Tiger Eye – Meet a Need
Sometime in the early nineties, my sister was driving on the freeway, and a minute before, an accident occurred. The road was littered with computer parts that the driver was hauling, and traffic slowed almost to a stop.
The man got out of his vehicle staggering from left to right, while the traffic behind him continued to drive around him. I asked my sister, “Did you stop and help him?” She responded, “No, I don’t have any medical training!”
The cell phone wasn’t common at the time, so contacting the police and emergency services would have been more difficult. I said, “I can’t believe you drove around him and did nothing.”
Frustrated, she said, “What was I supposed to do?” I said, “How about guiding him away from the middle of the road? He was probably in shock.” If not, she could have positioned her car to protect him and stayed with him until someone with more medical training arrived.
Imagine now that the road is your sadhana. My sister is no different than the vast majority who follow blindly those who are in front of her. Her desire was to get to her destination, and following her desires led her to ignore the serious situation in front of her.
How do we address critical issues in life? This is not a simulation, and we are not an alien, governmental, or universal experiment. From God’s perspective, our behavior isn’t difficult to predict by our level of spiritual awareness.
Internal Struggle
Difficulties in life are not a test from God but a reflection of the internal struggle between desire and pursuing a spirit-filled life. In most cases, unless our vocation is to attend to emergencies or put out fires, sadhana is not about rushing to fulfill desire since these are what fuel the fires, to begin with.
Currently, all the echelons are present, from tamas to the advanced gurus, and everyone pursues desire except for the bodhisattva. So many are in poverty and suffering from a lack of resources, while those who have plenty ignore the rest by taking more.
A desire-based society causes violence since, collectively, it denies the needs of the individual. The ego lives in a desire-led world and, if left unchecked, denies the happiness of others. There is no exception to the rule, for this is how the ego functions, whether male or female.
Where has this mad rush to fulfill desire led the world? Countries want to topple other countries, causing war and suffering for the masses. All want to be the ultimate power, and they’ll fight until the resources are gone and the earth is a ravaged wasteland.
There was never a war that was initiated with good intentions by any government. Desire creates war in all cases. Israel’s attacks on Gaza are not to find the perpetrators who attacked them but to rid the population so they can take the land and resources.
Essentially, what was done to the Jews in times past, ironically, is now being done by the Israeli government. Every other country takes sides or remains neutral by answering the question, “What’s in it for me?”
Any government that claims they are “for the people,” would not initiate war. It’s hunger and thirst for sovereignty, not righteousness, that causes war. The god of the Old Testament that encouraged war and attrition never existed outside of the minds of bloodthirsty men.
Desire has driven technology, science, medicine, and the economy. Man’s idea of “going green” is to make a few men rich and the rest broke trying to afford it, and it still doesn’t address the seriousness of gas emissions.
Scientists can manipulate DNA for their own selfish gain. AI, too, is a tool that can be used for good or ill, and what is the likely result of the two when human nature is inherently selfish and desire-led?
We don’t yet know the longer-term consequences of the foolish who have unleashed unnatural viruses and manipulated DNA, under the guise of being in the people’s best interest. Even GMO foods are questionable since we don’t know the long-term effects, but they’ll still serve it in every store and restaurant.
The world has reached a critical point that is pushing sadhana over a cliff due to the squandering of resources, overpopulation, pollution, and violence. Collectively, the world’s condition is the result of desire.
The ploys of the ego are numerous, and each move merely hides behind good intentions. The wolf in sheep’s clothing is always a wolf inside, so do not look over here or there and wonder about another’s intentions. Until Self is realized and the heart is perfected, all unconscious motivations range from selfish to sinful.
Conscious intentions from those around us should always be analyzed. Search for goodness and befriend those who live a fruitful life that’s filled with joy and kindness. Those friendships are worth more than a thousand led by desire.
In the song, Stairway to Heaven, it says, “Yes, there are two paths you can go by but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” The deeper meaning of the two paths is unrelated to a specific religion but refers to chasing desire or engaging in spiritual practices.
The two oppose one another, for as one engages in spiritual practices daily, desires diminish with a shift in perspective. We begin to value the Intangible and God’s purpose for living.
The secret of life is finding that secret place inside and expanding in joy, allowing peace to overflow through your actions. Many pray for God’s will in their lives, and it is always God’s will that your life be filled with joy and ecstatic living!
