Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
I hope all of you are taking good care of yourselves; physically, mentally and emotionally. These are the times when you have to live with moment to moment awareness. A slight carelessness here and there, you can be knocked down and you will not even know what hit you. This is very important to understand.
Only this morning I was actually reminded of this. It was an intense episode that was surfacing. A situation that could have actually been blown out of control but with a matter of I think 10 seconds, I quickly understood that the energy has to be transformed. So, I just took a deep breath and started blessing the situation, invoking for God’s blessings and the blessings of the great ones.
I continuously started reminding myself that, “I am a being of Light, Love and Power, I am a being of infinite love, infinite compassion and mercy” and started outpouring these vibrations to the surrounding and the situation. After about 10 to 15 seconds, I could feel the intense downpouring of energy transforming the situation to such a level that I was myself surprised that the thing can change to this level.
Absolutely incredible. It is difficult to put it in words but then you need to experience it. So, the situation got transformed and suddenly the entire situation was being addressed from a different perspective altogether. Had I not been careful at that moment, things could have really gone out of control.
That is the reason why you have to be constantly aware, “moment to moment awareness,” as we call it because the whirlpool of psychic energies that are surrounding us is so intense that even before you are aware, you can be just blown out.
You can be knocked down flat and it will take long time for you to get up and normalize the condition. Sometimes even days together, you will be wasting unproductively. So, that is the reason why you need to be so careful.
There was a Zen story, very interesting, a king wanted his son to follow a Zen monk.
So, he told the monk, “Please accept my son as your disciple and teach him the way of life.” The monk said, “He has to come to my hermitage or an ashram and he has to stay with me for a couple of months. I cannot exactly tell you how long it can take! He has to simply accept all that he is being asked to without identifying himself as a Prince.” So, the King accepted to that and the Prince was handed over to the monk.
The monk told the Prince, “Listen, you have to follow all the instructions that I am giving you every moment. The first and foremost thing is that, I will be attacking you any time with the wooden sword and you should be aware of that. Whether you are eating or doing some other work, watch out! I will be hitting you with this wooden sword and you should save yourself.”
So, the Prince said, “How is it possible that you are asking me to eat and asking me to do activities and at the same time you want me to be aware? It is not possible!” The monk said, “That is exactly how the rule of this place is! You have to train yourself to become more sensitive.” So, over a period of time, the Prince started getting used to cultivating awareness that whenever the monk was coming to hit him with the wooden sword, he immediately knew about it and he became aware of it and he protected himself.
After some time, the monk said, “Ok, you have already crossed certain level of training and now the next thing is when you are sleeping also, I will come and hit you with the sword and you should save yourself.” So the Prince, as expected again retorted and said, “Hey, come on, how is it possible that I am sleeping and you are going to attack me and I need to be aware of it? It is not possible!”
The monk said, “That is exactly how in this place people are trained, you have to accept it.” So, for a few days, he was miserable because the Prince could not sleep because he did not know when the Monk was going to hit but over a period of time, he started developing sensitivity. Even though he was sleeping, he knew exactly when the monk was coming near him and immediately was able to guard himself.
So, the monk was very happy that the Prince was actually developing higher level of sensitivity. But the Prince thought for a moment, “He is testing me so much but how much is he sensitive? What if I tell him, “I am going to attack you and you have to guard yourself.” The moment he thought like this, the Zen monk turned to him and said, “Hey listen, don’t even think of testing me, even your thought I am aware of it! So you need to be very careful!”
So, in the traditional training, in the school of Zen, one of the most important thing that is taught is greater level of awareness and repeatedly, you will find the Zen master testing his disciple, how aware the disciple is.
Cultivating awareness is extremely important in today’s condition. More importantly, it was always, but in today’s condition, the moment you develop awareness to a higher level, suddenly you will experience that the quality of your meditations are enhancing many many manifold.
That is why, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the two important wings of Sadhana or spiritual practice are Dharna and Dhyana. Dharna is concentration, like most of us know and Dhyana is awareness. It is not sufficient for you to be one-pointed and be focused, concentrating on whatever you are doing. Together with that, you have to develop a higher level of sensitivity and of awareness.
That is exactly how you progress in meditation but if you develop sensitivity on a day to day basis, in your practical life, then, developing awareness during the meditation will be much easier. That means, you will become sensitive to the kind of impressions that are coming from higher plane or dimensions.
You know, we all have got invisible beings that are guiding us all the time, including the higher soul, but most of the time, because of so much of turbulent thoughts, turbulent emotions, we are not sensitive enough to receive them. So, when you start developing awareness and together with that, cultivating stillness, gradually you will become more and more sensitive.
Now, the sensitivity is going to be the key in the coming days, coming times. You need to be sensitive to the level that you should able to know what is coming next naturally because it is very easy for someone who is very sensitive and who is able to tune in with planes beyond the physical to know exactly what is happening.
As above so below! Whatever that is happening in the inner world inevitably will materialize in the physical world. This all of us know. So, when you start developing the sensitivity as we keep reminding you, you can really take care of yourself properly. Then, nobody will be able to shake you.
Suddenly, you really become the Yudhishtir, the one who is stable in the battle and outside the battle, there is no scope for a warrior. You have to be cheerfully embracing the battle and learn to live happily amidst turmoil, amidst upheavals of life.
So, that is exactly what is the essence of Act but do not react, meaning you have to develop higher level of sensitivity. Let us continue. You need two hands to make noise. The Buddha said whatever suffering arises, it has a reaction as its cause. If all reaction cease to be, then, there is no more suffering.
To simplify, so long there is reaction, there will be sufferings. The only way to end the suffering is, end the reaction and that is exactly is the practice you have to make but most of the time if you observe, by impulse you have a tendency to react very quickly.
See and check how many times you are out of balance when somebody says something and instantly, you are sad, you are angry, you are frustrated, you are irritated, you are disappointed and unaware, it actually happens in an auto mode. You actually tend to behave or react in a particular way over and over again.
It has become a very deep routed habit for you, a sanskar for you. To come out of that, it takes time and it takes conscious effort and that is the importance of developing awareness. Living with moment to moment awareness alone can help you to shield yourself from psychic intrusions, psychic contaminations and psychic attacks.
When you are sensitive, immediately you will be surrounded with a flood of light, transmuting light that will shield you on many levels. But if you are going to be impulsive and react to the situation, you are resonating with the same energies that are coming to you, easy for these energies to penetrate you.
You have to understand the dynamics of energy. Like attracts like, also called the Principle of Resonance. So, the moment you know something that is happening is not good, rather than focusing on the situation, focus on your inner state and enhance your energy.
Take a couple of nice deep breathing, invoke for divine blessings. Keep reminding yourself, “I am a child of God, I am a being made in the image of God! I am divine light, divine love, and divine power. I am a being of love. I am a being of compassion.”
All the activity happens in less than 10 seconds. Within 10 seconds, you are already upgraded. You are now vibrating with the frequency that the grosser frequency cannot even touch. It will simply pass through you.
So, understanding the dynamic of energy is so critical and that is the reason why, zero reaction, zero complaint! When you practice this, you are enhancing your awareness, you are enhancing your energy level, you are enhancing the vibratory or the frequency level.
So, only higher frequencies will have an effect on you which is beneficial. The lower or the grosser ones will simply pass by you. You will not even notice the anger or the hatred that is being projected to you. It is already transmuted with the increase of the vibrations.
These are all techniques that is so practical. You need to apply them and most importantly, you will prevent yourself from getting entangled in the same situation or with the same people over and over again because reaction karmically binds you.
When you do not react, you prevent creating a karmic chain of action and reaction and also neutralize the karma so that you do not have to face that situation again.
Remember, you do not have to face that situation again. The words are very clear. It means, another situation will come. That is exactly how the evolution happens. No meaningful progress ever happens when you are comfortable, when you are surrounded by good people.
From time to time, it is okay but this is not the way to grow. It is like you are going to the gym and you want to pick up the least weight to build up your muscles. That is not the way you can build up your muscles. You have to practice lifting heavier weights.
And this is exactly what it is with the spiritual development. To strengthen your spiritual muscle, you need a tough opponent. So if you want to be a Mike Tyson, do not expect the opponent to be a weakened Mickey Mouse. You need an equal opponent and that is exactly what the nature will do. So, when you are confronted with mighty challenges, first of all, cherish yourself.
You tell yourself, “Hey, I am so happy! Such a big challenge has come in front of me! I am so grateful to the Lords of Karma, to the Great Spiritual Masters, that they found me worthy of sending such a challenge to me. I am capable of doing it with God’s power and the blessings and grace of my masters, everything is possible for me.”
So, you should be happy when you are confronted with the toughest of the toughest challenge. Running away from the challenge, this is not the trait of a warrior. How many times we are witnessing people like this?
At a very critical moment, they run away from the battle and obviously, what do you expect to happen? They will have to face tougher battles. That is exactly is the secret that you need to know. That is why, repeatedly you are being reminded, “Catch the bull by the horn and face it!”
Further reading, Secrets of Karma, Page 134