Page 17 - NAMAH-Apr-2023

Namah Going Beyond Desire and Aversion

we turn, there is pain. It might take a while their imprint. There is some part of our nature
to fully embark on the ‘Sunlit Path’. that covertly invites it. Once it lodges inside,
it can spread to our external behaviour. Once
In Integral Yoga, we have to confront our desire is entertained, it is very difficult to
shadows. With the effort comes the pain. annul it. The very effort to clear one’s way
We will suffer when trying to resolve our through it will engender pain.
desires but it helps to look at this pain as just
a process. It can also bring out the hero in It needs to be resolved as soon as we notice
us. So firstly, we need to access our Warrior it, because the chain-reaction may be
Self. It is in all of us. It is a Self that is full of instantaneous. It may sometimes subtly
courage and makes light of any difficulty simmer and accumulate waiting for the
and pain. The warrior comes to us through chance to explode at a future date. Anyway,
aspiration, because aspiration is the fuel for it has been invited and won’t willingly go
all meaningful progress. Whatever obstacles away. We need to stay awake to all these inner
facing him or her, the Aryan will pierce below movements. This implies that a considerable
the surface in search of the Truth. amount of sincerity and vigilance is required.
We have to try to become conscious of these
Pain is always giving us a message. Once we vibrations if we don’t want to become their
live in alignment with the Truth, pain will go. slave. At the very least, we must become aware
The true consciousness won’t allow it. If we of them. Whatever affliction one deals with,
don’t liberate ourselves from the shackles of this practice of ‘catching’ a wrong movement
desire, the pain will persist and perhaps even as soon as it appears is a key to changing one’s
grow over countless lives. We are on a path nature.
of transformation and we are here to deal
with desires and everything else in this life. “To catch each thing that should not be done,
catch it like that, and then hold it firmly in front
of the light until the light can act upon it to
transform it: this is the work one can do all the
time. No matter what one is doing, one can
always do this work. Each time one becomes
aware that there is something which is not all
right, one must catch it like this, prevent it from
hiding, for it tries to hide: catch it and then keep
Catching desire before ignition it like this before the light of one’s conscious
will, and then put the light upon it so that it
So, we come to the practice. There is always changes (3).”
a spark of resonance which ignites desire.
This spark needs to be snuffed out before This takes practice. We apply our attention
it becomes a blaze. The force spreads by onto the vibration as soon as we become
contagion and is all around us. The energy conscious of it. As soon as we catch it, we
is manipulated by adverse forces that search place a light upon it. At the same time, we
for the slightest fissure to invade and activate remember to offer. Try to make these three

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