Picture: Jesus in complete surrender in the Garden of Gethsemane
There are layers to the brain that we can trace from the most primitive to the most sophisticated. The amygdala in the limbic system is involved with instinctual, core reactions and emotions. The limbic system controls basic emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure, and drives hunger, sex, dominance and care of offspring. These deep, instinctual emotions and drives are part of body consciousness and can operate completely separate from, and in opposition to, higher emotions and thought process; they are what is called in yoga, “animal consciousness.”
As aspiring yogis we often come up against the operation of these lower parts of the brain and it drives us to action that runs contrary to our goals as yogis; and over which we must become masters. If we are driven by these basic impulses we will be ignorant of higher brain reasoning and the intuition of Divine Consciousness.
There are two basic ways for attaining mastery over these lower forces, and they may be used in tandem. The first is through strong mental will and keeping the mind on God, and the second is through dispassionate observation. James said, “Submit yourself, and then to God, and resist the devil and he shall flee from you, come near to God and he will come near you.” [James 4:7] Then Jesus said, “But I tell you, resist not an evil person.” [Matt 5:39] One may interpret these two sayings to say, “Firmly turn your mind away from evil, putting your full attention on God (and the contrary impulses will leave you), and the second is to be the dispassionate observer, giving no power to evil.
There are two instances that have recently come to me. One happened earlier this week and the other occurred a week and a half after I had the operation. After I had the tumors removed and was in recovery I experienced three days of a deep grief welling up inside of me. It was the body grieving for what it had recently undergone. I observed the grief flowing through me, moving moving through until it finally expended itself. My mind was clear as the emotions came up, and it felt itself watching the grief, like a river flowing through me.
The second occurrence happened this past week. I had traveled back to the Northwest and received the vaccination that had been prepared for me. The vaccination had nothing but my own cells; tumor cells that had been sterilized and my own white blood cells. But body consciousness was triggered by the vaccination that included tumor cells (even though they were sterilized), a strong feeling of not wanting tumors to grow again came bubbling up from someplace deep inside of me. When I told Carla of this reaction she said the vaccination had not only tumor cells, but also the white blood cells, the good guys. She thought of the white blood cells as Hanuman and the millions of monkeys and bears that fought for Rama! This thought made me smile, and a good feeling spread over me; however this good feeling coexisted with the feeling of dread by the body for the next day and a half. Eventually the dread left and only the feeling of Hanuman and the millions of monkey-white-blood-cell-warriors continued afterward.
Jesus faced a great trial on the eve of his crucifixion. He knew what was to come, and everything inside of him was demanding, “Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Then turning his mind to God in complete surrender, he said, “Nevertheless, not as I will but as Thou wilt.” [Matt 26:39] It is at this point of total surrender that the story comes full circle. It all began when Adam and Eve went against Divine Will, giving into the serpent force for their own pleasure and the promise that they should not die. [Genesis 3:4] This error by Adam and Eve (reason and feeling) is rectified when the son of man totally gives himself to Divine Will for certain suffering and death; as well as eventual resurrection and glory.
We can trace our own journey going out from God when we to chose to go against God’s inner direction and became subject to the primitive components of the brain; no longer living by Higher Consciousness alone. Once those lower impulses came alive they dominated our thinking and we entered into the great ignorance: maya and avidya.
Our way back is through dispassion toward the lower impulses, keeping our full attention upon God, and being in complete surrender to His will. Jesus demonstrated this in his own life, as do all the fully-realized spiritual masters. We follow in the great ones footsteps and are flawlessly led to our eternal oneness with our Divine Mother and Heavenly Father.