The Secret of Right Action
Mercy Entails Empathy
Reading and Affirmation for May
From the book The Beatitudes: Their Inner Meaning by Swami Kriyananda
The Secret of Right Action
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.
One of the most famous stories in the Gospels is that of Martha and Mary. Jesus, visiting the home of Martha, was teaching while her sister Mary sat at his feet absorbing his divine love and wisdom. Martha, meanwhile, busied herself with serving her guests, and was upset with Mary for not helping her.
“‘Lord,’ she cried, ‘doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do all this serving alone? Please ask her to help me.’
“‘Martha, Martha,’ Jesus answered, ‘thou art careful and troubled about many things.
“‘But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”
This story is classic, for Martha’s complaint is very understandable, and not, on the surface of it, spiritually wrong. Jesus might well have told Mary to get up and help her. Nor do we really know that he didn’t, considerate as he always was of others’ needs. But the teaching here doesn’t concern the obvious dilemma of devotees: to work for God, or to spend all one’s time in prayer. It concerns, rather, the attitude of the mind.
Jesus didn’t tell Martha: “Martha, you are doing too much.” He told her, rather, “You are letting your work affect your inner peace.” That was the contrast: not work vs. contemplation, but restless preoccupation vs. peaceful absorption under all circumstances.
As it says in the Bhagavad Gita, the second Chapter:
Actions performed under the influence of desire are greatly inferior to those which are guided by wisdom. Happiness eludes people when they act from self-interest. Seek shelter, therefore, in the equanimity of wisdom.
Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.
Whispers From Eternity
125. From peak to peak and from heart to heart I will Fly, singing Thy name
Bless me, my own true Father, that I may fly with Thee from peak to peak, or lie on the grass and sing Thy song to the birds. Bless me, that I may wade through the streams of human feeling to bring to all the song of Thy glory. Bless me that I may whirl around starry rims, blazing Thy name. With the nebulae I will spread Thy holy name. Bless me, that with the humming atoms I may attune my song to Thine.
Paramhansa Yogananda
Inspiration from the Rays of One Light
‘Lord,’ she cried, ‘doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do all this serving alone? Please ask her to help me.’
“‘Martha, Martha,’ Jesus answered, ‘thou art careful and troubled about many things.
“‘But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”
Luke 10:40-42
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
‘Lord,’ she cried, ‘doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do all this serving alone? Please ask her to help me.’
“‘Martha, Martha,’ Jesus answered, ‘thou art careful and troubled about many things.
“‘But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”
Luke 10:40-42
The teaching also drew my heart toward Divine Mother in the form of Our Lady of Fatima, whose feast day approaches on the 13th of May. Below is a poem I wrote called “In the Sweetness of Her Love.
In the Sweetness of her Love
In the warm house
In the mystic healing of incense drifting through the air
Martha moved through worry and care
Her hands dedicated to service
Her heartbeat moved in tune with the ancient beat
Of the rhythm of the drum
Calling for help that never seemed to come
But Mary sat still where Master’s voice poured through her
Like the health rays of sunlight on water
The quiet anointing of the sacred oil
Turned to waiting for the signal of peace
She had long been longing for
Her spirit a chalice
Her silence a prayer
Her whole being is a cry
Resting in Divine Mother’s love
Gentle in Her divine stare
Martha
Jesus whispered
Thou art troubled in heart and mind
Breathe
Right Posture
Right action is born from a centre of His grace
The stillness of the soul
A heart tuned to heaven on earth
A mind made whole
Can never be told
Not from the whirlwind that quickens your pace
But like the roses that glow in the night
Shimmering in Divine Mother’s healing light
Our Dear Lady of Fatima
Her Ray of feast
In the coming days
The remembrance of the gift
Of her prayer
That I have always treasured in so many ways
“Hail Holy Queen
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary”.
The sweetness of her love
Held the world’s sorrows
In so many ways
Calling all hearts
To return in His name
And from her Divine Lips
Flowed a whisper of service in divine prayer
Let her healing carry you through
The Mother of all Healing
Knows the secret of right action
Simple, sacred and deep too
It is important to
Listen before you labour
To root before you reap
To be close to His heart before you even speak
And everything will gently land at your feet
In the communion
Centred on His Art
May Her mercy
Be the blessing
And Her healing
The channel
Through which all grace
Enters the purity of the Immaculate Divine Heart
Aum Peace Amen
