talking here about fears as well as desires. Instead of resisting that , I just become aware of this , bathing it in relaxed attention. Not judgment or analysis, just observation. Now something interesting happens. As my attraction to this relaxes, my clinging to that re...