The great theme throughout the ages is this---look within.
For years and years I looked outside of myself for the answer to
life’s problems. I looked to others for help, especially my friends. I demanded
their approval, attention and admiration. Not surprisingly, I lost most of them
a few decades ago. I also beseeched a deity I thought was outside of myself for
deliverance from my woes. Nothing happened. No, that’s not actually correct.
Quite a bit happened. My problems and woes greatly increased in number and
intensity.
When Gautama Buddha was
on his deathbed he noticed that one of his ten principal disciples was weeping.
'Why are you weeping, Ananda?'
Buddha asked. 'Because the light of the world is about to be extinguished
and we will be in darkness.' Buddha replied: 'Ananda, be a light unto
yourself.'
The same theme is present in Christianity as it
also is in the other major religions of the world. Jesus may have said,
‘I am the light of the world’ (cf Jn 8:12) but he is also reported as having
said, ‘You [that is, you and me] are the light of the world’ (Mt 5:14). He
never claimed anything for himself that he didn’t also claim for you and me.
Never forget that.
Here’s something else Jesus reportedly said:
‘The kingdom of God is within you’ (Lk 17:21). In Matthew's Gospel the
expression 'kingdom of heaven' is used (cf 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand'
[Mt 3:2]) but it means the same thing as the expression 'kingdom of God'.
'Heaven', as Jesus used the term, refers not to some future place
but to an inner and very present potentiality
and power. It is within all of us, whether we be Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists or something
else altogether. The kingdom of God is like the oak tree which is always
present within the acorn---both presence and potentiality. In
one of his many parables Jesus
used this analogy: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man
took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but
when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and nest in its branches’ (Mt 13:31-32). In other words,
we are talking about the invisible essence of reality. So, when Jesus said that 'your Father has
chosen gladly to give you the kingdom’ (Lk 12:32) he was saying that the
creative spirit of life (the 'Father') indwells everyone. It is individualized in
you as you and in me as me.
The Japanese swordsman and rōnin Miyamoto Musashi [pictured
above], in his wonderful text Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five
Rings), said more-or-less the same thing, albeit in
different words and thought forms:
There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to
get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Seek
nothing outside of yourself.
The great Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius gave
us the same piece of wisdom:
Look within; within is the fountain of all
good. Such a fountain, where springing waters can never fail, so thou dig
deeper and deeper.
Within your own house swells the treasure of joy, so why do you
go begging from door to door?
You see, the theme of 'look within' is truly universal. I think
it must be part of the phylogenetic heritage
of the human species.
Be a light unto yourself. Look within. The answer to all your problems and woes is within you. More importantly, the power to solve and overcome those problems is also within you. And don’t listen to anyone who says anything to the contrary.
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