Picture: Columbia River from Wanapum State Park
Making our way back from Glacier we find ourselves next to the Columbia River at the Wanapum State Park. In this early morning light, the topic of temptation is uppermost in my thoughts. As we know, temptations are part and parcel of the upward path to realization. Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted, Buddha sat in his night of temptation just as he was about to attain Nirvana, Rama had times of despair during his struggle to defeat Ravanna and rescue Sita; even these great beings, these avatars were tempted.
A universal feature to darkness is its abhorrence of the light. What had been perfectly clear to you before, during temptation becomes muddy. Temptation can be of any nature depending upon the psychological makeup of the individual. It can be sex, drugs, fear, greed, power, pride, self-interest to the exclusion to others, lack of surrender, so many aspects to the opposing force—it will always fight against what the inner soul knows to be true and correct.
The way through temptation is to keep your mind upon God. The qualities you will experience when in tune with God will be quite different than in ignorance. In the light you will be calm, clear, humble, not driven by lower forces, you easily stand in the light in humble submission and will not turn away.
One test I would enact for myself when faced with an uncertain decision would be to visualize all the masters surrounding me: Jesus, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswarji, Master, Mother, Papa, Mataji, and Swamiji. Then I presented the situation at hand to them. What did they say? I did not avoid any of them as I did this. Many times when looking at Mother or Sri Yukteswarji I instantly knew I had been heading into a fool’s errand. This worked very well to cut through mental justifications the ego-mind concocted for going away from the light.
When in Glacier National Park we found a rare hydrological apex, one of three in the world (the other two being in Canada and France). At this apex drops of rain could land within inches of one another and one would end up in the Pacific Ocean, one in the Atlantic, and the third would be swept off to the Arctic Ocean. So little distance in origin, such a vast difference in destination. It struck me that choices we make can seem so small and insignificant at the time, and yet forces will sweep us off to such diverse outcomes.
I have known those who were sincere and dedicated upon the path, and then some old habit was re-awakened, drugs, alcohol, sex, and the spark of temptation became a flame—the individual was consumed. Or, the spiritual flame was no longer fed with deepened meditation and intense love of God—the flame died and the spark faded to a bygone memory. “Oh, are you still into that?” was the comment, “yes, I used to be, but now….” The spark that became a flame was now gone, and it seemed but a distant memory.
I know I have had lifetimes of avoiding the light, and in this lifetime I have made bad choices at times. I vividly remember the pain of those bad choices, both for myself and for others. Through the Grace of God and Guru the flame did not die, the spark remained even in the looming darkness. It is true, I did choose the light. But better than that, for some unknowable reason, the light chose me and saved me time and again.
There have been those who have thought better of me than I have thought of myself, and this has awakened a higher light in me, made me choose the better path. But we can choose, through pride or arrogance, to push away the light, to respond to those around us that are also pushing away from the light. We have that freedom of choice, but oh what a price we pay for landing on the other side of that decisional hydrological apex!
So this is the lesson I have come to learn again and again, the power I have—we all have—in making a choice. Do we choose the light, or to move into darkness? Do we strive to know God, love God, or do we make choices that ease us away from it, just before finding ourselves in a downward plummet away from our higher aspirations? Sri Yukteswar asked Master to promise that he would never avoid him. Master said that was one of the most difficult promises he ever kept in his life. Sri Yukteswarji was the light to Master, and the light can break our pride and crash our dream-desires. Association with the light will also make us in to its own nature—unalloyed peace, joy and unending freedom–if we only choose it.