Perfection is Self-Transcendence
Mercy Entails Empathy
Reading and Affirmation for May
From the book The Beatitudes: Their Inner Meaning by Swami Kriyananda
Perfection is Self-Transcendence
Truth is one and eternal. Realize oneness with it in your deathless Self, within.
The following commentary is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.
We begin this week with a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 5:
Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; . . .
If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the tax collectors the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even pagans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
This teaching is a continuation of last week’s lesson. To love all equally is possible only by seeing God everywhere – in others as well as in oneself. See whatever comes to you unasked for as a manifestation of His will. Be grateful for the pains you experience, for they are healing strokes of His love. Sometimes, healing is effected only by strong measures, but His love for you is manifested in the very attempt to heal.
Strive always to be impersonal, as though whatever happens to you were happening to someone else.
Persecution gives us the supreme opportunity to deny the thought, “This is happening to me,” and to affirm our inner freedom from the thought of ego. Don’t allow the negative perceptions of others to become your own self-definition.
Seek God: This is the true goal of life – though how difficult to cling to in the midst of hatred, spite, and persecution! The Bhagavad Gita tells us in the seventh Chapter:
Out of thousands, one strives for spiritual attainment; and out of many blessed true seekers, who strive assiduously to reach Me, one, perhaps, perceives Me as I am.
O truth seeker, be one, among all those thousands, who seeks the supreme goal!
Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.
Whispers From Eternity
209. In the Temple of United Hearts
It befits not Thy lily-tender feet to dance on the stony soil of hard hearts. On the petals of my sympathy for others may Thy tenderness dance forever.
Divine Mother, may I feel Thy heart-throbs in my own heart; Thy joy in my happiness; Thy wise direction in all my activity; Thy Spirit in my soul.
Divine Mother, I lay all the flowers of my love at Thy feet of eternity. Oh, open wide the flowers of my budding devotion, and release Thy fragrance that it may spread from my soul to the souls of others, ever whispering of Thee.
I pray to behold my love reflected in others. In the light of that greater love may I behold Thine unveiled face of perfect compassion.
May I behold my true self in others, that I perceive Thee ever enthroned in our united hearts.
At the heart of my whispered prayers I feel, stirring, Thy silent whispers. In the light of my burning candle of devotion, I behold at last Thy sacred blaze of perfect love.
O Divine Mother, unite our hearts as one heart, so that, on the sacred altar of united hearts, we may find Thine omnipresence enthroned forever.
Paramhansa Yogananda
Inspiration from the Rays of One Light
Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; . . .
Matthew 5:44
We will take these meaningful words into our meditation together for deep reflection and contemplation. But firstly, we will listen to the beautiful Psalm of David, sung by Mary Kretzmann.
Psalm of David
Listen to the Psalm of David
Reflect, Meditate and Listen to Instrumental Music
Reflection from the Rays of the One Light
Peace Sangha
This week, I was moved by the teaching:
“Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you…” — Matthew 5:44
It drew my heart more deeply towards Jesus and His intimate relationship with the Father, showing me how He continually sought His counsel, trusted Him completely, loved Him without hesitation, and remained faithful to Him even when He faced challenges.
His courage, His quiet devotion, and His perfect obedience revealed that the path was not easy. However, he kept returning to God, to his Father, in every trial, relying on His divine companionship and strength. Below is a poem I wrote called “To Heal in All” inspired by this teaching from Saint Matthew.
To Heal in All
O Beloved Soul,
Blessed are the pains of the saints that come to visit us
When enemies rise against us
Do not answer in the weather of the storm
Let us answer in peace, in stillness and in the calm rain
Softening the earth between us
Until peace can take root in the places
Where no peace has ever lived before
Let our voices become rivers of Thy blessings and love
Our breath a mercy of empathy to those who curse our names
We will offer up in devotion instead of emotion
A high candle flame of love to those who hate us
Only the burning fire of your purifying light can transform us
We will pray for those who wound us
For prayer is your secret door through which the Holy One
Sends rain and calls us to be a mirror in His mercy of empathy
Light a lamp in the valley for all triggers that entered the battlefield
In every act of our surrendered grace
May we receive the blessing in the language of the healed
The stripes of your divine medicine
A sign that you have not abandoned us
That your love is still shaping us
And holding us tenderly
Like a fragile petal
Still making us whole
Until we are healed
We are grateful for every hidden remedy woven into the pains that we bear
That we hold and suppress in the thin air
For every ache turns into
Your precious medicine
Of your healing divine love
A sacred love
A blessing from the Saints
Uniting us All
To Heal in All
Aum Peace Amen
