VBT – Meditation 51.3
Seed Of Godliness
Awareness Is the Seed of Godliness in You
Risk everything for awareness, but never risk awareness for anything. This is the commitment of a seeker: that he is ready to lose his life but not his awareness; he has found a value which is higher than life. There is no other value which is higher than awareness. Awareness is the seed of godliness in you. When it comes to its full growth, you have come to the fulfillment of your destiny. As you go deeper, your actions may not be efficient but they will have a new quality, the quality of grace, which is far more valuable. No machine can have the quality of grace. Your actions, your words will have a beauty of their own.
The way a man of awareness lives, each moment is filled with tremendous grace and beauty. It is reflected in his actions, even in the smallest actions – just in the gesture of his hand or just the way he looks; in the depth of his eyes or the authority of his words or the music of his silence. His very presence is a celebration.
One morning, Gautam Buddha is passing through a village with one of his most intimate disciples, Ananda. A fly comes and sits on his forehead. He is answering some questions of Ananda, and he is so absorbed in answering that, without any awareness, mechanically, he waves his hand. The fly is gone, but then he becomes suddenly aware that the waving of the hand was not done in awareness – it was mechanical. You can do such an act even in your sleep. If you feel something in your sleep creeping on your feet you simply throw it off, and your sleep is not disturbed. It is a mechanical process; your body does it without bothering you.
Buddha stopped in the street and again raised his hand, and with great grace and awareness brought it to his forehead. Ananda said, ‘What are you doing? The fly has gone away.’
Buddha said, ‘I am not concerned with the fly, I am concerned with myself. I acted in unawareness. I was too concerned with your question and with answering it, and my hand moved mechanically; I am trying to see how it should have moved. It has nothing to do with the fly. My hand should have moved with awareness.
Awareness Is Simple, Very Innocent
Awareness is simple, very innocent. Everyone has it, so it is not a question of achievement. One wrong question leads to another wrong question: first you ask what right awareness is, then you ask how to achieve it. You already have it. When you see the sunset, are you not aware? When you see a rose flower, are you not aware? You are aware of the beautiful sunset, you are aware of the beautiful rose; all that is needed is that you become aware of your awareness, too. That is the only thing that has to be added, the only refinement.
You are aware of objects. You have to be aware of your subjectivity. When you are looking at a sunset, you are so absorbed in the beauty of the sunset that you completely forget that there is a greater beauty which is making it possible for you to know the beauty of the sunset – it is your awareness. But your awareness is focused on an object – the sunset, the sunrise, the moon. Drop the object and just remain engulfed in pure awareness, in silence, in peace. Just be alert.
Tags: Seed Of Godliness
