Ultimately, the spiritual life is radically simple. It is all about being emptied of the psychological and spiritual debris, or karmic tendencies, that we have accumulated over lifetimes so that we become entirely transparent to God and our own souls. Then, God’s light reveals to us our true identity, which is God’s very image. The process is a universal pattern: emptiness paves the way for fullness, darkness always precedes day’s illuminating light, and death is the necessary precondition for new life. Patangali’s Yoga Sutras refer to this process as “austerity.”
St Paul perfectly captures the universal pattern of the spiritual life in these words: “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness. Found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this God greatly exalted him.” This emptying process is not a form of masochism, but the path to liberation. The yoga sutras call it “suppression of the oscillation of the mental substances,” that is, the silencing the ego’s ever-present, torturous voice. Still deeper, it is the silencing of the human will that tends to be infatuated with everything other than truth, beauty, and goodness. In the context of this emptying process something magical is established: a zone of perpetual silence. This zone of silence is not merely the absence of thoughts or words, but the fruit of real contact with the spiritual world. Valentin Tomberg writes, (This contact allows for) “an influx of spiritual forces.” In a manner of speaking, these spiritual forces are wings of angels carrying us to the very heights of God-realization. Yogananda taught us, “Silence is the altar of spirit.”
Returning to the words of Saint Paul, we see that for Jesus, the emptying process went still further: “He humbled himself, becoming obedient, even to the point of death.” Translation: obedience is not the subjugation of the will to a different will, but spiritual clairaudience (clear hearing), that is, the capacity to know and recognize the voice of truth. Our experience of blissful union with our souls and with God must be expressed in wisdom-guided service, right action, and the fulfillment of our Dharmic duties. Otherwise, our evolutionary enlightement is not complete. We only become deeply ourselves by becoming God-like, and God serves, loves, and constantly begets life. Sri Yukteswar said it very clearly: “Those who are too good for this world are adorning some other. So long as you breathe the free air of earth, you are under obligation to render grateful service.” Living a life of service often feels like a death of sorts to the ego, but it is a death that exalts and divinizes the human spirit. The concluding words of Dante’s Divine Comedy poetically capture the exaltation of the human spirit: “But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the love which moves the sun and the other stars.”
Master Jesus,
Beloved One,
You taught us:
Emptiness paves the way for fullness,
Darkness precedes dawn,
And death gives way to resurrection.
