Difference, Indifference, And Non-Difference
By Marjivadilla Ma
First, the backstory: The sangha was recently reintroduced by Shunyamurti to the life-work of Aurobindo and that of his disciple Satprem. The following morning, I awoke refreshed, with the thought of Sat Yoga’s Premaculture project, having recalled Aurobindo’s vision for Auroville.
Jagdish and I went for a walk around Giri Pradakshina a few hours later. From the silent stillness of the Arunachala Hill, luminous love energies permeated this being. Thoughts were exchanged in silent peace. Joy filled the heart. In childlike wonder, we saw God’s living jewels everywhere: the gravel where we walked; the divine brilliance that sparkled on the leaves; and in the air, God’s breath subtly moved around us and through us. Every step felt new, timeless, surreal, each moment filled by no-thing and everything.
Halfway down Sadhak Road, I stopped in amazement. “Look,” I said, pointing at three fairy beings burying their noses in the grassy earth, chewing their insectivore nourishment. We slowly came closer and closer. Three tiny, young, sweet armadillos, known to biologists as dasypus novemcinctus (the appellation means claw-footed and nine-banded) whose protective armor had yet to harden, kept munching their meal, indifferent to our company. We stood next to them in silence, as they moved around us, very close, focused on their feeding, without concern about us, fearless.
There were no boundaries between us. We were together in non-difference. To the sat yogi, all is God. We sat marveling in silent oneness. After a while, I broke the silence and said, “let’s go now and leave them in peace.” At the very moment the statement was uttered, one of these beloved little gnomes looked up at me and gave a shrieking call of alarm to the others, and they scurried off in haste.
A few days later, during our noon sangha meditation gathering, one of our premaculturists read Chief Seattle’s letter to the head of the invading aliens, which read in part:
“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people….”
The universal wisdom of our oneness is being remembered in this heart and the dream that is called the world unfolds accordingly. Our thoughts create the dream. Tread on this sacred earth as lightly as a feather, fearlessly, without protection or projection, as the Oneness: Nature, God, the Self, all one.
I was thus taught, by the intelligence of our planetary goddess Gaia, through her armored offspring, what remains to be released in this aspiring soul. The mind was still marked by the superego dictum that I came unwanted into the world and disturbed the peace of the creator parents. This was projected on the Great Mother’s little creatures at the moment that clearly proved the falseness of that belief. I disturbed the armadillos only because I believed I was a disturbance. Now I see clearly that dissolving the ego-superego duality is an imperative for divine consciousness to preside upon the Earth. We are One.
In humble gratitude to the Dreamer and the Dream for these lessons that daily raise this intelligence back to the Source, so that a new world without fear or aggression can be dreamed.
To my outer Guru, Shunyamurti, from whose Supreme Knowledge this Heart hears its truth, fully affirmed by the inner Guru.
To God the Good, in service, with blissful love for all.
Namaste,
Marjiva Ma
This Post Has 2 Comments
Purusha
15 Oct 2020What a beautiful encounter! Thank you for sharing this joyous discovery and beautiful insights, Marjiva Ma!
Kin
15 Oct 2020Heartwarming and touching. So lovely to see the little critters munch away totally unfazed in your and Jagdish’s peaceful presence. And what beautiful teaching from Gaia.