Shuddhaanandaa BrahmachariWhat a universal conspiracy!? Whatever we wish to avoid seems to bump into us again and again. As such it is not a conspiracy but the simple consequence of a universal law in operation: The Law of Resistance. Whatever we resist, persists. If we review our life in a flashback we will have many memories that prove the truth of this law in a few moments time. Whatever we resisted persisted.
When we resist the negative situations and force external circumstances to go in our favor according to our wish, it only creates more negativity and sufferance. Anything we resist seems to squeeze energy out of us and transfer it to the object of resistance! We keep resisting and keep draining our energy!
The most difficult challenge is how do we put up with someone who is so filled with negative energy and attitudinally continually creating a mess in our family. Or in our work life where there are people who are so negative in attitude, or for that matter the boss, who seems to know that he is always right, though he or she is a menace.
Now, at times we must know how to hiss, meaning raising the hood like a snake but not bite. We need to have the courage to stand up for ourselves or people will walk all over us. But our goal is to gradually create an inner suspension system like that of a vehicle that drives on roads with potholes. We can gradually, through practice of quiet observation of breaths and thoughts, allow the distillation of our inner default mechanism of resisting something unpleasant so that when we confront such situations we become alert and awake to not surrender to the instinctive urge to hit back. Instead we try to be understanding and empathetic, filling the other person with positive energy.
This is not easy, but over a period of time it is doable, if practiced. Once we can do it once, we can do it again, and gradually we will grow into a state where external provocations won’t put us out of balance. That is true spiritual growth, to remain unscathed in the midst of external threats and challenges. One who can do it will ultimately know that all the negative people who come into our life, they are not accidental, but they come due to a karmic connection. It is only by playing the right card that we can win this and reach a state of response and not reaction, so that there is peace within and without.
We need to learn from nature. If we keep company with nature, we will learn from air, it carries all kinds of smells, but it has no odor of its own! The mother earth is the very embodiment of patience. Look at the trees, they teach us the art of giving non-judgmentally, unconditionally. We should not forget that we are not just part of nature, but I feel, we are nature in its totality. Of course, the only difference is we are not conscious that we inseparable from the nature, and that is the reason we become so unnatural in life, that is the human malady too. Once we live a life of non-violence (ahimsa) not to hurt anyone with words or deeds, and strive to preserve the beauty of mother earth then we will invariably grow into true human beings who follows the universal order called Dharma and live for the good of all and happiness of all. Then the very need for resistance dissolves forever!
