Problems by Sri Chinmoy

Dear seekers of the Transcendental Truth, I wish to give a talk on the subject of problems.

Problems within, problems without, problems everywhere. True, we do have some problems; but unfortunately we multiply them into countless problems. How do we multiply our problems? There are two ways. First, we invite the past and the future to come and stay with us in the heart of today. And second, we try to solve all our problems in the twinkling of an eye.

Let us consider the past-the unfulfilled past, the sad past, the past that has not given us what we actually wanted-an enemy or a useless friend. And let us take the unmanifested future as a perfect stranger. If we know that somebody is useless, that he has not encouraged, inspired or liberated us, then let us not invite that particular friend to stay with us. Again, let us not invite a stranger, either. A stranger may not please us. He may do something harmful and hurtful. Let us not have faith in a stranger; let us have all faith only in today. Today is our friend, our only friend. Let us take morning as a dream boat and evening as the reality-shore. Right now we are all in the sea of aspiration. Once we cross the sea, we will reach our destined Goal.

Each human being, from a child to an octogenarian, has problems. A child has a problem when he wants to learn the alphabet. But he studies, and there comes a time when he not only learns the alphabet, but can easily read any book he wants. Similarly, a beginner in the spiritual life finds it extremely difficult to get even an iota of Peace, Light and Bliss no matter how bitterly he cries for it. But this beginner does not remain always a beginner. After a while he becomes an advanced seeker and finally, at God's choice Hour, he realises the ultimate Truth. At that time, his inner being becomes flooded with Light and Delight. But this cannot take place overnight. If we try to pull down God's Hour prematurely, we will only be frustrated.

We have the body, the vital, the mind, the heart and the soul. The problem of the body is impurity. The problem of the vital is aggression. The problem of the mind is doubt. The problem of the heart is insecurity. And the problem of the soul is that it has not yet manifested its inner divinity here on earth.

The body's problem can be solved only when purity dawns. The vital's problem can be solved only when dynamism enters into the vital and energises it. The mind's problem is solved when the mind is illumined by divine faith. The heart's problem is solved when the heart becomes flooded with the light of love. And the soul's problem is solved when the soul becomes the breath of supreme confidence.

In order to achieve purity, dynamism, faith, security and confidence, we must listen constantly to the dictates of the Inner Pilot, and consciously surrender to the Will of the Supreme. Now what is the Will of the Supreme? The Will of the Supreme is our conscious acceptance of the divine Light within us and our acceptance of earth as the field for the divine manifestation. We have to bring to the fore our inner Light in order to offer it to the world at large for its salvation and illumination. And we have to accept earth for the manifestation of God's Divinity..

In each individual there are two beings. One being wants material success; the other wants the life of inner solitude. Now, when the individual achieves material success, he feels that something is lacking, something is missing. His life is still filled with problems. What is he missing? He is missing peace and tranquility. The material life has not given him Peace, Light and Bliss. He feels that if he can achieve Peace, Light and Bliss, then all his problems will be over, and he will be able to rest for good. The other being within him wants only the life of inner peace. Only the inner life is real for that being. The outer life it discards or negates; it feels the outer life is of no use. Then the individual goes deep within and realises Peace, Light and Bliss. But when this Peace, Light and Bliss remain unmanifested, the individual again feels miserable. He feels that the things that he has or has grown into must be manifested in the outer life, the outer world.

The first being cried for material wealth, but material wealth did not satisfy it because inner realisation was lacking. And the second being had inner realisation, but the outer manifestation was missing. So the second also had a problem. Before we realise God, our problem is ignorance; we ourselves are the problem. After we realise God, our problem is manifestation. It is like earth's problem and Heaven's problem. Earth's problem is realisation; Heaven's problem is manifestation. Even God has problems. God's problem is to make us feel that we are His children, His chosen children, that we are of Him and for Him. His problem is to make us feel that He is the root and we are the branches of the self same tree.

How do we solve our problems? We solve our problems by going deep within. The Christ said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." The Kingdom of Heaven means the Kingdom of Light and Bliss. Only if we go deep within, will we see the face of the Kingdom of Heaven. And once we have free access to the Kingdom of Heaven, all our problems are solved once and for all.

There are two types of people: desiring people and aspiring people. A desiring man takes a problem as a shattering experience, but an aspiring man considers a problem a strengthening experience. Whenever a problem arises, a desiring man feels that this problem is going to shatter his hopes. Then he is doomed to disappointment. This disappointment gives birth to frustration, and in frustration looms large his destruction. But an aspiring man sees a problem as a foundation stone. He accepts the problem as a challenge. He seeks to get a firm footing on the problem and use it as an opportunity to progress. In each experience, the Compassion of the Highest, the Beyond, is there to guide us and help us first to surmount the problem and then to transform it into a radiant opportunity to grow into the very image of our Lord Supreme.