Parables
Another stanza says, “There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving.” The west denotes Christianity, and the path is one of desire. It feeds the ego, for it requires little inner work when the weaknesses caused by the ego can simply be forgiven, overlooked, and accepted status quo.
The accepted paradigm is false in stating that we are all sinners. The ego in one is not unlike the ego in all, but all have not sinned. Without spiritual practices, the unconscious mind reigns, which can lead to sin, since the ego is the controller.
Christianity teaches that Jesus paid the price for evil tendencies, and somehow, we can be perfect through Christ. The ego enjoys this narrative since it requires little on the sadhu’s part to do more than “let go and let God.”
Jesus paid a price for admitting His Divinity, and the world persecuted Him for it, end of story. There is no “part two” in converting to Christianity that changes the heart, other than daily meditation and repetition of the Lord’s Name, which fundamental Christianity doesn’t teach.
Those who practice daily find their path to Heaven much swifter than those who don’t, and it doesn’t require a belief in fairy tales. Indeed, stories and parables have a way of communicating in a profound way, but they’re just parables.
Did Noah build an ark, and all the animals miraculously line up in twos? These weren’t domesticated pets, but wild animals. Even the best magician or animal tamer couldn’t pull it off.
Was Jonah really swallowed by a whale for three days and lived to talk about it? I don’t know of anyone who was swallowed for five minutes and lived.
Was Jesus crucified and rose again on the third day in bodily form? That’s easy. Has it ever happened to a friend of a friend that you know? Has it ever been reported on the news that someone was buried or put in a vault and miraculously rose again a day or two later? The body of Jesus was flesh and blood, like everyone else’s, and that’s the real story.
The Lord is not the Great Magician in the Sky that juggles objects, tames wild beasts, or induces bodily transformations. Only a weak and ego-driven religion expects God to perform miracles that defy logic.
The miracles from the East take a more advanced approach and rely on the possibilities of what the sadhu can accomplish with out-of-body experiences, foretelling the future, and other gifts from their success through the chakras.
The Miracle of Life
Everything that begins in spirit form manifests itself in the natural realm. When we observe a forest, take notice of the different plants, trees, and animals that live there. These are the real miracles!
Anyone can grow a plant with water and sunlight, but only God alone can make and hold the life of the plant that began in spirit form. How Miraculous and Powerful that is!
On your next trip into nature, view the miracles around you and then look inside. You, too, are a wonderful miracle and creation from God!
You are gifted with so much more than the plants and animals that dwell there. The trees can’t inhabit a human body, but you can! Your life is truly blessed with so much of the Intangible that each visit should induce peace, joy, and love for all the Creator’s blessings.
In fact, your Atman will release this wholeness that it experiences on a moment-by-moment basis as you commune with nature. The wise look to the real miracles of God for joy inside while the foolish respond, “Is that all there is?”
Maya’s Illusion
In Meet a Need, let’s cut through Maya’s illusion that fulfilling desire produces happiness, and let’s look at it from the life of the sun, which will last for roughly the next six billion years.
What are the needs of the soul in that timeframe? God’s purpose for creating is so that the soul can grow toward the Divine, and like the rest of creation, the needs of the soul are manifested in the physical world.
By drinking clean water and eating nutritious food, we fuel the vehicle that the soul needs for spiritual growth. What has happened due to a desire-driven world? The water is no longer drinkable, and the soil does not produce nutritious food like it once did.
Procreation is needed for sadhana, which God has allowed up to overpopulation at this point. We should be mindful of what the world is capable of feeding and thriving on for spiritual growth, for the resources are not endless when we look at a span of six billion years.
A healthy body is needed for spiritual growth, so exercise is another need for the soul. This should be practiced from youth to old age, keeping the physical body vibrant and healthy as it ages.
This summer, I, my husband, and boys decided to go kayaking. Later, as we were unloading them, I stepped up on the truck bed to help, and Anthony, my middle child said, “Mom, get down, you’ll break a hip!” He noticed my uneasiness in lifting myself up.
The next week at my job, I took the most physically strenuous jobs possible, even moving seventy-pound compressors. For the next few weeks, it wreaked havoc on my physical body to the point of exhaustion, but I continued to use proper lifting techniques.
Now, two months later, my strength has improved considerably. My husband is much younger than me, and I said, “Watch this!” I showed him my improvement by stepping up into the truck bed with ease.
