We visited Ananda’s Seattle community last week, where a friend, knowing of my love of mountains, gave me this poem of Hafiz:
The beauty of the mountain is talked about most from a distance,
Not while one is scaling the summit with life at risk.
That is the time for silence, one-pointedness, reflection, and drawing upon all your skills
So you might return from the cloud’s domain and inspire others to breathe closer to God,
While still human, the way you did.
We all have our mountains to scale, though they are usually inner crags of our own creation, thrust upward by conscious choice or by the echo of past karma. When faced with a peak that seems too steep, we need to call for help. We need not shout, only whisper. But if we do not call, we will likely end in a fall. We can call in this way:
Ask of God or Guru these two questions:
“What should I do next?” This simple question will save you from many a plummet.
And then, once the course is set, “How should I proceed? Show me where next to place my feet and hands.”
The first and greatest challenge is simply to remember to ask: God does not mind our failures, only our indifference. The second challenge is to actually follow our inner guidance. A friend once lamented to Swami Kriyananda, “It is so hard to know what to do.” His classic reply was, “No it isn’t. You already know the answer. Your problem is doing what you know to be right.”
Determined action is needed. Swami Kriyananda told the story of a fellow monk who had been a famous mountain climber. One time, while making a first ascent in the Alps, this man arrived after a long and difficult climb at a ledge from which point the mountain curved up and out. Able neither to proceed nor to return, and facing near certain death, he decided that it was better to climb than to stay and starve. As he reached the point where he was upside down, he fell back onto the ledge. Again he tried. And again, and again. After numerous failures, he felt a force, as if a giant hand were holding him against the mountain. He was able to get past the overhang, and from there to reach the summit without further difficulty. The descent down the other side of the mountain was easy.
“Meditation on Mount Rainier,” by Nayaswami Jyotish
Unlike a mountain, the guru is conscious and eagerly awaits our call, a call that sometimes might not be consciously directed to Him, but issued none the less through courageous action. If we open our heart to Him, He will enter to give us both the guidance we need and the grace to overcome our challenge.
Once we have scaled our mountain, we will have a precious gift to share. To others who are struggling, we can be a guide along the route that leads ever upward. As Hafiz says, we can “return from the cloud’s domain and inspire others to breathe closer to God.”
In divine friendship,
Nayaswami Jyotish
9 Comments
Thank You Jyotishji for this Inspiring reminder.
May Divine Mother always BLESS you for being her active, Loving channel.
Ssangeeta
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for this wonderful & encouraging blog :)
In Master’s Love
Prem
Hafiz has been an inspiration to me for some time. Thank you for sharing this poem and your reflections on it.
Thank you Jyotishji, It is as if you spoke to my heart, from my recent question to you when you visited us in Seattle. When is it my will and when is it God’s will. I often intuit something, but wonder if it is only my desires, or was it a Message from God, so I hesitate to act on it. Most of the so call doubts, are from emotional reactions. I do search my heart, but sometimes, I wonder if it is only my desire, or is God guiding me in that direction. Always I am filled with LOVE, but many a times, I have to think of the phrase “the way to #### is filled with good intentions?. well makes life interesting, and help us to strive to improve each moment. Aum
Blessings Jyotish,
So true, so true… there are mountains and then there are MOUNTAINS.
Our part to is see God in it all, and BE WITH GOD in it all.
May our “safety rope” always be tied to God and Guru as we climb or descend.
~~~Peace, Josette
In deepest Divine Gratitude for the Grace we share, Namaste
I was blessed by Guruji last year.
I went to Seattle; saw the beautiful temple, the Community, the school and the mountain Rainier from the top floor of one of the tall buildings in Seattle city. It was all a wonderful experience which I will carry with me for ever. Even the bookshop in Seattle city center , (EAST WEST it was called) was an experience by itself , specially with the hall at one end of the bookshop where they hold KIRTANS regularly; I was amazed.
To summarize, how I “finished up” going to Seattle, and how I got a lady called Patricia (also belongs to Ananda Sangha there) to show me around all, is something that I can not fathom even now! Her husband Paul I met is also such a wonderful person.
In simple words I fell in “love” with Seattle and particularly Guruji’s temple and the school whee the lady teachers were so wonderful.
Panama Ji
I was little disturbed and had Anxiety related Issues and couldn’t relax and felt stressed.
Your timely Advice through this Article helped me to overcome the stress and I am more focused and Happy .
With Gratitude
R Sundararajan
I just received this beautiful writing as I was poised to call a dear friend who is recuperating from cancer surgery. I placed the call only to hear a very weak voice on the other end.
I immediately told him to rest & that I would call again tomorrow.
However I did ask him to just rest & not respond while I read to him about “climbing mountains”.
Thank you for this divinely inspired & oh so timely post. ?