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iamomFrom pages 376-377 in I Am That, I noted the following two exchanges with interest. The first deals with how easy it is to get caught up in words and concepts; the second expands on this with the aphorism, 'everything is as it is,' in Nisargadatta's clear way.
I find these passages helpful when thinking about dealing effectively with Z's belly pain. She has been really sore lately, apparently due to an allergy both to cow's milk protein and to soy milk protein, and she is prone to painful, loud crying fits that can last for an hour or more.
As I enter one of these episodes with her, I consciously try to relax my breathing, hold her very gently, and make gentle, if any, noises. When she builds her intensity, I may do the same, trying to find an opposing frequency to her crying that cancels it out. But no matter what I've done, I've noticed that as soon as I start thinking that she's sick or that something is wrong with her, it spontaneously creates tension and negative energy in me, which I surely must pass along to her.
Just last night, I noticed a slight change in the way I was looking at her when she was having a fit. I thought to myself, "She's fine -- this is her normal -- this is her reality at the moment -- there's nothing I can say or do to reverse what's happening, so I have to just go with it, ride the wave with her, give her as much support as I can, and hold on to her without judgement. No judgement; I don't think that she should be any way other than how she is."
Believing that, I've had some really fun times with her in the past 24 hours. We both seem to be doing a bit better with it.
Questioner: I have not understood well the role of the inner self in spiritual endeavour. Who makes the effort? Is it the outer self, or the inner?
Nisargardatta: You have invented words like effort, inner, outer, self, etc. and seek to impose them on reality. Things just happen to be as they are, but we want to build them into a pattern, laid down by the structure of our language. So strong is this habit, that we tend to deny reality to what cannot be verbalized. We just refuse to see that words are mere symbols, related by convention and habit to repeated experiences.
(snip)
Q: The words of the Guru, when merely heard, have little power. One must have faith to obey them. What creates such faith?
N: When time comes, faith comes. Everything comes in time. The Guru is always ready to share, but there are no takers.
Q: Yes, Sri Ramana Maharshi used to say: Gurus there are many, but where are the disciples?
N: Well, in the course of time everything happens. All will come through, not a single soul shall be lost.
I find these passages helpful when thinking about dealing effectively with Z's belly pain. She has been really sore lately, apparently due to an allergy both to cow's milk protein and to soy milk protein, and she is prone to painful, loud crying fits that can last for an hour or more.
As I enter one of these episodes with her, I consciously try to relax my breathing, hold her very gently, and make gentle, if any, noises. When she builds her intensity, I may do the same, trying to find an opposing frequency to her crying that cancels it out. But no matter what I've done, I've noticed that as soon as I start thinking that she's sick or that something is wrong with her, it spontaneously creates tension and negative energy in me, which I surely must pass along to her.
Just last night, I noticed a slight change in the way I was looking at her when she was having a fit. I thought to myself, "She's fine -- this is her normal -- this is her reality at the moment -- there's nothing I can say or do to reverse what's happening, so I have to just go with it, ride the wave with her, give her as much support as I can, and hold on to her without judgement. No judgement; I don't think that she should be any way other than how she is."
Believing that, I've had some really fun times with her in the past 24 hours. We both seem to be doing a bit better with it.