It has been one of many regrets that I didn’t learn earlier, as I continue to struggle with a weakened condition that could have easily been avoided. The physical condition of the body will affect happiness, so let’s exercise the body so we can continue to spiritually grow no matter how old we get!
Fruitful Sadhana
Most of my younger years were spent trying to survive for essentials like food and shelter. God doesn’t want this kind of stress on the mind, or your sadhana will not be fruitful.
Make finding your place in the world a priority before marriage and procreation in the mid-twenties, or life will be too stressful for positive sadhana. You will be too busy meeting the needs of your spouse and children, not knowing yourself or what truly makes you happy.
Go to college or learn a trade or skill and strive to be the best at whatever you choose, and the Lord will bless your path with many years of fruitful sadhana. With a skill that’s needed in the world, you’ll be able to feed, clothe, and support yourself.
Our livelihood is karma yoga and fulfills the need of the soul to be useful, or else you’ll be asking something similar to Scott Stapp’s song, “What’s this life for?” The ego desires riches without effort, but it’s the poor in spirit who find God.
The goal was always that you become whole inside, and it doesn’t require any more or less than meeting your needs. Desire and success in the world are meaningless to God since eternally they serve no purpose. There was never a desire that was fulfilled that ever made a difference in sadhana.
Do you need more than the water you drink daily or the food to support your energy? How about a place to live? Securing yourself is important, and Brahman delights in those who work to support their sadhana.
Sometimes, tragedies or difficulties befall a person. Do we help our brothers and sisters in need, or do we look away? See my reminiscence at the end, more experiences of a tragic life.
Call to Action
The Creator is the God of Action, not faith, so don’t hope to become a better person but work to bring it into fruition, and all effort is rewarded. When God delights in your sadhana, blessings continue to flow into many lives!
While meeting our physical needs, we can search for the real treasures in life through meditation and spiritual retreats. These are worth more than all the gold in the world, and no one can take them from you unless you let them!
The real gold lies inside and what you take with you from one life to the next. Wherever you are in your sadhana; your affections, habits, preferences, and goals, are all spiritual and affect your sadhana. Make good habits and wise choices, and these will follow, not just all the days of this life, but all your lives!
Consider the Intangible before making choices and meet the needs of your sadhana first. This is the Lord’s path to happiness, and you’ll never find it through a lifestyle of self-aggrandizement, fame, or fortune, for the soul was made to work and look up to find its worth.
Good Stewards
Living a spirit-filled life starts with recognizing destructive patterns that will individually and collectively lead to suffering. The ego’s way is to do whatever feels good but brings misery behind it for the individual and society.
What we do individually will add to the collective and produce peace or suffering for the rest. Gluttony takes many forms, whether overeating, overspending, or overpopulation; even drinking too much water can cause a person to drown.
Procreation is important, but let’s not have more children than the world can sustain. Do we know what that number is? If not, let’s find out, so our children don’t end up hungry and homeless.
These are the tragedies that befall the world that’s drowning in a sea of desire and the cause of all suffering. By striving to live like the Lord, we find more sun and less rain in our lives that flow into society and the rest of the world.
Make your sadhana real to yourself first, and the fruits of your labor will flow to the rest of society. You’ll naturally be fulfilling the Lord’s golden rule of doing unto others as you would have done unto yourself.
Am I the only one to see where desire has led the world? Support the earth the Mother’s Way by not overindulging and learn to nurture the earth with practices that are sustainable.
This too, is a part of sadhana, to tread lightly on the earth. In living as good stewards, we learn what it means to be co-creators with the Lord in real ways that don’t defy logic.
From Darkness to Light
All travel from darkness to light, and all begin at the same place. Some are ahead of you, and some are behind. The more you look up, the less you’ll look down on others, for the ego naturally wants to place all under its feet.
God is always watching our actions in life’s situations, and self-reflection leads to better actions. How can we improve so our actions are in line with the Creator’s Will?
God’s purpose for the Black Lady Doctrines is for integrating goodness inside, and it won’t happen unless we practice, practice, practice!
It’s important to spend time each day reflecting on our previous actions and becoming aware of the universal joy available to all, and then practice filling our days with actions that bring a little bit of Heaven to earth.
Living doesn’t require a sacrificial offering to please the Lord. There’s no expectation of invoking a Gandhi-like change over a country or dying for an injustice. In truth, Gandhi’s influence was brought about, in large part, by the Holy Spirit.
