In a vision he had as a boy, Paramhansa Yogananda found himself standing in a crowded, noisy marketplace in an Indian village. The day was hot and dusty, as people crowded into dirty stalls and elbowed out with their purchases.
The theme of the evolution of consciousness is woven repeatedly throughout the great teachings of India. First there is the long, more-or-less automatic, evolution through the reincarnations prior to reaching the human form. This passage through the dim corridors of waking consciousness reaches its pinnacle in the higher animals, who can sometimes demonstrate extraordinary intelligence.
All of us have habits or tendencies that bring us suffering. Though repeatedly we may try to change these patterns, they follow us around like a cloud of gnats. This is the result of the law of karma: Every action we take is a cause that has an effect, an effect that sometimes follows us even from lifetime to lifetime. These effects can be good or bad, freeing or binding, depending on the action involved.
It is not easy these days to find models of righteous leadership. We see plenty of negative examples but few that truly inspire us. I thought it would be helpful to write about Swami Kriyananda, the most uplifting example of leadership that I’ve ever encountered. Not only did he teach principles of good leadership but, more importantly, he modeled them in his own life. Here are some of the key points he shared.
The guru’s consciousness is a catalyst for our spiritual unfoldment. As disciples, our part is to strive to be more in tune and to deepen our efforts to know God. When we’re “worried or indifferent,” or experiencing any number of wrong attitudes, we have the ability to transcend them by tuning in to the guru’s consciousness, which can free us from the mental shackles that keep us bound.
A few days ago a friend shared an article written by the well-known writer Jean Houston, describing her “chance” encounter with an older gentleman and how it blossomed into a deep friendship. Unbeknownst to her at the time, he was the well-known philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin. But that is beside the point. The point is that we are all part of God’s intricate web of life and consciousness. If we treat everything and everyone as a friend, as an extension of our own self, life becomes magical.
I read an intriguing article recently about scientists that are doing cutting-edge research on how memory works. Their focus is not the typical one on why memory loss occurs, but rather on why memory exists at all. In other words, these researchers are trying to discover what the mechanism is that holds and releases our memories.
Every soul yearns for the light, and will find a way to grow toward it. No matter what the obstacles, the soul will find its way upward just as a blade of grass will sometimes grow through a slab of concrete.
One of the most frequently asked questions on this topic is “How do I know what my dharma is?” Let’s talk about two different aspects of this: the longer rhythms or patterns that govern our lifetime as a whole, and the situations that arise from moment to moment as our life unfolds.
It is helpful to recognize that we have two dharmas: the timeless dharma of the soul aiming to reunite with God, and the dharma of our current life. Happiness and success will follow only if we align the actions of this life with the eternal dharma of our soul.