Paramhansa Yogananda described divine vision as being “center everywhere, circumference nowhere.”
Because God is omnipresent, each of the billions of different perspectives He has created has its own validity. At the same time, no single point of view has a monopoly on truth.
Center everywhere, circumference nowhere.
The ego-centered person approaches the world with the thought, “My way is the only right way, and everyone should do what I say.” Associating with others of like mind, his life’s experiences only confirm him in his point of view.
Devotees, on the other hand, try to live with quite another attitude: “I offer my limited perspective into a greater reality of which I am a small part.” Living in this way, their awareness of that greater reality continues to grow.
There is a story of a great sadhu of modern times, Swami Ramdas, who roamed through the forests and villages of India. His hair was long and matted, his clothes mere rags, but he carried within him the bliss of God-awareness.
One day as he entered a village, the young boys spied the sadhu and began to follow him. Absorbed in God, he took little notice of them, even when they began to yell louder and louder to get his attention.
The boys, becoming angry at being ignored, began to fling taunts and then even stones at the sadhu. He continued calmly on his way, despite the fact that some of the stones that hit him drew blood. Returning to the forest, the sadhu was soon surrounded by his disciples, who were horrified to see blood flowing from his wounds. “Master, what has happened?” they cried. “Who did this to you?”
“Oh,” he replied blissfully, “the boys in the village had such fun this afternoon. They were laughing, running about, and throwing stones. What a good time they had!”
The sadhu had no center of self-reference from which to react.
How do we develop the ability to see the “bigger picture” and break the grip that the ego has on us? In Swami Kriyananda’s book, Sadhu, Beware! (perhaps our friend the sadhu should have read those words before entering the village!), he gives some suggestions for ego-transcendence:
Never mentally place yourself in competition with others. Competition sets us apart and isolates us; it keeps us from seeing things from a broader perspective. Cooperation, by contrast, joins our energies with others and breaks down narrow fences of self-involvement and rigidity of thought.
When people fail to credit you for something you did and did well, say nothing. Remember that any talent or ability we have comes from God. Give the credit to Him, and find satisfaction in the fact that you were able to serve Him.
Don’t let your mind play with the thought of where or how you yourself fit into any picture. Learn to be impersonal in your thinking. Try to focus on “the forest, not your individual tree” in whatever circumstances you find yourself. Don’t let self-importance, self-pity, or any self-centered thought rule you.
We are all players in God’s dream: equally important and, ultimately, totally unimportant. Our true essence is nothing more than a tiny spark of the infinite consciousness of God. When we can accept this, we begin to know true inner freedom and joy.
Your friend in God,
Nayaswami Devi
23 Comments
I am so greatful for your words and love thank you in this economy i have to go back to school to make i dont know why its called a living. I have been so buzy with school it has kept me form Ananda and my kriya
What a crazy world i am lost …. love you both
Dear Deviji,
Its nice to receive such helpful message. Beautifully explained through true story. Loved it.
With love and gratitude,
Neela
Panama Ji
Thank you for the Guidance , being my self continue to work at the age of 68 this is Very enlighiting.
Thanks and Regards
R Sundararajan
Jai ma. as always find your messsges so helpful for my self improvement. thank you.
Beautiful reminders of how w should all be paying attention. Thank you, Devi.
pat
Such deep, wise, insightful words, yet so simply conveyed! Tips such as these can awaken us from the delusion we so fervently and mistakenly cling on to, although like Swamiji said the fact is that ” I don’t exist”. Thank you Deviji for this post…it was akin to listening to you softly talk to our hearts.
Dear Nayaswami Devi Ji,
Thank you for the inspirational blog. Swamiji’s suggestions are very helpful as always.
This three points that you had called out here, had a message for me :)
Sincerely Thank you
In Master’s love..
Prem
Thank you.
Just what I needed to hear at the time I needed to hear it.
Devi, Your words where very timely for me as I’ve been wrestling a long while with defining myself according to what I do to the point where I feel as though Swami did when he went through his test at Twenty-nine Palms: that I won’t amount to anything. Thank you and God for inspiration and wisdom.
Om Shanti
Thank you Devi ?
In Divine Gratitude and Joy for your loving heart and selfless service. Thank you, as always, for the most timely reminder. Namaste
Thank you, thank you, Devi, again just what I needed to hear. AUM AUM AUM
Respected Swamiji
Such a beautiful piece of advice. It would bring such peace of mind. I could not help feeling that he words were addressed to me. The ego is like a prison which requires sustained effort to break out of.
Ending with gratitude
Prayerfully yours
Padma
Thank you for the inspiration Ma.
I appreciate your email. Thank you so much. Have a joyful Saturday. Loving God, Mary Ann
Thank you. This spoke to my heart and helped me t better understand some things I have had questions about.
See you soon in Bothell,WA.
Autumn
I am nourished by the constant star of your kind reminders. Thanks
It has taken me a long time to reach this kind of awareness. The wonderful Yogananda helped me all those years ago when I saw his beautiful face in a bookshop, at a time when there were few spiritual books around. We are all One, all God’s children, and all is well. ?
Thank you for continuing the story as you do…………….
Dear Devi,
Thank you so much for sharing . I really need such good reminders.
Many Blessings to you,
granita
Love this posting, thanks for the word of wisdom…..love you both
This was beautiful and well spoken!