Tempering the Steel

Life’s many traumas/difficulties ‘temper the steel’ and make us what we are. You could say that these situations arise to ‘test our metal’.

Our reactions, even to the simplest of situations are important because they form the tendencies that become inherent in our personality.

Positivity needs to be constant even when all appears to be against us. We need to weather the storm, fight the good fight, or let the steel be tempered so that we can come out of the fire shining brightly.

Let your vision be clear and know that whatever difficulties may come your way you can cope.

Satchidananda Ma

The Butterfly

Lessons can be learnt from nature, take the butterfly that flutters from this flower to the next then it settles, absolutely still, at times with the wings closed and sometimes showing the world its beauty and then it silently and still drinks the nectar from the flower.

Our minds go here and there and somewhere else most of the time, do we ever think to stop every so often as the butterfly does to absorb the Divine nectar of silence.  Like the butterfly do we withdraw (closed wings) or do we expand our consciousness (open wings) beyond the world of objects?

It is not easy for embodied people to face death or even life with all it’s hidden complexities.

Blessed are those born into a family of love, blessed are those who have courage and can face struggle and fear because of this.

Blessed are those who are able to pass from this life in peace.

THE DIVINE is present within –

the temple I call my body,
the air I breathe,
the space in which I move,
the light with which I see,
in the sounds which I hear,
the faces I meet,
the Guru I adore and the deity I bow down to,
the soil on which I walk.

I live in the ever-present Divine; I live because of the Divine.

We have a lifeline, a direct link with the Divine.  It is easier than picking up the phone and talking to a friend, the latter is good, but not as good.

Talk to the Divine before you sleep, at daybreak or whenever there is a need.  All you have to do is stop, sit, and take a few deep breaths, centre yourself.  This might be easier in the comfort of your own home, in the garden or on a mountaintop, but it is worth knowing that it can be done at anytime and anywhere.

We all have a need from time to time to reach out and say ‘dear Mother Divine’, or ‘dear Father Divine’, or ‘dear Divine One’; whatever is your preferred form of address and inclination.

This call is not a prayer, or a plea for anything in particular but rather a time for talking to your closest friend and counsellor.

Remember, the Divine is ready and waiting for our call, at all times!

When we can see beyond our everyday consciousness, our ‘little selves’ and the play of the senses, there is a great expanse of wonderment.  It takes us beyond the world, the stars and into infinity.  It’s as if we are a small dot in the firmament, like a cell in the body of the Divine, part of Divine consciousness.

The essence of what we are is Divine, what a wonderful thought, yet at the same time awe-inspiring, what a state to live up to!  If we let ourselves down either in thought, speech or action, if we hurt another in any way then we let the Divine down, we hurt the creator!  We hurt ourselves.

If the essence of what we are is Divine then the essence of all that is, everyone else is Divine also.  So we have a big challenge to watch carefully all we do.  We walk the razors edge carefully until it is our nature to be at one with God’s creation.

A prayer.

Dear Divine One, Gods & Goddesses, Angels and Arch Angels, let the love you so kindly fill me in abundance with be shared with my family and friends, my greater family and particularly with all those who suffer be it of mind or body.

Thank you for your presence in my life. Let my life continue to be one of thanks, thanks for the many opportunities you have brought my way to learn and to grow.

The road is rough at times but you have held my hand and I know always will, leading me through life’s many difficulties.

Thank you for your many blessings

Some people live their lives in a natural way, respecting one another, sharing their knowledge freely, and caring for one another in every possible way.

Some have to learn how to do this; it is not natural to them to give, to serve, to lend a helping hand, to treat everyone as if they were special.

Is this because of the example given by parents or a tendency we were born with?

Is it possible to share your love and concerns with a greater family without any thought or form of selfishness? To be free of the demands of selfishness is to be free indeed.

We honour the Divine when we love one another, respect one another, serve one another.

The Divine is ever present, supporting all life, all form be it animal vegetable or mineral.

Recognise how very precious everything is, look after it and give thanks for the opportunity to do so.

The sun shines and its rays illumine our world and our lives.  It shines on us all indiscriminately.  This reflects the love of the Divine for without the Divine and the sun, which is the Divine’s representative, there would be no life, no love to be felt and shared.  Love is to be shared, love cannot help itself and no more than the sun can help itself, it has to shine that is its nature.

We are all touched and blessed by both.  Both can be radiated from within ourselves in those moments when selflessly we look upon others and the world around us.  They are moments when no decisions need making, love just pours forth, it is like a state of annandam – pure joy at what we are seeing and sharing.  Words are unnecessary, barriers have melted away; you are at one with the Divine within yourself and the Divine in all that you see.

Let the Divine and the sun radiate from your heart all your days.