Might there be those who feel called to such matters? Sure, but living for goodness is always better than dying for a cause.
With the Tiger Eye Doctrine, we can build a solid foundation in sadhana that carries over into future lives. Fundamental Christianity teaches that working without faith is dead, but it is faith without work that builds castles in the air.
The mind must be trained through our day-to-day actions, building trust and confidence that we can apply the Lord’s principles in daily living.
Integrating goodness in our actions isn’t a sacrifice, but an opportunity to grow a step closer to the Lord through our daily experiences and spiritual practices. This is what builds integrity, not faith that we will magically wake up one day with enough love and motivation to begin a spirit-filled life.
Life Journal
Keeping a journal throughout life is rewarding since one can look back at the years and reflect on the journey. What difficulties did you encounter, and how did you overcome them? Did you experience any dry periods? How did you work through it?
The more you write from your mind and heart, the more priceless it becomes! You can be as personal as you want since you are the only one reading it. For those who don’t mind sharing their personal journey, it can be willed to children or family members. What a wonderful legacy to leave those we love!
For those who feel a sense of universal love, donate a copy of your journal to the Mother’s Way, and it can be put into a database for all to read! Share your difficulties and joys, or changes in your perception that transformed your sadhana. Write about your spiritual experiences and the meditation that worked best for you.
You may read one of your own journals a few hundred years from now and say, “This sounds like my mind!” It will bring joy and confidence to continue to strive in the Mother’s Love that will follow all the days of your sadhana!
You might also be surprised at how many others have the same difficulties and may find comfort in your words, giving them the reassurance that they can overcome similar challenges in life.
All that I’ve written has been from my own personal and mostly harrowing journey, and if it’s God’s will, I will find these writings and embrace them as a child in future lives, holding them close like my dearest friend.
Conclusion
As we look out into the world, the spiritually aware can see where desire has led on a global scale. Wouldn’t you rather read about others’ goals and accomplishments in sadhana, than reach for a manual on how to survive another apocalypse?
Following desire brings death for the deeper the indulgence, the darker and more destructive the result. At its best, it’s the path of unkindness toward Self, others, and God.
The Christians speak of free will to choose between good and evil, and yet the truth lies somewhere in between. All are held captive by Maya without some form of meditation and filling our days with lots of karma yoga.
The physical brain has the mechanisms for making choices, but an untrained mind in sadhana can’t access choices that are pleasing to God without meditation. At best, it can only choose the lesser of the evils.
What is good and what is evil? One is black and the other is white, and yet, we don’t live in a black-and-white world. Good and evil have never been defined before outside of societal expectations.
Evil is ignorance and goodness is Divine, and all are on a continuum from darkness to light, regardless of what a particular religion teaches.
A rational mind doesn’t see a choice between good and evil, for evil is the result of the spiritually unaware and ignorant.
God is Good and the Atman’s goal is to lead the soul to light, goodness, and the Divine. All that God creates is eternal, so any other choice than goodness is caught in captivity to the ego, which is self-created.
The soul was made in the Creator’s image to thrive on peace, joy, and love. It is the ego that produces desire that results in discord, unhappiness, and hate. An irrational mind revels in an imaginary choice between good and evil, while a rational mind delights between good and better.
The more we search and strive to find this goodness within through the Impersonal Atman, the sooner we reach wholeness. The stage of the bodhisattva doesn’t see black and white, but a myriad of colors, all vibrant and glowing with eternal life!
Evil is the result of the ego, and the more the soul looks upward, ignorance lessens, and the soul becomes pleasing to the Atman and God. We must loosen the ego’s captivity through spiritual practices, or ignorance will naturally follow.
There is no question that God endows each with free will. It is the ego within that weakens and imprisons through the unconscious mind, and it is the ego that denies free will.
Jesus came to set the captives free, but the Bible never indicated how or when. Society was just beginning, and now, two thousand years later, we are entering a new era when sadhana can begin a positive path forward as truth unfolds.
Let’s rid our egos of the illusion that God will magically make us whole inside. God won’t fix weaknesses, and the soul must strive. Goodness is earned, not given. There was never anyone who entered Heaven through any other means than striving.
The goal is attainable, and all effort is gold for the soul and carried forward into future births. Be all you can be, and then strive to be more. Your sadhana is yours, not God’s, and no one else can add to your venerability but you.
It is through spiritual practices, karma yoga, goals, and hobbies, that the spiritual aspirant finds the most options. As the soul clings to desire, options become slim, for it weakens and hardens the mind into the view that a certain worldly condition must be met.
“I must have this or that, or I can’t be happy.” Meet the needs of the body and look inside toward the Aman for happiness through work and play. At the end of the day, when rest comes, so does peace and joy.
It produces less disappointment when expectations are realistic for your situation. If you can only meditate for five minutes, then dedicate your first fruits to the Lord daily for five minutes. It may take sixty days to acquire a habit, depending on the individual.
After a few months, you may decide to increase your meditation period to ten minutes. Strength builds over time, and with it comes the resilience to face life challenges, instead of driving around critical issues and hoping someone else takes care of it.
Try to live each day like the person you know God wants you to be, and one day, you’ll find that trying isn’t as difficult as it was a year, or even a month ago. The Lord wants to bless your path and will do so as you engage in actions that are uplifting and true to Self.
Don’t let the trappings of the little self dictate your path in life. Embrace the Divine by reaching for the highest within. In doing so, you’ll find comfort, peace, love, and fulfillment. By reaching up daily, you’ll find the resilience and magic in living, and the secret of life.
Reminiscent of Meeting a Need
During my darkest days, work was difficult to find since my skills were limited. I worked for a couple of years behind the fuel desk at a truck stop and ended up at various factories through temporary agencies. I longed for the opportunity to make a living that would support myself and my children.
For three years or so, I worked at a bar and grill, and though it wasn’t full-time, the tips equaled that of a meager full-time job, and I was able to find relief from some of the stress of a low income.
At the time, I was befriended by an older man who offered me the opportunity to move out into the country to an old farmhouse. The rent was low, and the yard was large and stretched out to a big barn with a creek that ran behind the property.
My second husband and our four children moved in, and though the property was huge, the old farmhouse was hot in the summer and cold in the winter with fifteen-foot-high ceilings.
The plastered walls were broken in some places, with little insulation, and the floors were uneven. Despite it, the boys enjoyed the freedom of exploring the property that stretched many acres behind us.
One night, while bartending, an old man walked through the front door. His appearance was unkept, with a dirty overcoat and long beard. He sat a few items down, reached for a book, and asked for a glass of water.
This piqued my curiosity, for I loved books since I was a young child. At the age of two and three, I would sit in church, open the hymn book, and pretend I could read. I was excited about the day when I would be given the opportunity to learn.
Customers were few that night, and we chatted about the book he was reading. Deeper into the conversation, the man explained that he had been a chaplain in the army and served a few tours during the Vietnam War.
As the evening progressed, he explained that the little black book he carried was of great value to him. He opened the book, read a few spiritual passages about alchemy, and tears flowed from my eyes. My hunger and thirst for righteousness were penetrating, and these passages gave me hope in my darkness.
The evening ended, and the old man hesitantly rose from his chair. I asked quietly, “Do you have somewhere to go?” He said, “No.” I had suspected it from his appearance and the possessions he carried.
“Then you shall go home with me.” He left with me that night, and though my income was meager, I wasn’t willing to overlook his suffering, just as he hadn’t been willing to overlook mine.
Within a short time, we nicknamed him Chaps, and the children enjoyed his company. He spoke often of his book and days as a chaplain in the army.
My second husband was angry with my decision, and threatened to leave if I brought home any more “strays.” A year later, he would do just that and leave me bankrupt and stranded, twelve miles out of town, with no transportation.
One day, a few weeks later, Chaps disappeared. I called everywhere, including the hospitals and the Veteran’s Administration. The police found him under a bridge, nearly in a diabetic coma, and transported him to a VA hospital.
On the way home, I said, “Chaps, I didn’t know you were diabetic. You must take your insulin, or you will die. Do you understand?” He said, “Yes, I understand.”
A few months later, he refused his insulin again, fell into a coma, and died in the old farmhouse. He went off to war, caring for the wounded and dying, and like many who go to war, he came back a broken man.
You may not be inclined to give another a place to live, but there are so many ways to show compassion to others. Visit the elderly or read a book to a child. Emulate a compassionate mentor and be a mentor to those who need one.
It may not be possible to know all the reasons for another’s suffering but give from the heart when the need is reasonable regarding your own life circumstance. Society needs compassionate workers and those who are willing to spread God’s love by helping one another along the way.