One of the questions that you might share with me is this:
How can I get from where I am in consciousness, outlook, viewpoint, attitude etc.
to a better place, a place I want to be?
Today's reading is from the Chandogya Upanishad, one of the most loved and famous of them all.
It answers how we get from "here" to "there" in a wise and wonderful way, I think.
See what you think........
The Soul is the bridge by which people may pass from a state of worldly consciousness
to a state of heavenly consciousness.
Day and night cannot cross that bridge.
Old age, death, and grief cannot cross that bridge.
Nor can good AND evil deeds.
Those who are blind as they approach the bridge have their eyes opened as they cross it.
Those who are wounded as they approach the bridge have their wounds healed as they cross it.
Those who are sick as they approach the bridge are made well as they cross it.
Those who are sad as they approach the bridge become joyful as they cross it.
The bridge is the boundary between darkness and light,
between the darkness of the world, and the supreme Light of God, into which darkness cannot enter.
Those who are self controlled and pure can cross the bridge from the world into the City of God,
where they enjoy perfect freedom.
In the City of God the Soul is supreme.
The Soul desires only what is Real.
The Soul thinks only what is true.
This is my prayer of response:
God of Light and Bliss:
You Who are the Soul of all and the Soul of my soul,
Lead me across this Bridge from the worldly consciousness that confines me
and is dark, full of grief and fear, haunted by old age, sickness, evil, and death
into that realm of consciousness which is the cure of my blindness,
the healing of my wounds and illness,
and the experience of Joy which drives out all sadness.
I struggle to purify my mind and will by focusing on You, Soul of my Soul,
rather than the evils of the world my senses report.
When I do fix my mind and heart on You,
I find myself crossing the Bridge,
and thus entering that state of freedom and joy which is
Your Presence,
the City of God,
the Realm of Heaven.
