Welcome to the eve of our 40 Day Retreat 2009. Yesterday I began my talks with you and I am going to continue today. I spoke about the power of co-creation yesterday. What a wonderful field - a strong energy we can create when we come together. This happens when we are really conscious and responsible and have a desire for transformation.
Have the desire and commitment
Today, I want to take up the point of having the desire for transformation. This is always a very important thing. The deeper your desire is for transformation, the more committed you will be to transformation and the more sustained your effort will be in the transformation. When there is a powerful effort, then the results are even greater. You will find in different people there are different levels of desire or different levels of commitment. Those who have the greatest level of commitment, they are the ones who achieve the most. What is your level of commitment? How committed are you to transformation? During these days we need to have that desire and commitment.
Create a vision
A very important discipline in cultivating this desire is to have a vision of where you want to be; not just to think that you want to be transformed, but where do you want to go? What vision do you have in your mind of where you want to go? What is your benchmark? What is your idea of where you want to go? So you need to have a strong vision of where you want to go. For example, I had definite goals for myself. I wanted to ensure that I mastered my mind; my mind must not be able to control me. I wanted to be in a completely loving space. My entire being must be filled with love every day towards my world. And a third desire was to be able to see life in the perfect way everyday; to be able to see the Divine at work every day and not to lose that vision. These were definite goals within me:
- Mastery of mind
- Being in a constancy of love
- Being able to see the play of the Universe
There was constant vigilance in every interaction. In every thought that I kept, in every feeling that came into my being there was constant vigilance. That is the hallmark of a very serious student. Where do you place yourself? Of course, you have the choice to place yourself wherever you want, and the results will be accordingly.
Analyze and introspect to set goals
In this period of the 40 Day Retreat, you need to set some definite goals for yourself based on the things you have seen within you that you want to change, and to determine where you want to go. What do you want to change within you? You need to see that very clearly because sometimes we accept the state of normalcy. We accept different qualities inside of us that keep us behind in the journey. Can you see where your detractors are? Can you see the things you want to change? Sometimes you can accept the things that hold you back and after a while you do not see them anymore. You accept being angry in certain situations; you accept keeping bitterness within you. You accept keeping old patterns within you because you do not have constant vigilance. You are discriminating all the time saying, “What is this? I do not like that. I do not need this. This is holding me back.” If you do not look at that, and you just accept it because you do not see it any more, then how are you going to change it? And the best person to really analyze yourself is you!
Internal house cleaning
If you ask someone to tell you about “you”, they only tell you about what they see or perceive, or what they may have experienced in their interaction with you. But what about the other things you keep inside? You need to be able to look inside yourself and to do so in a sincere way and in an honest way to observe that. I will say you need to think of house cleaning. When you begin to transform anything, you want to see the things that you need to move away and you also need to look at the things you want to bring in. Both views are important. What are the things you want to remove and clean out of this space and what do you want to bring into this space?
Life is constantly showing you these things. What are the things that pull you into normalcy; stagnation, conflict? What are those things that hold you back? When you see them you need to meet your goal and say, “I want to change these.” Look at every level of your being:
- Physical level - what are the things that hold me back?
- Mental level - what are the thoughts that hold me back?
- Emotional level - what are the emotions that hold me back?
If you can identify these, then you can work on them and remove them.
What are the things that I want to put into that space? What are the qualities I want to develop? If you can identify those then you can go after them; they will stay with you. It is extremely important that as you begin to enter these days, that is what you will do.
Finding a secure space within
In 1978 before the 40 Days started, I had reached a space where all I wanted was just peace of mind, and I wanted to work on myself. Of course, I was working in the world but there was a desire within me just to be in a quiet place. I had wished that I could retire from all that work I was doing and just come into a quiet space. I had always realized that I did not need much for myself. It was easy to sustain myself. And every day that went by, this desire grew within me to come into a place of privacy or a more quiet space. Ultimately, the Universe provided it for me in a way that I did not even imagine. It isolated me from everything around. It provided me with that secure space for my transformation.
Be constantly vigilant
One of the things I always had with me was constant vigilance. I was always sincere at looking at myself. I wanted to clean myself as much as I could so I could receive all the grace that the Divine had to give me.
In this journey you need to take an honest look within you, “What are the things that I need to change?” You need to look at all your interactions with the environment and see, “What are the undesirables within me that I do not want anymore?” The more you can clean yourself inside, the more you will be able to receive. Keep a constant vision before you every day of where you want to be, “I want to be in a constant state of love.” Every day that you get up tell yourself, “Every thing that I do today must be inspired by love. I want to be able to master my mind today. My mind should not control me today. I should not be hijacked by my mind. I want to keep just the thoughts that I want today.”
Have a strong desire
This is what gives you the power to keep the mantra or some positive idea in your mind continuously. It is the strong desire when you tell yourself, “I want to master my mind; I want to serve everybody I meet today as though God has sent that person to me, and I want to serve them with love. I want to meet the needs of my world today. I want to see the world as being the vessel of God. I want to see every human being in my world as being Divine, and being an instrument whether they know it or not. And I want to deal with every human being and serve everyone as a way of serving the Divine. I want to treat every human being in the perfect way that will uplift me and will uplift them.”
When you have that vision before you every day, that vision is Divine. It is a vision that will uplift you. This is the way you need to look at the world every day, and particularly so during this period. Can you do that? If you can, this will be a phenomenal period for you. There is a saying, “When you walk towards God, God runs towards you. Cast your bread upon the waters and it returns a thousand fold.”
Be sincere in your practice
When you begin to practice in a sincere way, you will find so much support around you. However, if you are trying to practice but you have hidden things inside you, you will find that there will be conflict. The Universe is showing you that, when you think there is no support, it is really telling you there are more things inside for you to clean up. That is why you think you are not getting support, but you are actually getting support. The Universe is supporting you in cleansing, and as you begin to see those and to clean them out, grace is going to come abundantly. This is a Universe of grace! Open the way for it and it is going to come to you. Keep your little door closed and grace will find it difficult to enter.
Discipline brings grace
As we are in the eve of this 40 Day period and you are making steps for transformation, and you are welcoming this period of discipline, let us look at how we can house-clean. Let us make it easy for the Divine to come in and work through us. Let us be a better instrument. The more we do that, the more grace will come and the more power we will have on the journey. The journey then becomes wonderfully enjoyable. The moment grace enters, it is a marvelous journey.
My journey of spirituality has been a marvelous one amidst all the challenges. But on the inside I was wonderfully supported throughout the journey, and I knew it was because of my effort and my desire; my effort to clean myself, my desire for change, and my desire for where I wanted to be, for the ideal.
This is a period of grace, a period that I believe is divinely held in a space of many dimensions. We are supported by other beings who are channeling energy to our world. These 40 Days are days of grace, abundant grace.
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