When Master Paramhansa Yogananda would come onto a stage to address an audience, he would often ask something like "How is everyone?" The audience would reply loudly and crisply, "Awake and Ready!"
While the response would help wake up a audience, I also think there's a deeper meaning to the phrase Awake and Ready.
Awake and Ready is a state we should strive to be in every moment. It is the state of present awareness. That is to say, present awareness of God.
In meditation today, it started to make sense to me. God is here now. He isn't coming at some future point. He is here, right now, in my life - in your life - in the lives of all of humanity (those we love and those we don't.) He is here, Now.
To be Awake and Ready - isn't a future statement, it's a Now statement. That I am awake and ready to be attuned to God right now.
In practical terms, this means that even though I may go through a tough time, difficult situation - I will not fall into the delusion of past or future thinking. I wont fall into the delusion of "stress" and "fear" but will be Awake and Ready to God.
Take for example my job recently. With short staff and higher work load, it's easy to fall into fear and stress and think "Man, why do they make so many demands of me?!" or "I just need to get this done... i keep getting distracted... if i dont get this done, it will be bad..."
Instead of that mentality, if I were Awake and Ready - I would simply do the job at hand, as it changes, as it evolves, but would not have fear or stress. I would be Awake and Ready to God's presence, which is already here, right now.
This returns to the last post in this blog on Nishkam Karma - or, "Desireless Action." When we are Awake and Ready, we have Desireless action. That doesn't mean we have no desires, but that our desires are in harmony with the Divine (or you could think of it as terms of your highest true will - or in tune with the Universe.) The point being, it's not desires of the external world that will help us - but it's the inner desires of God prompting us right now, that will be our salvation. It's the road out of bondage. Having a new computer, new car, new wife, new husband, new toy will not bring lasting joy - but being in tune with the Divine and the desires of God, will certainly bring joy and harmony and be the bridge to freedom that we all seek (wether we know it or not.)
While the response would help wake up a audience, I also think there's a deeper meaning to the phrase Awake and Ready.
Awake and Ready is a state we should strive to be in every moment. It is the state of present awareness. That is to say, present awareness of God.
In meditation today, it started to make sense to me. God is here now. He isn't coming at some future point. He is here, right now, in my life - in your life - in the lives of all of humanity (those we love and those we don't.) He is here, Now.
To be Awake and Ready - isn't a future statement, it's a Now statement. That I am awake and ready to be attuned to God right now.
In practical terms, this means that even though I may go through a tough time, difficult situation - I will not fall into the delusion of past or future thinking. I wont fall into the delusion of "stress" and "fear" but will be Awake and Ready to God.
Take for example my job recently. With short staff and higher work load, it's easy to fall into fear and stress and think "Man, why do they make so many demands of me?!" or "I just need to get this done... i keep getting distracted... if i dont get this done, it will be bad..."
Instead of that mentality, if I were Awake and Ready - I would simply do the job at hand, as it changes, as it evolves, but would not have fear or stress. I would be Awake and Ready to God's presence, which is already here, right now.
This returns to the last post in this blog on Nishkam Karma - or, "Desireless Action." When we are Awake and Ready, we have Desireless action. That doesn't mean we have no desires, but that our desires are in harmony with the Divine (or you could think of it as terms of your highest true will - or in tune with the Universe.) The point being, it's not desires of the external world that will help us - but it's the inner desires of God prompting us right now, that will be our salvation. It's the road out of bondage. Having a new computer, new car, new wife, new husband, new toy will not bring lasting joy - but being in tune with the Divine and the desires of God, will certainly bring joy and harmony and be the bridge to freedom that we all seek (wether we know it or not.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment