Journey to Enlightenment Part 01

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

Page 82

June 1991. Love in the flow of Life
FORM AND FORMLESS can be viewed as the world of conception and the world of perception. CONCEPTION is an outer world while PERCEPTION is an inner one and REALITY is found between these two.
When we live in the world of concepts, we deal only with outside forms. But when we have inner perception - when we throw the inner light on all the forms - the forms become meaningful. Without this light of perception the same forms become obstacles to our journey.
The main thing to learn from a teacher, a religion, or from meditation is to answer this question: "Am I throwing inner light on all the forms or am I being governed by them?” If you are only governed by them, life will hold nothing but pain and suffering, torture and conflict. The forms will appear to be in chaos and confusion, but we can see harmony in the forms only when we use our inner uniting force, the sense of perception.
This body is a form, a container. But we don't see that which is contained. What is that? We know that our hand is here and we want to lift it to there. Who gives the order to move this hand? It is the life force, the energy that gives animation to the hand. This is unseen. We have forgotten the REALITY WHICH IS FORMLESS because, in our ignorance, we have attributed REALITY to the symbols.
What is symbol? This body is a symbol. What is reality? The soul is a reality. Because we have not seen the soul, most people believe that the body is reality and the soul is fable. But when we go deep, we realize it is this body, which is the fable. It is here today, and gone tomorrow. But the soul continues, it only changes form.
The Enemy Inside
If we don't have inner perception, we create divisions, which separate us and cause unhappiness. In reality there is no unhappiness. The mental agony people suffer is from the fire of jealousy, of ego, of anger. It burns them inside; it is their colored thoughts!
Whenever you are angry, jealous, egotistical or depressed, don't run away from it. Stay with it. There is no need to take any temporary means, such as pills, drugs, cigarettes or alcohol to calm down or to run from it. Stay and watch. Ask "Why am I jealous? Who is making me jealous?” Nobody can compel you to be jealous. You are your own enemy. No outside enemy can punish you as severely as you do to yourself. Think of the damage you do to your brain, to your thinking, to your body, to your peace when you are in anger. If anyone else ever did such damage to you, you could sue him or her. But when you damage yourself, whom do you sue?
On the Wings of Light and Love - 83