The Certainties of A Changing World

THE SPEAKING TREE
The Certainties of A Changing World
SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2003 11:19:19 PM ]
You can be at ease with the uncertainty of the world when you realise
the certainty of the consciousness. Often people do just the opposite.
They are certain about the world but uncertain about God. They rely on
something that is not reliable, and they get upset. Uncertainty causes
craving for stability. The most stable thing in the universe is our
Self.
The world is of change; the Self is of non-change. You have to rely on
the non-change and accept the change. If you are certain that
everything
is uncertain, then you are liberated. When you are uncertain in
ignorance then you become worried and tense. Uncertainty with awareness
brings higher states of consciousness with a smile.
Often people think that certainty is freedom. If you feel that freedom
when you are not certain, that is "real" freedom. Often your certainty
or uncertainty is based on the relative world. Being certain about the
uncertainty of the relative makes you certain about the existence of
the
absolute and brings a certain faith in the absolute.
Can one still be enthusiastic when one is uncertain? Yes, in knowledge
you can be enthusiastic in uncertainty. Often people who are uncertain
do not act; they simply sit and wait. Acting in uncertainty makes life
a
game, a challenge. Being in uncertainty is letting go. Certainty about
the relative world creates dullness. Uncertainty about the Self creates
fear.
Uncertainty about matter brings certainty about consciousness. When you
feel time is too short, you are either restless or in a state of
expanded awareness. When you feel time is too long, you are either
miserable or keen-minded. When you are happy and love what you are
doing, you lose track of time. When you are ahead of time, it is
dragging and boring. When time is ahead of you, then you are surprised
and shocked. You are unable to under-stand the play of events. In deep
meditation, you are time and everything is happening in you. Events are
happening in you like the clouds come and go in the sky. When you are
with time, you are wise and at peace.
When the mind is happy, it expands; then time appears too short. When
the mind is unhappy, it contracts; then time appears too long. When the
mind is in equanimity, it transcends time. To escape from the two
extremes, many resort to alcohol or sleep but when the mind is dull or
unconscious, it is unable to experience itself. Samadhi - no-mindedness
or timelessness - is peace, the real peace. That is the greatest
healer.

Just as the mind experiences time, this moment has a mind of its own, a
Big Mind which has enormous and infinite organising power. Thought is
nothing but a ripple in this moment, and thus a few moments of samadhi
infuse the mind with energy. Before you fall into slumber or as soon as
you wake up from sleep, in the moments of twilight in the
consciousness,
experience timelessness.
When something is un- believably beautiful or joyful, you wonder if it
is a dream. Often what you perceive as reality is not joyful so when
misery is there, you never wonder if it is a dream. You are sure it is
real. This is knowing the real as unreal and unreal as real. In fact,
all miseries are unreal. A wise man knows that happiness is real, as it
is your very nature. Unhappiness is unreal because it is inflicted by
memory. When you see everything as a dream, then you abide in your true
nature.
A nightmare is a dream mistaken for reality. There is no confusion in a
dream. As you keep wondering whether all this is a dream, you will wake
up to the real.