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The Acceptance of 'What Is' 
August 6, 2007 |
| Vedic
Astrology Diary Archives |
By Vaughn
Paul Manley, M.A.
Recently, I was fortunate to be able to attend a week of classes
with Swami Dayananda, a traditional teacher of Vedanta, the
school of philosophy teaching the essence of the Vedas. On the
last day, Swamiji summed it all up, which I've paraphrased in
the following paragraghs based on my notes:
The important thing is to be in harmony with 'what is.' 'What
is' is God, Ishwara. Sanity is accepting 'what is.'
As we grow in knowledge and wisdom, we grow in acceptance and
we grow in sanity. The truth is that all is in order, all is
God. We don't see this because of our false concepts of our
own making. We see our past that we project onto the world.
Therefore, more God is needed, more internal change is needed,
more knowledge of reality is needed.
'What is' is perfect order. Nothing and no one is outside of
this order. The important thing then is to give up resistance
to 'what is.' Give up fear and anxiety. The best way to deal
with fear is to welcome fear. Then you have no fear of fear,
which is when you are truly free. When you recognize that all
is a part of the order then you have true compassion and understanding.
We naturally then practice ahimsa, not hurting others.
We naturally follow the order of dharma.
Om is 'what is.' It's all of creation. Our meditation
should be on that which sustains creation. This is Om, the word
of God. The other important word is Namah which means
"I surrender," "I give up all resistance."
Namah invites the grace of God. Generally all mantras begin
with Om and end with Namah. You can simply meditate by repeating,
"Om Namah," which means, "I surrender to the
order," "I surrender to what is,"
"I give up my resistance to what is." May the Lord's
presence be, may grace be.
-----
This was the essence of Swamiji's teaching, and the essence
of Advaita Vedanta or the knowledge of non-duality. I was reminded
of what Byron Katie, the author of Loving
What Is, says. "All
is God, all is Good. And that's that! Any story you add to that
is the cause of your own suffering." Swamiji basically
said the same thing in a different way.
How I interpret this teaching is that accepting 'what is' is
a short cut to happiness. When we fight and resist what's happening,
we not only have to deal with the cause of the stress, but we
have the added stress of our own internal battle. It's doubly
stressful. To judge that circumstances 'should be' different
then they are is exhausting. It robs us of vital energy and
our peace of mind, which is our most valuable resource.
Accepting 'what is' is not being passive bystanders in our lives.
It's attending to what needs to be done, fulfilling our dharma
and responsibilities as best we can, however without the added
stress of our own resistance, judgments and annoyances.
Take this scenario: Your boss asks you to have a report ready
by the following day, and you were not even finished with your
current project. Astrologically you may be in a Saturn dasha
with Saturn transiting over your Sun, and you're overwhelmed
with responsibilities. The situation is what is given by the
divine as your karma, which is reflected in the astrology chart.
You either resist or you accept 'what is,' there are no other
options. By practicing accepting 'what is' we free
ourselves to flow with circumstances. We affirm that all is
happening in perfect order, that this too is God. This attitude
connects us with the divine amidst our busy lives. We regain
the energy we would spend otherwise fighting a losing internal,
and perhaps external battle, and most importantly we regain
our peace of mind. This gives us the best chance to cope with
every situation with 'sanity' as Swamiji would say.
"Act as if everything depended on you, but trust as
if everything depended on God." - St. Ignatius
Copyright
2010. Vaughn Paul Manley. All Rights Reserved. |
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