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VIEWPOINT
DO NOT FEAR
Change enables us to grow provided we are in tune with our changeless soul, explains Gurudev Chitrabhanu
W
E ARE ALL CONTROLLED BY DESIRE. CRAVING ARISES IN OUR unawareness when we do not see an object as a thought crystal but rather as a means to gratify our desire. Then we put all our energy into getting it. Sometimes you never get it and sometimes you do. But in any case, the time comes when you have to leave it. If you are aware when you have it in your palm, you look at it and smile at yourself saying, "Is this the thing I used so much effort to get? For this have I spent my energy?"
What attracts and allures you from a distance does not look the same at close range. When you go nearer you wonder, "Is this the same that I saw from a distance?" You might have noticed at some time that when you are far from a mountain, it appears mellow, round and soft. Covered in mist, it looks like wax. When you are right next to it, though, you see the sharp stones and rocks.
That is why, in order to understand the nature of reality, we have to see what is real without distorting or hiding it. We have to remove all the outside wrappings which are created by our mind. The mind creates many beautiful phrases and mirages. It likes to hide reality with glossy coverings. Like the deer who runs towards a mirage of water when it is thirsty, we too are in a frenzy to get that which is merely an illusion.
If you want to feel the refreshing touch of a lake in summer, you have to remove your clothes. Otherwise you will not get direct contact with the cool water. In the same way, if you want to enjoy the freshness of life, you must shed your coverings. Words, concepts, beliefs, crystallised thoughts act as coverings. Puncture them and you will see how hollow and insubstantial they are. Remove them and you will see yourself.
van
Now use your inner perception. See that the whole galaxy is moving in an unbroken rhythm. The same sun we think of as ishing here is being seen across the globe as rising. And yet it is the same sun. Lift yourself above the level of earth to the height of the
64 Jain Spirit June-August 2001 Jain Education International 2010_03
Do Not Fear
Gurudev Chitrabhanu
sun. You will always see the sun. Be conscious of that sun in you, there is changeless life in you. Behind the continuous changes is the continuity of the changeless. Changes themselves indicate the ever-presence of the changeless.
We begin to see that all life longs to move to higher realms of awareness. For that, change is inevitable. Change is what allows the changeless to reveal itself as ever fresh. Without it there is no growth, no renewal. When we become convinced that change is for growth and growth is for becoming aware of our inner divinity, we will be inspired to be free: free from the tendency to cling to familiar things. We will become eager to unshackle ourselves from the fear of change.
When this truth sinks into our consciousness, it opens a new door. We stop seeing in a rigid way. The words "gone", "disappear", "vanish" or "death" are seen for what they are as empty or misleading words, based purely on our visual perception, not on our inner insight. What appears as "death" to one is "birth" to another; both are two waves of the same ocean: life.
The teacher explains to the student, "Changes are causing us to be aware of the changeless, and the changeless is causing all the changes to take place. Until we reach the "best" we pass through "good" and "better." All the forms change in order to bring out a better and better form. Ultimately, we become so refined as to be able to experience the radiance of our inner reality, the permanent bliss of our being. So, as you grow, cultivate this awareness - that in the sunset dawn is hidden, in the dawn sunset is hidden. Appearing and disappearing are the play of life. Both are manifestations of the changeless."
Chitrabhanuji has influenced Jain culture globally. The above is extracted from his book "Twelve facets of reality: The Jain Path to Freedom", published by Jain Meditation International Centre, New York, Tel 212-534 6090
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