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DISCOURSE ELEVEN- The Final One- The Powers, and Knowing God
It is taking from the latter part of this particular teaching, offered by the wise teacher Dr. Cheng Ho.
"Love is the most important thing in life, Dear Ones. Here's the ultimate secret about love. Through yoga we discover the love within ourselves. As we touch that love, we touch the love in all others. We become compassionate without being co-dependent. If we multiply the love of a good mother or father for a child by millions of times, that is the magnitude of the love in our heart. We can be appropriate, and should. Love is not always synonymous with sweetness. Those who think otherwise are in deep mud. We can love and act angry. We can love and correct. Sometimes it's loving not to 'be nice.'"
"Loving is forgiving, silently or verbally affirming, 'I forgive you for whatever you had to do; I love you as you are.' Forgiving is liberation to the one who forgives. Yet, hear this, Dear Ones; at times you may have to hide your forgiveness for a while to allow the other person the space to think and do his/her growth work. When somebody apologizes after repeatedly doing something very hurtful and your immediate response each time is, 'It's alright', all you are doing is teaching them that its alright to do it the next time. However, suppose the next time they do it you say, "I hear that you're sorry, however you hurt me so badly that I can't talk with you right now. Maybe another time." and then you turn you back and walk out. That is likely to make an impression.
"Remember, the world is maya, illusion, a play. People who seem happy might not be, while those who seem unhappy might be happy. Very wealthy people don't necessarily have greater happiness in their lives than most people, just more activity. Remind yourselves continuously, 'This physical world is just an appearance, not eternal life.' We can still play our appropriate roles."
"The physical world to the average person actually moves very slowly, is rather bulky, heavy and uninteresting, as if we were at the bottom of the ocean weighted down by a suit of steel. It is as we rise spiritually that life goes faster. Now things literally become interesting. It's a progression. When we "die" of course things become even better and more interesting than ever." Cheng giggled in delight, then composed himself and continued.
"Always remember, you are God. We can cover a diamond with dirt; it is still a diamond. We are in the process of uncovering and polishing your diamond. In that process there will be friction. But it is all for good."
"Life is a dream. Awaken from the dream. Know the truth about yourself regardless of what others say about you; they are seeing you from their own perceptions anyway. One of my great teachers once said, 'When something happens in your life, know that you deserve it.' The physical world will be full of surprises and shakeups. A spiritually mature person knows this and accepts it. A spiritual moron whines and protests. When we are close to the True Self we experience a humor and lightness in everything. We are aware that what's out there is merely a play."
"When Moses asked God who he was, God answered, 'I am that I am.' In the same way we must each come to know, 'I am THAT, I am!' Try saying it that way. Maya causes this dream to seem very real. Participate without falling for appearances. We can pretend we are two, we are three, we are many; in reality, we are all one. Haven't we experienced some of that here? We must be appropriate. We don't necessarily want to rush up to people and proclaim, 'We're one!' however, we can feel it. Practice seeing everyone else as your self. Work on it where you have difficulty. It is powerful. Watch the karmic movie of your life while actively participating. Don't talk negatively about others; it takes one to see one. You might practice being that person, contemplating what it must be like being him or her."
"Let us do a dharana now, an exercise to know Truth. Close your eyes." Cheng began to speak slowly and softly. "Visualize an individual you've had difficulty with. Enter his or her body. See yourself as this person. Feel his/her feelings. Look out at the world from his/her eyes."
Cheng was quiet for five minutes while we did the dharana. I thought of Brandt. I entered his body. I felt two things, fear and insecurity. Brandt?! I was beyond surprised. Then I heard Cheng say, "This is a powerful dharana. It helps us develop compassion. Everyone has their own samscaras, their own karma, to go through. We can't know what that is so how can we accurate judge or criticize?"
"Eventually most of us will leave this particular body. At that time we will have a true realization that all that is real about us - our mind, ego, feelings, samscaras - is still very much with us. We are eternal. Nobody dies." At those words I thought of my out-of-body experience at Glady's house shortly after I'd been discharged from the hospital, and knew that once again Cheng spoke the truth. "Once we become accustomed to being in our subtle rather than physical body," Cheng went on, "the physical incarnation we just finished will seem like a dream. We will be in a much lighter body instead of the physical heavy body we literally formerly had to drag around with us."
Serge began to speak without first raising his hand, then, realizing his mistake, smacked his forehead with the back of his hand. Immediately following that gesture, he raised that same hand. "Changes may come slowly and we can all slip backward many times," Cheng humorously acknowledged Serge while concurrently slipping in another teaching.
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