29. Reach Out From Within

Are we friendly with ourselves? Most of us would have to say, 'No, we are not!' Let us be fully aware of how we treat ourselves. This is a great meditation.

We disrespect and abuse our bodies in many ways. For example, we stay up late into the night watching television. We rub the sleep away from our eyes and ignore our body that is crying out for some sleep. We gorge ourselves with food even when our stomach is full. We smoke even when our lungs cry out. We drink ourselves into oblivion. We treat our bodies like a garbage dump and torture them to extract enjoyment. We are like hogs with our noses in filth. The hogs no longer smell the filth but just believe that the filth is their world.

We are violent in our outward behavior as well. In fact, what we believe as 'love' is actually violence. We think that people we love have to obey us implicitly in order to show that they care about us. We treat people we love as an extension of our ego. This is violence.

We are extremely concerned and bothered about the terrorism that happens outside in the world but ignore the violence at home and violence against our own bodies. Sadism and masochism do not bother us because we feel we have the right to treat our own bodies disrespectfully. Because we have no conscious awareness of this violence against ourselves, we create feelings of guilt. Terrorism bothers us because the violence is projected outside of ourselves. We torture ourselves with guilt; we torture others through our perfectionism.

One of my devotees told me, 'My wife is a lawyer.'

I asked, 'Does she argue in the courts?'

He replied, 'No Swamiji, she argues at home.'

All arguments at home are because we want another person to be like how we want them to be. Let us drop our imagination and dreams about ourselves and our behavior. We can start by becoming friends with our own body, mind and being. Let us carry with us words that heal others and also carry our body in a manner

Part 3: Take one a day and be in Bliss.

that is healing for others and for ourselves. Let us carry friendliness with us always. This is not an idle exercise: it is a spiritual process.

The first time we approach others out of friendliness, they may not receive us openly because of our past behavior. Persist and persevere. Do not let that or anything else stop you. Do not stop being friendly, even if others do not reciprocate. Simply carry on until they believe you are sincere and begin to reciprocate.

This deep-seated friendship within ourselves will also help us to develop grace. Let us carry this grace and goodwill of the Goddess within.

Let us drop imagination about our body, mind and being and about others as well. Then watch the remarkable inner alchemy blossom from within. You will be in eternal bliss, nithyananda, forever.