I witnessed for four years what it meant to be in a superconscious state while serving Swami Kriyananda, and through him, I got a glimpse of it.
There were so many ways in which he expressed outwardly that state of superconsciousness. We could write a long list , but for now, let’s mention just three of them, that nowadays I am meditating on and try to apply it in my daily life. These three are: his incredible expansion of the mind, his ever new approach to life, and his deep level of awareness of God’s presence in his heart.
Let’s briefly talk about the expansion of his consciousness. If you read about Swamiji’s life, you can see he had it all – persecution, betrayal, extreme health challenges. Many of his expectations and hopes for Master’s mission were broken, and the disappointments he had to embrace were many.
Yet, he went through each one of them by never referring to that issue, that problem, or that disappointment that deeply tested him. Every time that life sent him an obstacle, a misunderstanding, he expanded his consciousness so much, so vastly, that that problem, misunderstanding, that test became so small, that wasn’t even worth his attention.
He was able to create another reality bigger than the test itself, so those things that had the potential to destroy him inwardly, became something small and easier to deal with. If a fly comes and sits on our shoulder, many of us perceive that fly as a tiger that just jumped onto our shoulders and we make such a big
fuzz about it. But if we see that fly just as a fly, we can easily flick it off and forget about it.
So every time life throws at us any test, obstacle, or misunderstanding, it is really up to us to perceive that test whether as a fly that can easily be flicked off, or as a tiger. If we see it as a tiger, believe me, we lost it. That tiger, that problem, will have the potential to destroy us. So whatever we are dealing with, let’s choose wisely, let’s expand our consciousness to the point that every trial we have to go through, becomes like that little fly that can easily be flicked off.
The second quality Swamiji had was his ever new approach to life. Every day of his life was new, as a new incarnation, a new chance to do more and better, and a new opportunity to deepen his attunement with God and Guru from the previous day.
Each day he created something new, he found new ways to share the teachings from different angles so it could help more people. Every day he loved more, gave of himself more, he shared his bliss with anyone he met.
How many of us live in that reality? Not many. Swamiji did this day in and day out, over and over, and over again. Swami Kriyananda said, a constant repetition of an action creates a habit. So if we want to develop the habit of living constantly in the superconsciousness, what are the actions that we need to repeat, constantly, over and over again? Perhaps serve more, love more, meditate more, support more, encourage more, smile more, whatever it is!
Yes it takes time, it takes repetition, it takes lifetimes, but Yogananda said, a habit can be changed in a day. So what’s our excuse!
The last state of consciousness I would like to share here is his ever deeper awareness of God’s presence within. Swamiji said that divine courage comes by living in the awareness of the divine within and around you, knowing that once you find that center in your heart, knowing that God is by your side, nothing and no one can touch you.
It takes a lot of courage to choose God over the world, beginning with our own awareness. Imagine if a train is coming towards you, at that very moment, will we be able to shift that awareness from the train to God awareness? It’s very difficult , but that’s what life is all about. It’s full of trains heading towards us, constantly demanding our attention, our awareness, and it takes even a higher level of awareness if we want to live in the superconsciousness. It takes energy, it takes will power, it takes a constant repetition of those actions that will take us there.
Everything that Swamiji created, every ceremony, every vow, every piece of music, all of it had one purpose, to encourage us to live in the superconsciousness. He created a vow just for this. He called it the vow of superconscious living. A vow that we can repeat daily, to set the tone of our day, to remind us what this day should look like.
I would like for all of us to read this vow, and if you feel inspired, to repeat, to make of this day, as Swamiji did, a new chance, a new opportunity, a new day to do better, to do more, and to remind yourself to live more in the superconsciousness.
The vow says “I vow from this day forth to be true to my higher super conscious self, to be a channel of light, of love and blessings to all to live in joy not in sorrow, in truth not error, in victory not failure and in times of adversity to blame no one but myself and then instead of blame to accept responsibility with God’s help for changing myself”.
I invite you to repeat this vow for a week, or a month, and make of this a reminder to take responsibility for our actions, and to learn to live more joyfully, more superconsciously!