TRANSFORMATIONS BY SWAMI VISHWAPARANTHAPANANDA
Transformation is happening everywhere we look in nature; it occurs in cooking, in gardening; it occurs in science, in medicine, in electronics, in our moment-by-moment aging process. It occurs in seemingly ordinary things such as housework, reading, watching TV and even acquiring anything new. With every event, no matter how microscopic, transformation is occurring. Nothing about life is motionless; we are all in transition and everything that occurs does so in a continuing pattern, one thing leading to another, transforming us slowly but surely into something powerful and wonderful.
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In order to enjoy an aubergine, first it must be acquired. Then it must be cut into pieces, it should be salted (in order to draw out the bitterness), it must be rinsed (to wash away what was drawn out), and then it should be well cooked with spices and salt and all manner of things to make it appealing and tasty. The aubergine moves through a transitory phase, from birth to its final moments when it is eaten. We move in the same patterns of nature.
The Lotus seed falls after the flower, not before. But when after the flower? Only when the pod has ripened and dried and the seeds are ready to fall. The flower comes after the leaf, the leaf comes after the root, and the root comes after the seed. We are like Lotuses in different stages of development. The pond is our consciousness, our fertile growing medium. Seeds can remain dormant for a long time waiting for right conditions. The Lotus is a metaphor for your own mind; first comes thought, then comes word, and then comes action, with multiple consequences. Root, leaf, flower and seed - contemplate the Lotus as you.
When tragedy strikes in our lives – we say it should not happen. In the grand scheme of life, tragedy is a major event that changes everything. We judge our lives against the tragedy that has occurred and ask ‘why me?’ in an attitude of hurt; we demand answers with the assumption that we are somehow being punished for something. We don't realize that it occurs as part of our transition; there is nothing that is out-of-place. Nothing that has occurred through chance. There is nothing that occurs because we are 'out of favour' with God. Everything occurs because we want re-union with God; everything, no matter how bad it feels, happens in our best interests.
For what Divine reason it occurs, we seldom ask right away, because it is difficult for us to acknowledge purpose in tragedy at the time it occurs. When we are ready to ask the question of purpose, then we begin the process of seeing. We ultimately realize that everything that happens does so in order to transform us into something infinitely more Divine.
When we can fine-tune our minds to that of God's we begin to exist in the world with more acceptance of the flow of life, and with a lower degree of suffering. This is my personal invitation to you to accept whatever is occurring in your life; to acknowledge that it is part of a process that leads to infinite joy.
The Lotus seed falls after the flower, not before. But when after the flower? Only when the pod has ripened and dried and the seeds are ready to fall. The flower comes after the leaf, the leaf comes after the root, and the root comes after the seed. We are like Lotuses in different stages of development. The pond is our consciousness, our fertile growing medium. Seeds can remain dormant for a long time waiting for right conditions. The Lotus is a metaphor for your own mind; first comes thought, then comes word, and then comes action, with multiple consequences. Root, leaf, flower and seed - contemplate the Lotus as you.
When tragedy strikes in our lives – we say it should not happen. In the grand scheme of life, tragedy is a major event that changes everything. We judge our lives against the tragedy that has occurred and ask ‘why me?’ in an attitude of hurt; we demand answers with the assumption that we are somehow being punished for something. We don't realize that it occurs as part of our transition; there is nothing that is out-of-place. Nothing that has occurred through chance. There is nothing that occurs because we are 'out of favour' with God. Everything occurs because we want re-union with God; everything, no matter how bad it feels, happens in our best interests.
For what Divine reason it occurs, we seldom ask right away, because it is difficult for us to acknowledge purpose in tragedy at the time it occurs. When we are ready to ask the question of purpose, then we begin the process of seeing. We ultimately realize that everything that happens does so in order to transform us into something infinitely more Divine.
When we can fine-tune our minds to that of God's we begin to exist in the world with more acceptance of the flow of life, and with a lower degree of suffering. This is my personal invitation to you to accept whatever is occurring in your life; to acknowledge that it is part of a process that leads to infinite joy.