Nayaswami Susan McGinnis
From a Sunday Service talk by Nayaswami Susan McGinnis, at Ananda Meditation Temple in Bothell.
As spiritual seekers, we are engaged in affirming our Oneness with all life. Our daily meditation is one way in which we do this, but much of our time is not spent in meditation. What we do, and even more importantly, the thoughts and feelings we give energy to, determine to a great extent whether we are moving closer to that experience of Oneness or farther away from it- even in our meditations!
Jesus expresses this in the Bible reading for the week: “‘My message to you,'” he said, “‘is this: Whoever is angry with his brother without cause already stands condemned; whoever contemptuously calls his brother a fool shall answer for it to the Supreme Council; and whoever calls his brother an outcast of God shall be in danger of hellfire.'”
Those to whom he was speaking were fixated on outer laws of behavior, punishable by society, and he was telling them — and us by extension — that the desire to do harm is at the root of “killing”. One can do great harm by “killing” another’s faith in himself as a child of God, or his faith in God.
The practice of Ahimsa (harmlessness) on the other hand, brings with it the experience of all humankind as one’s own: one’s brothers and sisters. It embraces that oneness, and is in turn sustained by it. One is then bathed continually in the experience of the joyful, all-fulfilling love of God.
While few people take the lives of others in murder, many people allow themselves to become angry, critical, judgmental or sarcastic towards others. Little do we realize at the time we indulge in negativity, that we are the ones who will be most affected by those thoughts and feelings. It is an axiom easily tested that the flow of energy is strongest at its source. When we allow ourselves to express negativity we are strengthening our own inner experience of those lower, separation-affirming levels of reality. This level of consciousness is far removed from Oneness with all life. We are, therefore, cutting ourselves off from the river of Divine love that we are all seek to immerse ourselves in. And then we wonder why we don’t feel peace or joy in our meditation!
We naturally think that our negative emotions towards others are justified without considering that the roots of the relationships and encounters we experience lie buried in the seeds sown in past incarnations. Or perhaps they are experiences brought to our attention by our Soul’s attempts to make us aware of our own self-imposed shortcomings. One of the laws of the universe is that of magnetism: like attracts like. We experience that which we attract by the magnetic quality of our thoughts and past karma.
We want our magnetism to be filled with love! Meditation, of course, when practiced regularly and deeply, will give us the inner experience of Divine love, and the experience that we are part of that love. Swami Kriyananda recommends a technique to practice before meditation:
“When you meditate, begin by sending out waves of blessing to all men. If there is anyone, especially, with whom you have had a difference, send him your love. Until you develop this attitude you will never be able to meditate deeply. Subconscious antagonism will keep you tensed physically, as well as egoistically aloof from the great stream of life into which meditation should help you to merge.”
Praying for others, and silently blessing them throughout the day, is also a wonderfully effective way to dissolve negative thoughts and emotions. When we remember that the love we are seeking to share is infinite and is something we are channeling through us, we are able to break the thought that we cannot love, and we experience the truth of Yogananda’s words on prayer: “The instrument is blessed by that which flows through it”.