Journey to Enlightenment Part 01

Author(s): Chitrabhanu, Chetana Catherine Florida, Nirmala Hanke, Raksha Penni Helsene
Publisher: Create Space

Page 112

October 1998: We Have the potential to Become Master
Namaste! I bow to the beautiful soul in you! This is the teaching that I have learned and am practicing. I do not see you as just the name and the frame. I see you as pure sentient energy residing in this human form, and this energy is purifying and evolving from unisense to enlightenment, from aspirants to masters. We evolve though awareness, through getting in touch with people who have purified their lives, and through the practice of their insight. Not with preaching, not with reading, but with practice! And how much we practice depends upon how much understanding has dawned upon us.
Let me share some insights about our pure sentient energy, and about how we can experience it. We can go far because we are connected to the whole universe. Our evolution is a purifying process. If you go to a gold mine and take a rock, the rock has gold in it. It looks like a piece of stone, but it is a sparkling stone. A gold miner knows there is gold hidden in that rock, so he takes the rock and purifies it by acid, chemicals and fire. Slowly, the gold particles are separated from the dross. As the purifying process continues, the rock becomes 14-karat gold. If you continue purifying, then you have 16-, 18, 20-karat gold which is so soft that you can bend it even with a touch. It is a metal and yet it feels very tender. Why? Because it is 24-karat gold! There is now no rigidity or stiffness.
Purifying
As human beings, we begin our purifying process by searching for something nobler. Of all the life forms, humans are the only beings who can change themselves by asking themselves, "Who am I?” Even at this elementary level, human life is more developed than that of animals. Horses are powerful, and elephants are strong. But neither asks the question "Who am I?". Even as small children, we tend to ask, "WHY?" And when anything happens, our consciousness asks, “What should I do?” We do not decide blindly if we do not understand or not sure, we ask ourselves again and again. We explore. Life is to explore. Through our questioning we begin to get some insights of our real Self. Through introspection we separate grain from husk - soul from matter, from desires.
As we know ourselves better, we are able to affirm, “I am consciousness. I am soul. Freedom is my essence. There is a deep spiritual quest in me which is guiding me and giving me upward thrust". At this stage we no longer think of ourselves as sinners. We take out the smearing element of guilt. A person with a feeling of guilt will pray but will continue feeling guilty and hurting oneself, and a person who hurts oneself is likely to hurt others. But a person who is happy will give you pleasantness. A thorn will pinch because it is sharp, and a flower will give fragrance because it is tender and peaceful. We cannot give anything but what we are. And if anybody gives us pain, that person also must have pain; so, we need to have compassion. We should not blame the person and put her or him down. We go to help because we are life-feeling, sentient beings. But we will not be able to understand somebody else's pain as long as we go on harping on our own pain.
On the Wings of Light and Love - 113