Embracing all of Life

Hello Again Dear Friends,
 
This past Sunday at our meditation evening here at the Ashram, I was really inspired by the discussion after meditation exploring the Baba talk that had happened. The topic we were discussing dealt with the highs and lows of life. Everyone’s life has times when it seems it is all good and you are on top of the world and other times when life is really a struggle and difficult things are happening.
 
There are two basic reasons for this. The first is that we are identified with our body and mind, the small ego self.  Our sense of welfare and happiness revolves around this personal idea of who we are in the world. The second reason is that the world around us, not to mention the entire universe, is large and all the other beings have needs as well. They are trying to find their happiness just as we are, but in the play of life the needs of all individuals flow together... sometimes in opposition to each other and are subject to the laws of nature. Sometimes you are the hunter and sometimes the hunted. It’s just how it goes.
 
Observing life, the yogis of the past realized that most people, and really most living beings, are stuck in a no win scenario. We struggle to acquire what we desire our need to be well off and happy and we fear anything that will cause serious loss, illness or death. But life has both of these elements - happiness and pain, health and illness, birth and death. Our struggle to avoid one and cling to the other becomes the real source of our pain and suffering.
 
Yogis contemplating deeply realized to find happiness we need to be able to embrace both our joy and our pain. As long as we keep running and fearing, the inevitable chases us. But when we stop and really look at life deeply we can discover the deeper stream of happiness, the love that runs through all human experiences because it is our fundamental core. When we do this we become able to really embrace life in all its fullness, really love unconditionally and find the deeper meaning and happiness that lies with in our own being. And we discover compassion.
 
Best wishes and blessings,
Maetreyii Ma


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