The following reminded me of a personal realization:
This body is the "lamp" from which the Divine light shines. It is my obligation to maintain this "lamp"; to keep the wick trimmed; keep the exterior polished; maintain the fuel level; and most importantly, insure the light is not obstructed from view.
This is a full time job, 24-7, no holidays, or vacations as long as the lamp is "functional". My tool bag contains 8 disciplines to maintain this obligation.
Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day, May 9
Entered into Divine Mind, herself made over to That, the soul at first contemplates that realm; but once she sees that which is higher still, she leaves all else aside. Thus when I enter a house rich in beauty I might gaze about and admire the varied splendor before the master appears; but once seeing him I would ignore all else and look to him alone.
– Plotinus
This body is not me. It is the house in which I live. If you say that I am so many inches tall, or that I weigh such and such number of pounds, I will reply, “You are not describing me. You are talking about my address.”
Since I don’t identify myself with my body, I don’t associate other people very much with their physical appearance either. If someone asks me, “How tall is John?” I have to take time to try to picture him, then use a mental tape measure to try to remember his height. When someone asks me how old a person is, it takes a certain amount of effort for me to recall even what decade he or she is in. The more we dwell upon the physical appearance and age of others, the more we are conscious of our own appearance and age.
We should be concerned less about these details of packaging and concerned more with the contents. When I look at people, I like to look at their eyes. These are the windows into the Resident: the Lord, the Self. Gradually, as we become more and more spiritually aware, we will be looking straight into people’s eyes and deep into their souls.
The Thought for the Day is today's entry from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By.
(Copyright 1999 & 2005 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.)
Select the Thought for the Day for any day of the year.
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