Speech to Commemorate Nathalalbhai - 9th July 2011

Namaste Everyone....Jai Jinendra.
Welcome to this sacred evening where all of us are joined in our shared intention to remember Nathalalbhai – who was and is such a wise and fulfilled soul. With his blessings, his family continue to inspire us to move forward on this journey of life, to commemorate the wonderful example he gave us all.

It’s an honour to be invited to share a few thoughts with you, which may take us a little deeper into a place where we can reflect on our own souls.

So let’s begin by asking....Is there a lot of inspiration in our lives?....Of course there is. But is this inspiration leading to transformation?

Perhaps, many of us haven’t had time to reflect on such matters, being busy with the time consuming day to day commitments. Maybe some of us have been improving ourselves through spiritual practice, meditation, attending pravachans, reading books, etc. And perhaps a few of us lucky ones sense that we are freeing ourselves to reach an even greater possibility.

Maybe we do feel more peaceful, centred and less reactive, but are we sensing real progress? Have we evolved to where we want to be? Do we revert back to less evolved patterns particularly when faced with challenges? Do we feel liberated? Does the way we live reflect deeper values, deeper truths?

Wherever we are on our journey, let’s take some time now to consider some ideas which may expand our perspective.

So why is it that so few of us are liberating ourselves?

Is it, as some eastern traditions tell us, that enlightenment is such a high goal, we really shouldn’t expect to experience any radical transformation in one lifetime, but should instead see our current incarnation as one of many steps toward that transformation?

Or is it, as many contemporary teachers are fond of saying, that we should simply accept everything as it is, even with all of its limitation.

I would like us to believe another possibility, that life transforming liberation is not only possible in this lifetime, but is in fact well within the reach of every one of us. And that the reason it’s not happening for those of us who are seeking it, is that our context is just too small.

Many of us now want our spirituality to fully engage with the world - the story of Archaryaji Chandanaji comes to mind as we recently saw her film called ‘Never Before’. Her actions, compassion and clarity come from a place beyond the ego, they are aligned with something deeper, with Divine will. We don’t have to be doing great things out there in the world; even spending time consciously bringing up our children and supporting those around us is contributing to a better future. Are we present and wholehearted in everything we do?

Imagine for a moment that the fate of the entire human race rested on your shoulders alone. That it depended entirely on your willingness to transform your consciousness, to purify yourself of negative conditioning, and become a model of humanity’s highest potential for the world. Imagine, in other words, that for you, waking up from spiritual ignorance and self-centredness became a moral issue.

Would you approach your life any differently? Would the quality of awareness and care with which you interact with others become more profound? If you knew it all rested on you, would you have any choice but to change?

The sage Sri Ramana Maharshi once said “the spiritual aspirant must want liberation like a drowning man wants air”. But the painful truth is that even when we recognize we are drowning, most of us don’t care enough to struggle to keep our head above water. The challenges of transformation are such that most of us will choose to continue living from our smallness rather than feel the pain of allowing that smallness to die. But how many of us would do the same if we realized that it wasn’t only our own unconsciousness and suffering we were keeping alive, but the suffering of the entire human race?

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "That’s a nice thought experiment. Sure, it makes me realize I could be more aware in my life, but what does it really have to do with me? How can my transformation alone help to liberate the human race?"

But please consider this......We are all interconnected and interdependent, and any one of us can have a profound effect on all of us as the whole. And, at the level of consciousness, we are actually one Self seeing through many eyes. So the way we conduct our lives, is always having an effect on the whole. And the fact that we are all part of a cosmic evolutionary process brings home the question of our obligation to the whole.

So how would this affect your everyday choices if you knew you were either contributing to the whole or holding it back in a very real way? Our very future depends on our willingness to evolve as a species. Do we have any choice but to act in alignment with the highest good, beyond our unconscious habits and conditioning, beyond the limitation of the ego, beyond our personal desires, fears and concerns?

Faced then with this responsibility to transform ourselves for a greater good, we find that we have access to a source of energy, intention, passion and courage to confront whatever challenges arise. What’s more, all of the personal issues and problems, that once seemed so overwhelming, begin to seem a lot less significant. Why? Because our attention is now on something much greater than ourself. And before long, we discover that the deep inner peace, joy and freedom we were seeking all along has become the very place we relate to life from.

Our feelings may not change, our thoughts may not change, our circumstances may not change...BUT how we relate to everything can really change and this is the change that can transform everything. So no matter how we feel in any situation, we do have the freedom and the power of choice to shift our values, our motivation & perspective and navigate life within a new set of reference points. And it doesn’t have to take a long time; we don’t have to wait for our circumstances to change, or our feeling states to change, or our mind to clear up. If we did, it may never happen! All we need is the willingness to do it.

Let us not forget that we are part of a small percentage of people in the world who are so privileged. We have time to reflect on these things, we have healthy minds and bodies. We are living in a level of luxury that’s incomprehensible to most people on this planet. If we can’t muster up the care and conscience to be the best we can be, to serve a much greater purpose, then who’s going to do it??

Ben Herbster, a spiritual leader once said “the greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become.”

I’ll leave these thoughts with you to reflect on.
And I wish you all the best in your journey, in your evolution and in your contribution to the world.
Enjoy the rest of the evening. Thank you.