There is a Zen saying that before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains. But after one enters into Zen practice, mountains no longer remain mountains. And finally, when one gets illumination, mountains become mountains again. We can say that mountains are the difficulties that we encounter when we enter into the spiritual life. After a while, we see that these mountains of difficulties can easily be surmounted. They are like passing clouds, and the inner sun is bound to reappear. Finally, when we realise the Highest, we see that the mountains of difficulties that we previously encountered have been transformed into mountains of opportunities-opportunities for progress, achievement and greater awakening in the ever transcending experience of the highest Reality. The difficulties have become opportunities carrying us to the ever transcending Beyond.

The motto of the State of West Virginia is "Mountaineers are always free." This is a significant motto from the inner point of view, because mountaineers are climbers. We aspirants, too, are all climbers, trying to climb up to the highest Height, the Pinnacle, on the strength of our inner cry. The higher we go, the more freedom we enjoy. The higher we go, the more the freedom of the Absolute is bound to inundate our existence, inner and outer. This freedom is the freedom of the Divinity within us, the freedom of the Infinity that belongs to us, the freedom of the Immortality of which we are made.

Why do bad things happen?

I am a believer, and it is said that God puts us through tests during this lifetime

Sometimes bad things happen to us as a punishment and sometimes as a test

As a punishment to put us back on the right track, to expose our weakness and give us a chance to work on them

And as a test to distinguish the nature of our belief and what is in our hearts …

We just have to submit to God in all cases…but how do we know when we have to just submit and accept to suffer and when do we need to change the track of our existence???

[9:51] Say, "Nothing happens to us, except what GOD has decreed for us. He is our Lord and Master. In GOD the believers shall trust."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

In life we have to focus on the good things and not on the bad
we should always look at the context and never get lost in the details
we should distance ourselves from the situations to be able to see the big picture
and we should realize that the truth is hard to find, because it is hidden
it hides to protect itself from people who don't deserve to discover it because they will destroy it
it unfolds bit by bit
One's duty is to do his best...

Oh yes !

Me and my desk

16th of november worst day of the year

i had a dream where a mistake was unveiled
i had a veil that time has unfold
it is a decaying fold made of fake habits
habits that i am ready to let go

Fable of the porcupine:

 

It was the coldest winter ever - many animals died because of the cold.
The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together.
This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one
wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each
other.
 After awhile they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they
began to die, alone and frozen.
So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions
or disappear from the Earth.
Wisely, they decided to go back to being together.
This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the
close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it,
was the heat that came from the others.
This way they were able to survive.
 
Moral of the story:
*The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect 
people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of
others and can admire the other person's good qualities. :*

Toti and Hani's birthday

 Every year around end of October my mom used to start discussing excitingly " Toti and Hani's birthday" , it was one of the events she really looked forward to, she wanted to make it special to them because she loves them so very much , the most in the world and because it is such a special day for her.

Comme aujourd'hui, le 10 Nov. Amina dans un taxi avec notre voisine Bahia du 5eme étage, en urgence vers l'hôpital américain de Beyrouth, il était 10 heures du matin, a 11h deux jumeaux prématurés sont nés, Toufic et Hani, sont arrivés une année moins 9 jours après la naissance de leur sœur Rania. Les trois étaient la grande joie de vie d'Amina, qui est partie heureuse entre leurs mains après 30 ans de vie commune.

She used to start brainstorming for cake ideas with her friends and party ideas with me and Hasan their best friend. It was like our little Christmas.

I wanted to keep that custom and to do something for them, surely something not very festive , just a small gathering to celebrate that special day but Toti tells me: " How will I be able to wake up  tomorrow without having the usual phone call from mami that has been steady for 29years wishing me happy birthday…"

My brothers don’t want to celebrate their birthday and it breaks my heart.

My mom is here with us, and this is for her coz she walked the path of a saint…she has been such a great mom …

Il faut vous en faire une raison ! Nous sommes tous appelés, vous et moi, à devenir des saints et des saintes, à l’image de tous ceux et celles que nous fêtons aujourd’hui. Vaste programme, me direz-vous ! Comment faire des saints avec nos vies telles qu’elles sont, avec nos lumières et nos ombres, nos fidélités et tant  d’infidélités ? Et  pourtant  Dieu y parviendra. Il n’a d’ailleurs  créé le monde  qu’en  vue d’aspirer  des créatures libres dans le bonheur de sa propre vie éternelle. Et il y parviendra. Car Dieu veut le salut de tous les hommes. Et  ce que  Dieu veut, il le veut vraiment, avec son amour sans faille et sa toute-puissance.  Car « il est grand, l’amour  dont le Père nous a comblés ».

