by Christopher Greenwood
Day 129 Lesson – Prevention is better than cure
Good morning, everybody. I hope that you’re doing very well.
Today, I wanted to talk about some experiences and also lessons from Mohanji about the best way to handle negativities in life. This is really about prevention rather than cure. Because he explained to us in the Acharya training and many satsangs that once we’ve taken in all these negative thoughts, words, prejudices, opinions, and stories, it’s very difficult to remove them. They stay for a long time. What helped me understand this more is the experience of the recent boot camp that Mohanji conducted, which basically gave The Manual for Human Life, how we are; our body, our mind, our intellect, our soul, our spirit, and how we express ourselves. Mohanji has shared in a really understandable way that our world is a reflection of what we have stored inside us. So, we can only experience what’s inside. So, if what’s stored inside of us are our prejudices, fears, and things of this type, then that’s what we experience. So, we can only really share what’s inside.
For me, thinking back to the changes that have happened since being with Mohanji, I’ve become much more aware of where I had a lot of frustrations inside, maybe even anger in some situations. And this came out on various people, situations, and places, which probably didn’t have anything to do with my frustration. It was coming from inside. I can recognize that now and make adjustments. But when it comes to negativities, I’m even more aware now that there’s the potential to be contaminated by them. So, we need to be very careful of what we store inside.
For example, now, as I look back, I know that during my work career and also through some friendships, I had a strong view of somebody. I had an opinion about them. And I thought that they were this type of person, maybe they’re selfish, maybe they’re greedy, maybe they’re ignorant, maybe they don’t care, or had some negative traits because somebody had told me so about that person. Then I’ve also experienced that as I got to know somebody, I realized that they were totally different from what I had thought. These have been simple examples for me to understand that it was more about what I had inside me, and I was projecting that onto a person instead of that being the reality. So, with such experiences, it is for me to recognize that negativities can come; this is from what I’ve learned from Mohanji. Some aspects can be very, very negative; people talking bad, criticizing, judging, and there have been awful things which have been said about Mohanji as well, and these can be easily acquired. If we entertain even the slightest aspect of negativity, opinion, or prejudice about somebody from somebody else, that can stay within us.
I was speaking to Mohanji about this a few days ago. He said that you could imagine it like someone has come and filled your house with coal; in the end, you might be able to get rid of all the coal, but still, the dust particles will continue to exist there. And that’s enough for something to sprout later as prejudice or an opinion. That made me realize that even the smallest comment about somebody, even though it might have been pushed away at that time, can still sit there as something that can grow into something much bigger when the right external situation presents itself and can become an issue. So then, it really becomes important to understand that prevention is better than trying to clean that out later, clean the house of all the coal.
We were discussing that there are two ways to exercise prevention. One is that when someone’s saying something bad or negative, or something’s come to our awareness, we can stop it as soon as we can. We can choose not to entertain it. We can say we don’t want to hear that. Or we can say, “Fine, that’s your experience, but I know exactly what my experience is about this person, about this place, about this situation.”
Then sometimes, negativity might come from those who are most close to us; friends, family, and people we can’t get away from. So, in these cases, it’s best to keep a healthy distance from them or to let it happen but not be engaged.
I hope you have a good day ahead.
Day 130 Lesson – More acceptance, bigger transformation
Good morning, everybody. I hope you’re doing well.
Today, I wanted to share an observation about the connection that people have with Mohanji. I’ve shared before in previous messages that the orientation of the person determines how they’ll connect to Mohanji and how Mohanji will respond. He’s a friend; he’s available for people; he’s available for the world. And like a true friend, depending on what that person needs or what that person is looking for, he responds accordingly. For example, when someone comes as a spiritual seeker, he responds as a guru. Or if someone has a deep burning question, he’ll respond as a teacher. If somebody is looking for a purpose in their life, he’ll respond with directions for service activities through karma yoga. Like this, there are many different types of connections.
More recently, I’ve seen many more people connecting to him as a trusted business advisor because he has 22 years of very successful business experience in the shipping industry. But something else that I’ve noticed is that Mohanji’s interaction with them is not based on likes, dislikes or opinions or what somebody does or doesn’t do in their work or life. One of the key things that determine how he connects to people is their connection to him. He has no discrimination, and as he mentioned before, he’s available. How I’ve seen that displayed is that if people come to him with a very superficial connection, he responds accordingly. But for people who have a deep connection to him, a real surrender and acceptance of him, he gives it all – a complete transformation to them.
I’ve witnessed this with many people who’ve come in close contact with Mohanji. So, it’s as if the level of change or transformation that’s possible is directly connected to a person’s level of acceptance of Mohanji, of who he is, and of what he’s doing. Mohanji said before as well that accepting him is accepting yourself. He’s guiding people back to themselves. So, depending on that level of acceptance, there is a corresponding effect in transformation.
That’s a short observation for today. Something that is a reminder for me is to always be present with how I’m interacting with Mohanji because although I’m close to him, I still have to make sure of what my connection is. It can be easy to only see the form, especially when we’re so busy with activities, and particularly when we’re travelling, moving from one place to the next. So, it’s a good observation for me to ponder upon.
I hope you have a great day ahead.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 29th May 2022
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