The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson
Читать онлайн книгу.
as is the custom with some of the ignorant Hindu fakirs and devotees, who ape the terms and language of the Yogi teachers, and prostitute their teachings. On the contrary, it teaches that it is man's duty and glorious privilege to participate in the world's work, and that he who is able to do something a little better than it has ever been done before is blessed, and a benefactor to the race. It recognizes the Divine urge to create, which is found in all men and women, and believes in giving it the fullest expression. It teaches that no life is fully rounded out and complete, unless some useful work is a part of it. It believes that intelligent work helps toward spiritual unfoldment, and is in fact necessary to it. it does not teach the beauty of unintelligent drudgery—for there is no beauty in such work—but it teaches that in the humblest task may be found interest to the one who looks for it, and that such a one always finds a better way of doing the thing, and thus adds something to the world's store of knowledge. It teaches the real ambition—that love of work for work's sake—rather than that work which is performed for the world's counterfeit reward. Therefore when the precept says: "Kill out Ambition * * * Work as those work who are ambitious," you will understand it. This life is possible to those who understand 'Karma Yoga," one of the great branches of the Yogi Philosophy, upon which it may be our privilege to write at some future time. Read over these words, until you filly grasp their meaning—until you feel them as well as see them. The gist of these teachings upon the subject of Ambition, may be summed up by saying: Kill out the relative Ambition, which causes you to tie yourself to the objects and rewards of your work, and which yields nothing but disappointment and repressed growth—but develop and express fully the absolute Ambition, which causes you to work for work's sake—for the joy which comes to the worker—from the desire to express the Divine Instinct to create—and which causes you to do the thing you have to do, the best you know how-better than it has ever been dine, if possible—and which enables you to work in harmony and unison with the Divine work which is constantly going on, instead of in harmony and discord. Let the Divine energy work through you, and express itself fully in your work. Open yourself to it, and you will taste of the joy which comes from work of this kind-this is the true ambition-the other is but a miserable counterfeit which retards the growth of the soul.
"Kill out desire of life," says the second precept—but the fourth precept answers back: "Respect life as those who desire it." This is another truth expressed in paradox. One must eradicate from the mind the idea that physical life is everything. Such an idea prevents one from recognizing the fuller life of the soul, and makes this particular life in the body the whole thing, instead of merely a grain of sand on the shores of the everlasting sea. One must grow to feel that he will always be aflow, whether he is in the body or out of it, and that this particular physical "life" is merely a thing to be used by the Real Self, which cannot die. Therefore kill out that desire of life which causes you to fear death, and which makes you attach undue importance to the mere bodily existence, to the impairment of the broader life of consciousness. Pluck from your mind that idea that when the body dies, you die—for you live on, as much alive as you are this moment, possibly still more alive. See physical life for what it is, and be not deceived. Cease to look upon "death" with horror, whether it may come to you or some loved one. Death is just as natural as life (in the stage of development) and as much to be happy about. It is hard to get rid of the old horror of physical dissolution, and one has many hard battles before he is able to cast off the worn—out delusion, which has clung to the race in spite of its constantly sounded belief in a future life. The churches teach of "the life beyond" to which all the faithful should look forward to, but the same "faithful" shiver and shudder at the thought of death, and clothe themselves in black when a friend dies, instead of strewing flowers around and rejoicing that the friend is "in a better land" (to use the cant phrase, which is so glibly used on such occasion, but which comforteth not). One must grow into a positive "feeling" or consciousness, of life everlasting, before he is able to cast off this old fear, and no creed, or expressed belief, will serve the purpose, until this state of consciousness is reached. To the one who "feels" in his consciousness this fact of the survival of individuality, and the continuance of life beyond the grave, death loses its terror, and the grave its horror, and the "desire of life" (relative) is indeed killed out, because the knowledge of life (absolute) has taken its place.
But we must not forget the reverse side of the shield. Read again the fourth precept: "Respect life as those who desire it." This does not mean alone the life of others, but has reference to your own physical body as well. For in your letting go of the old idea of the relative importance of the life in the body, you must avoid going to the other extreme of neglect of the physical body. The body is yours in pursuance of the Divine plan, and is in fact the Temple of the Spirit. If it were not good for you to have a body, rest assured you would not have it. It is needed by you in this stage of development, and you would be unable to do your work of spiritual unfoldment without it. Therefore, do not be led into the folly of despising the body, or physical life, as a thing unworthy of you. They are worthy of you, at this stage, and you may make great things possible through them. To despise them is like refusing to use the ladder which will enable you to reach the heights. You should, indeed, "respect life as those who desire it," and you should respect the body as do those who think that the body is the self. The body should be recognized as the instrument of the soul and Spirit, and should be kept as clean, healthy and strong as may be. And every means should be used to prolong the "life" in the body which has been given you. it should be respected and well-used. Do not sit and pine over your confinement in this life—you will never have another chance to live out just the experiences you are getting now—make the best of it. your "life" is a glorious thing, and you should live always in the "Now" stage, extracting to the full the joy which should come with each moment of life to the advanced man. "Life, life, more life" has cried out some writer, and he was right. Live out each moment of your life, in a normal, healthy, clean way, always knowing it for what it is, and worrying not about the past or future. You are in eternity now as much as you ever will be—so why not make the most of it. it is always "Now" in life—and the supply of "Nows" never fails.
If you ask us for a summing-up of this idea of this non-desiring of life, and its opposite side of respecting it as if you really did desire it, we will say: The desire referred to is the releative desire, which springs from the mistaken idea that physical life is the only life. The absolute desire of life, arises from the knowledge of what the whole life of man is, and what this brief physical life is—therefore while the advanced man does not desire it in the old way, he does not despise it, and really desires it because it forms a part of his whole life, and he does not wish to miss, or part with, any part of that which the Divine Plan has decreed, shall be his. The advanced man neither fears death, nor seeks it—he fears neither death nor life-he desires neither (relatively) and yet he desires both, from the absolute sense. Such a man or woman is invincible—neither life nor death have [sic] any terrors for such a one. When this consciousness is once reached, the person is filled with such power that its radiance is felt by the world in which it moves. Remember these words: Fear neither death, nor life. Neither fear death, nor seek it. When you have attained this stage, then indeed you will know what life is—what death is—for both are the manifestation of LIFE.
The third precept tells us to "Kill out desire for comfort"—but the fourth adds: "Be happy as those are who live for happiness." This teaching is also paradoxical, and follows the same line as the ones just spoken o. Its apparent contradiction arises from the two view—points, i. e. the relative and the absolute. Apply this solvent to all apparently contradictory occult teaching, and you will be able to separate each part so that you may carefully examine it. Let us apply it to this case.
"Kill out desire of comfort." At first this would seem to advocate extreme asceticism, but this is not the real meaning. Much that is called asceticism is really a running away from things which we may think are too pleasant. There seems to be an idea in the minds of many people of all shades of religious belief, that because a thing produces pleasure it must necessarily be "bad." Some writer has made one of his characters say: "It is so sad—it seems as if all the pleasant things in life are wicked." There seems to be a current belief that God takes pleasure in seeing people unhappy and doing unpleasant things, and accordingly many so-called "religious" people have frowned upon the normal pleasures of life, and have acted as if a smile was offensive to Deity. This is all a mistake.