Il n’y  a qu’une  chose qui pourrait faire échouer son plan, si j’ose ainsi parler. Ce serait notre refus lucide, pleinement volontaire et obstiné de  nous laisser aimer par lui. Ce serait de préférer, jusqu’au bout, d’être malheureux par moi-même plutôt que d’être heureux par l’amour d’un autre. Mais sauf cette possibilité, qui est celle de l’enfer, Dieu réussira à faire de  nous des saints, avec le concours de notre liberté.

Oui, nous rejoindrons un jour cette foule immense que Jean a contemplée dans l’Apocalypse,  « de toutes nations, races, peuples et langues »,  infiniment plus large encore que l’Eurovision !         Oui, les béatitudes, dont ont vécu exemplairement les saints et les saintes qui peuplent nos calendriers, seront un jour le cœur de notre éternelle félicité   et  de  notre  intarissable joie.  Déjà  maintenant,  dans  nos moments de  grâce, nous en goûtons la beauté et la fécondité, pâle reflet, anticipé dans le clair-obscur de cette vie, de la joie débordante qui nous attend. Car si, « dès maintenant, nous sommes enfants de Dieu, (…) ce que nous serons ne paraît pas encore clairement ». Mais  quelle béatitude ce sera « lorsque le Fils de Dieu paraîtra » !

Pour devenir des saints, nous avons cette vie, si brève, que nous  menons  sur  la planète  Terre.  Heureux  sommes-nous  si, du mieux que  nous  avons pu,  nous  avons déjà donné  à Dieu  notre jeunesse !    Mais   si,   durant   le  printemps  et  l’été   de  notre   vie, l’étourdissement  du  travail, de nos succès ou de nos échecs, nous a détournés du Seigneur en nous faisant nous cramponner à nos petits bonheurs  fugaces, l’automne  arrivera, qui  nous  dépouille  de  nos illusions. Alors, tout ce qui n’est pas béatitude authentique, tous nos bonheurs étriqués, s’en vont, emportés  comme feuilles au vent de novembre.  Alors  l’unique   nécessaire  de   cette   vie  reprend  tout doucement ses droits.

Et puis, sauf cas de mort prématurée, viendra l’hiver de notre séjour  terrestre, quand  la vie s’engourdit, quand  les problèmes de santé se  multiplient, quand vient enfin le temps de l’agonie et de la mort. Que  d’hommes et de femmes – et nous serons probablement du nombre – deviennent des saints dans les dernières années, dans les derniers mois, jours  ou minutes de la vie, quand il faut enfin tout lâcher de ce à quoi l’on  s’était  tant accroché auparavant !  Alors, avec une lucidité dont seule la miséricorde de Dieu atténue la crudité, je réaliserai que, souvent, j’ai mal vécu de moi-même et suis passé à côté des sources de la vraie joie. Alors,  comme saint Augustin, je m’écrierai dans les larmes du repentir :  « Tard je t’ai  aimée, ô Beauté si ancienne et pourtant  toujours nouvelle, tard je t’ai  aimée ! » C’est pourquoi, entre autres raisons, il est si important  de respecter, avec l’aide  des soins palliatifs, la fin naturelle de notre existence sur la terre. Cela permet à notre vie de porter ses derniers fruits, des fruits de conversion, de réconciliation  avec Dieu et avec ses proches, des fruits de paix et de joie.

Mais si même le défilé étroit de l’agonie et de la mort n’a pas suffi à libérer  notre cœur de ses étroitesses et à l’ajuster  à la joie de Dieu, alors, même au-delà de la mort, l’amour de Dieu nous purifiera encore. Il suffit, pour cela, qu’il  y ait  dans notre cœur, ne fût-ce qu’une petite brèche, une petite porte ouverte à l’amour de Dieu. C’est ce qu’on appelle le purgatoire, c’est-à-dire l’amour de Dieu qui nous purifie, nous dilate et nous sanctifie au-delà même de la mort, avec le consentement de notre liberté. Car, il faut nous en faire une raison, nous  n’entrerons dans la joie du Dieu trois fois saint que quand  nous  serons  devenus  des  saints, enfin libérés de leurs égoïsmes, aptes à être comblés du bonheur même de Dieu.

Que   nos  frères  et  sœurs  aînés,  les  saints,  nous  remplissent d’espérance sur ce chemin de la sainteté ! Et heureux sommes-nous si nous nous y engageons dès maintenant, sans attendre le soir de notre vie ! Amen.