To a lesser or greater extent, we all carry within our bodies and psyches overwhelming levels of tension. There is so much information to process, so many choices to be made, and so many challenges to confront. It is no wonder that many of us struggle with depression and anxiety. We were never meant to carry so many heavy bricks on our backs! God did not create us to be perpetually overwhelmed, but to flourish, to live creatively and joyfully, and to love extravagantly. The heart of the problem is that as long as we are overwhelmed with tension, we will be blinded to the presence of God in and around us. Blindness to God will only intensify our tension.
We can neither muscle nor think our way out of this tension. A higher power needs to intervene in our individual and collective lives to remind us of these essential truths: we are not alone but rather part and parcel of something grand and glorious; the burden of our lives belongs not to us, but to God and gurus; and, as Babaji taught us, “God is the doer.” Only then will we be able to let go and release the tension we are holding within ourselves. With these thoughts in mind, read the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel:
“The Religious leaders murmured about Jesus because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven,’ and they said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.’”
Because we live in an increasingly materialistic society, we have lost our intuition of a higher world. However, Jesus and the gurus come to us not with worldly wisdom or political power, but with luminous light and love. Our job is simple: to avail ourselves of God‘s helping hand, to release ourselves into the stream of God’s grace, to trust Divine providence, and to let God be God in our lives. God holds the only remedy for the tension that cripples so many of us. How do we allow God’s help to unfold in our lives? We need to regularly put the world and its drama aside, creating space for silence, rest, laughter, being with God, and being with our loved ones and ourselves. This is the essential meaning of the commandment, “Keep holy the sabbath.” Only in God’s restful presence can we release our burdens to God and guru, including all of the problems confronting humanity. Understand that I am not suggesting passivity in the face of life’s challenges, but rather pointing out that operating from a place of interior tension only makes our problems worse. Paradoxically, when we embrace the truth that God is the doer of everything that is true, beautiful, and good, then we become powerful agents of change in the world. Yogananda tells us, “Modern life is becoming very unsatisfactory. It does not give you happiness. There are too many things, too many desires. More nice cars and dresses and entertainment — and more worries! Free yourself from the so-called necessities and spend more time with God. Make your life simple: be happy in and by yourself.”
Beloved God, Divine Guruji,
Only in your restful presence
Can I release my burdens,
The burdens of my loved ones,
And the burdens of the whole world.
